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Media Contact: Andrea Plaza | 908.907.5551 | APlaza@AndreaPlazaLLC.com
Collaborating to Build Safer Futures for Children, Adults
Mercy Center Honors the Power of Community Partners to Stem Abuse
ASBURY PARK, NJ (May 2, 2025) – In a moving gathering held in its garden sanctuary, Mercy Center brought together a network of community advocates, victim service providers, faith leaders, and law enforcement representatives on April 24 to celebrate the strength of collaboration in breaking cycles of sexual assault, child abuse, and violence.
Set against the colorful backdrop of a mural symbolizing hope and renewal, the event marked the close of Sexual Assault Awareness and Child Abuse Prevention months, national campaigns throughout April designed to draw attention to these issues.
About 50 guests stood side by side, an example of what can be achieved when partnerships are forged for a common purpose: to ensure that every victim is met with care, compassion, support, and the chance to heal.
Mercy Center Executive Director and former Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno and the organization’s Family Resource Center Director Veronica Gilbert-Tyson thanked attendees for their daily work in lifting children, teens, and women from abuse.
Guadagno shared the story of a young boy, just 1-year-old when he was in need of support after suffering severe abuse from burns inflicted by his own parents. Today, at 24, he is healthy and living independently, a testament to the life-changing impact of early intervention and community care. “What you do is invaluable,” she said. “You’re not there for just one night, you’re with these families for life.”
Collaboration with 10 local churches — the Community Interfaith Coalition — has created safe spaces where survivors can find sanctuary and connect with victim support services from Mercy Center. “They are not alone,” said Pamela Major, who serves as the interfaith coordinator.
Throughout the afternoon, one by one, community partners and leaders, including Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond S. Santiago, spoke about the importance of standing united — to offer protection, compassion, and pathways to healing for those who have experienced violence.
In a poignant close to the event, attendees tied blue ribbons on a remembrance tree to honor survivors of sexual assault and planted blue pinwheels throughout the garden, representing safe, joyful childhoods every child deserves. Pastor Lyddale Akins, also a representative of the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office, offered a prayer for continued strength and unity in the work ahead.
Gilbert-Tyson emphasized that Mercy Center’s multilingual team offers a wide range of social services designed to strengthen and stabilize families, including supportive counseling, parenting and anger management classes, youth resiliency programs and empowerment workshops for fathers. Additionally, Mercy Center nourishes families in need through its food pantry and provides tuition-free education for girls in grades four through eight.
Gilbert-Tyson expressed gratitude for the turnout of partners, including Vanessa Princivil of the New Jersey Coalition Against Sexual Assault, faith leaders and law enforcement representatives at the event. “Our strength is in unity,” she said.
More information about Mercy Center’s Family Resource Center, food pantry, and all-girls middle school is available at www.MercyCenterNJ.org.
Photo Credit: Andrea Plaza
Photo Caption: Mercy Center’s Family Resource Center team joins New Jersey Children’s Alliance
Photo Credit: Andrea Plaza
Photo Caption: Mercy Center’s Veronica Gilbert-Tyson (bottom right) welcomes representatives from the faith-based community to the nonprofit’s event to commemorate sexual assault awareness and child abuse prevention.
Photo Credit: Andrea Plaza
Photo Caption: Community advocates, faith leaders, and law enforcement representatives unite at the Mercy Center in honor of national Sexual Assault Awareness and Child Abuse Prevention months, acknowledged in April.
About Mercy Center
Mercy Center, founded by the Sisters of Mercy, is a nonprofit charitable organization working to break the cycle of generational poverty in the greater Asbury Park area. Our food pantry nourishes families, caring programs and services help stabilize them, and our Sisters Academy provides a quality education to put an end to the cycle of poverty, one child, one family at a time. See our mission in motion. To donate, volunteer or learn more about how we empower, enrich, and educate the people we serve, visit www.MercyCenterNJ.
