Embrace Kids exists to lighten the burden and improve the quality of life for children with cancer, sickle cell and other blood disorders in the NJ/NYC metropolitan area. Embrace Kids Foundation has been supporting the many needs of local pediatric patients since 1991.

Each year we provide over $2 million in services to approximately 200 families to deal with the daily challenges they face.

Underlying all of our programs is our goal to help maintain as much normalcy as possible in our patients’ lives by addressing the spiritual, emotional and financial issues of the kids and their families. We believe that addressing the needs of the patient and families as a whole is a critical part of caring for the child. All programs and services are free to families and include emergency financial assistance, individualized tutoring, counseling, and inspirational events and holiday parties.

Here is a partial list of our programs:

• Our signature program is the David E. Zullo Pediatric Palliative Care program (PACCT), a nationally recognized and internationally acclaimed program that provides a dedicated care team of nurses, counselors and other staff who care for the child throughout the illness, including nursing and end-of-life care in the patient’s home.
• The Embrace Kids Learning Center offers daily instruction and counseling to ease kids’ anxieties about school and friends. A main goal at Embrace Kids is to keep kids abreast of their studies and comfortable with their social lives during hospitalization and easing their transition back to school./li>
• Embrace Kids provides critical emergency financial assistance to families. This is done by making payments on behalf of the family for rent utilities. Embrace Kids also provides gift cards for groceries, gasoline and other weekly needs the family have, and gives refurbished computers to families that do not have them.
• Through the Embrace Kids Bilingual Care Program, we strive to eliminate language as a barrier to quality care for our Spanish speaking patients, thereby improving access to healthcare and their medical, social and emotional outcomes.
• Tackle Sickle Cell aims to reduce the disparities within the underserved sickle cell community with advocacy and additional programs. Embrace Kids has committed to providing scholarships for young adult patients to assist with their transition to being successful adults.