- [Narrator] Funding for this edition of One-On-One with Steve Adubato has been provided by The North Ward Center.

Investors Bank.

The Russell Berrie Foundation.

Making a difference.

Kean University.

Where Cougars climb higher.

Johnson & Johnson.

PSEG Foundation.

The Fidelco Group.

New Jersey Sharing Network.

And by the Adler Aphasia Center.

Promotional support provided by Insider NJ.

And by The New Jersey Business & Industry Association.

- This is One-On-One.

- I'm an equal American just like you are.

- The way we change Presidents in this country is by voting.

- A quartet is already a jawn, it’s just The New Jawn.

- January 6th was not some sort of violent, crazy outlier.

- I don't care how good you are or how good you think you are, there is always something to learn.

- I mean what other country sends comedians over to embedded military to make them feel better.

- People call me 'cause they feel nobody's paying attention.

-_ It’s not all about memorizing and getting information, it’s what you do with that information.

- (slowly) Start talking right now.

- That's a good question, high five.

(upbeat music) I recently had a chance to speak to Dr. Charles Violotti, the resident medical director at Villa Marie Claire, connected to Holy Name Medical Center.

I talked to Dr. Violotti who's spent his entire professional career as a clinician caring for those who are at the end of their life.

That's what Villa Marie Claire is.

It's a place for people to spend those last days of their lives, how they live those days, and Dr. Violotti's commitment to helping family members and patients who are there, live those last few days with dignity is unparalleled.

Dr. Charles Violotti, it's an important conversation about end of life.

- Doctor, we're here at Villa Marie Claire.

You've been connected to this place from when?

- I connected since we first opened in January of 2011, but I've been living here since March of 2012.

- Mm-hmm.

You and I have had so many conversations over the years, in person, remotely.

First time here.

Why is it so important that you do live here?

- Well, I think it creates an entirely different dynamic between the patients, the staff, and the families.

I find that toward the end of the day, when the social visits are coming to a close, when the neighbors and friends are going home from their half hour, hour visits, the families are alone with their loved ones.

They're having dinner in the dining room.

They're walking around outside in the gardens, and they seek me out so that we can talk about their deeper emotions, their deeper reaction to what's going on.

Questions about what I anticipate their loved one to experience, what opportunities or options are available for them or their family members.

Sometimes they do a lot of soul searching and share a lot of history of the patient because they want me to know more of who the person was before they came.

Soul searching about their own relationships with each other, and I find that's very healing.

People then come back for years afterwards just to revisit, to re-talk, to have lunch, to have dinner, to share other thoughts, new relationships.

So I do think it changes the dynamic, having me in the building and available 24/7, basically.

- Doctor, I've asked you this before.

I want to come back to it.

Explain to folks why this has become your life's work.

- I made a commitment.

I've lost a lot of family members, a lot of people who were very close, and unfortunately, Sandy had an undignified and very painful death, despite the fact that she was on hospice in a major New York City hospital.

And my younger sister who died 19 years ago had a terribly painful death.

Again, totally unsupported, despite being in another very large New York City hospital.

And I made a commitment to them that nobody who was entrusted to our care would ever have anything but a dignified, comfortable, respectful end-of-life experience, and no family would ever suffer the trauma that we suffered watching these painful deaths, these undignified deaths.

And then families who were open to it would always be offered support in the bereavement period, none of which were offered to any of us after either of those deaths.

And this was really a commitment I made to people who I lost, who I loved very much, that I would change that legacy, I would change that message, I would change the dynamic, again, just to make life better for unfortunate people who are entrusted to our care.

- Doctor, you know, you understand end-of-life issues from so many perspectives, not just the clinical perspective, but a human, psychological, emotional perspective.

For so many of us who fear, even though we've seen it close up...

Telling Mike earlier that losing my dad and being there at the end was something that I don't actively relive because just the experience is what it is for me.

And my sisters, my mom, we all talk about it.

And so I'm like, "I don't wanna talk about it.

I don't wanna think about it."

But I also know that's not healthy.

I also know that's not... We're not escaping this one.

Translation, what advice do you have for not just me, but more importantly, people watching for whom the idea of death for themselves or those closest to them, the fear is just overwhelming?

Let's not talk about it.

- Yeah.

- You say.

- I understand that, and I think that this is a cultural problem that we have that we don't like to talk about it.

- American culture.

- Anything.

American culture.

- Yes.

- We don't like to talk about anything negative.

We like to focus on positive things, happy things.

- Be positive.

- Yes, and be happy.

And the conversations that lead to discussions of end-of-life care can be very painful and very disturbing if they focus on negativity and abandonment and defeat and hopelessness.

Of course they're painful- - The loss is real.

- But the loss is real.

But if you focus the conversation on support and love and compassion and dignity, if you talk about all the care that you're going to be giving to this person, if you make it clear that by changing your focus, you can actually defocus on the diagnosis that they've been treated for, for years and the treatments that have become toxic and ineffective and futile and isolating and so on, and focus on the wonderful opportunities that are still open to them.

If you just focus on the humanity of the situation, on asking people what they want, where they'd like to be, how they can be supported, what they're worried about about their loved ones.

Most of us don't feel death.

We fear the process.

So we have to assure them- - Whoa, whoa.

Go back again, Charles.

- Yeah.

- Most of us don't fear death.

We fear the process- - The process of dying.

- Of dying.

- Yeah, I think we fear that we'll be in pain or that we'll be a burden to our loved ones or that we'd be in some sort of desperate situation.

If we assure people that those symptoms, those problems can be alleviated with medical and psychological and social support, but more than that, when we're approaching the end of life, we worry about the impact of our death on our loved ones.

We're there to protect them as we've always protected them.

So if they see, if we as a end-of-life person see that their family are already being embraced by the counselors, by the social workers, by the support staff, if they see they're already getting this anticipatory support, we can let go with confidence that they're not gonna be abandoned, that they're not going to fail to stay together as a family unit, but in fact that they're gonna be supported and that they will move forward after we die.

And I also don't believe that we should be telling our loved one, "It's okay to go.

We're fine.

Don't worry about it."

- Don't say that.

- I don't believe that because I don't think anybody, any parent or any child or any sibling or a spouse really believes that their husband or their parent is fine.

I mean, you know, they know it's sad, but I think more important, we love you and we'll miss you, but we promise the legacy that you've created will continue.

I'll keep the family together.

Everything that you've established will go ahead.

People will know of your goodness through us and through our children.

That's the message we want to hear, that our departure isn't going to defeat and destroy everything we've spent our lives creating.

I think that's a believable message, and I think that's a valuable message for people to help them relax and be able to accept the transition.

- Thank you, Charles.

- [Narrator] To watch more One on One with Steve Adubato find us online and follow us on Social media.

- We're pleased to welcome Mark Hoebee, who's Producing Artistic Director at the Paper Mill Playhouse in beautiful Millburn, New Jersey.

Good to see you, Mark.

- Thanks for having me, great to see you too.

- You got it.

This is part of our series called "The Arts Connection."

We feature, particularly not-for-profit organizations engaged in the arts, so important.

As we put up the website, tell everyone what the Paper Mill Playhouse is.

- Well, it is one of the largest producing musical theaters actually in the country, which means that the art you see on our stage is actually created by artists we bring in specifically for our audiences.

Some of them, the shows that are created, go on to have a life beyond us, but really, the focus is serving the community of Millburn and the surrounding areas, both through our main stage attractions and our education and outreach programs.

- How do you wind up in this role and what's your connection to the arts?

- Okay, well, it was a circuitous route for me to get here.

I actually started out a long time ago as a gymnast and then made my way to being a dancer.

I was a dancer on Broadway for many years.

Did a lot of shows, worked with Jerome Robbins, Bob Fosse, Julie Andrews in "Victor/Victoria," and eventually transitioned into becoming a director and a choreographer.

And I worked, I was hired by Paper Mill to direct shows, and then they were looking for an addition in the artistic department to their team.

They invited me in as an associate, and eventually, I made my way to the role I have now, which is Producing Artistic Director.

- That's awesome.

Mark, let me ask you, 'cause we're gonna talk about "The Great Gatsby."

We're taping this in late January.

"Great Gatsby" coming to Paper Mill in March, if I'm not mistaken, correct?

- Well, actually no.

"Great Gatsby" was with us in the fall, and it's moving to Broadway in spring.

- It's moving to Broadway in March.

- Yeah, it will open in March.

- Explain that to us.

Do plays often go to Paper Mill and what happens on the way to Broadway?

Is that the plan for most?

- Yes, actually, Paper Mill is one of the regional theater, is one of an esteemed group of regional theaters that has become an incubator, a host, for brand new musicals.

So producers, writers, creative teams, bring a brand new product that has never been seen before to do a tryout on our stage in front of our audience, which is great for us.

We love having that material.

"Great Gatsby" is one of them, and then the commercial producer has a longer range goal of getting the show into New York on Broadway.

If it's successful, launching national tours, maybe international productions, so it's a collaboration between the regional theater and the commercial producer.

- Mark, "Great Gatsby" sold out at the Paper Mill, right?

- Yes, it was the highest grossing show ever to play at Paper Mill Playhouse.

It was sold out essentially before our first preview performance, except for house seats, and that was the strength of the title.

"The Great Gatsby" had just come into the public domain, so there are a couple of different productions using that source material, but we had a crack creative team director and a high profile cast, led by Jeremy Jordan and Eva Noblezada, so we had a great success with it.

- Mark, you know, as we are into 2024, 4 years into COVID, how did Paper Mill survive, much less be in a position to thrive through COVID?

- Well, I'll tell you, Paper Mill made it through COVID only because of the generosity of our subscribers, donors, and the community.

We all had to shut down.

We were closed for two years essentially, but we did some online digital programming, and then we've slowly been making our way back.

We're still bearing the weight of those non-productive years, carrying deficits, and trying to erase those, working really hard.

We've had success in the last two years with our programming, and obviously, this year with the "Great Gatsby" and "Fiddler," which just closed, which was a highly popular production.

We've made back some ground, but we're still carrying debt and deficit, and it'll be a couple of years before we can expect balanced budgets again.

So we're really reliant on our donors and our subscribers and the people of the community, who support us.

- The other thing that these dollars, these corporate foundation dollars, philanthropic dollars, people who are individual donors, supports would be the Paper Mills educational programming.

Talk about that, please.

- Well, Paper Mill has a huge educational footprint in the state of New Jersey, one that I wasn't even fully aware of until I started working here.

Our programs reach between 35 and 40,000 students across the entire state, usually in at least 19 of the 21 counties, and they span from Early Access to Arts programs to putting programs into schools that have underserved or underserved communities or under resourced communities for arts education.

We have a professional training program in the summer that spawned talent, like Academy Award winner Anne Hathaway and Tony Winters, Laura Benanti, and Nikki James, and we have classes for adults and anyone of any age or any talent that just wants to be introduced to the arts.

But what I'm most proud of is our Access programs.

Paper Mill was the first theater in the country to offer a comprehensive autism friendly performance, and that has been copied by many theaters, and we offer those resources even to theaters in New York City.

And we have Access programs, we provide the opportunity for people with any disability, whether it be physical, cognitive, hearing impaired, site impaired to come enjoy a performance with a support, so they can overcome whatever they face in their daily lives.

- Mark, do us a favor, a minute left.

Go back to the, you're talking about support, you're talking about access.

What is the difference, in terms of someone who is there to see a play, who is on the, if you will, the autism spectrum, how's it different?

How's the performance different?

- When we have our autism friendly performances, we make adjustments so that the families and those people with autism can enjoy the production without any judgment.

So, the lights stay up in the auditorium, we adjust the sound.

We have a full compliment of staff that's there to guide both the families and those people with autism.

They can speak out, they can move around.

There's a breakout area.

It's all so that the people attending can enjoy the experience and be supported in as many ways as possible without any kind of judgment, for lack of a better word.

They can just enjoy the whole experience.

- Mark Hoebee is Producing Artistic Director at a great place, a great arts organization, iconic arts organization, Paper Mill Playhouse.

For those of us who live in Northern New Jersey, we know it well.

It's right in Millburn, downtown Millburn.

Check it out, the Paper Mill Playhouse.

Thank you, Mark, we appreciate it.

- Thank you so much, Steve.

- You got it, stay with us, we'll be right back.

- [Narrator] To watch more One on One with Steve Adubato find us online and follow us on Social media.

- We're now joined by Barbara Martinez, who's the Executive Director of New Jersey Children's Foundation.

Barbara, good to have you with us.

- It's great to be here.

Thank you for having me.

- You got it, the website will be up.

Tell everyone what the New Jersey Children's Foundation is.

- We're a nonprofit based in Newark whose mission is to improve the educational outcomes of children in Newark.

- You know, it's interesting, I'm reading about you.

Your background is fascinating.

You grew up in Newark, right?

- I did.

Yes, that's right.

- Did you grow up in the North Ward of Newark?

- I grew up in the North Ward, yes.

On Grafton Avenue.

- You admit that.

I was on Highland Avenue.

You were on Grafton.

- But you know, I was on Grafton and Highland.

I was right in the corner.

- Look at, listen, I was a patrol boy on that corner, but it wasn't, it was before your time.

So you ready?

I know that you went to school in Belleville, which I also did, to St. Peter's Grammar School.

You had, your mom lied about where you lived, so you could go to school in Belleville.

Then you got thrown out of there.

That experience has had a great impact on you and your view of urban education, has it not?

- Absolutely.

That happened to me when I was 14 years old.

It was a terrifying and traumatic situation for myself and my family.

And yeah, it has shaped me ever since and drives the work that I do and the interest that I have in making schools better in Newark.

- And in many ways your mom did that, like so many others, because she was concerned that the education you were gonna get in Newark was not good enough.

And she wanted you, Belleville is not a suburb for those who know it outside of Newark.

And then you came back.

You went to a Catholic high school, did you not?

- That's right.

So my mom- - It was Good Counsel?

- It was Good Counsel High School, that's right.

- Essex Catholic.

- Not so much about me.

- Yeah.

Essex Catholic on Broadway.

Which my high school doesn't exist anymore and neither does yours.

- Neither does mine.

Right?

Yeah.

You know what my mom was afraid of?

She's immigrants.

We learn, I learned Spanish first and growing up went to Ridge Street School, grade school.

And it was, when it was time to go to high school, the school I was supposed to go to was dangerous.

And she had heard stories and so she didn't know about the academics, you know, English, not her first language.

And she thought it would be, you know, could be violent.

So let's lie about our address.

And we thought we were done.

And, you know, within a couple of months, I got found out.

And you know, they, I what, we didn't know they had a full-time domicile investigator.

This guy's full-time job was to find the kids from Newark.

And he must have been going off an alphabetical list 'cause my friend Maria Gonzalez got caught in November.

And in December, I ended up in the office.

I got called to the office and told to bring everything in my locker.

And I was terrified.

I was 14 years old.

- How did that impact your work at the Children's Foundation?

A and B, how much of this does has to do with alternatives to traditional public schools, AKA charter schools?

- Yeah, that's such a great question.

So the Children's Foundation wants to work with all schools.

So charter schools and district schools and private schools, anywhere where Newark kids are.

We wanna be the resources that help schools get better if they need that help, or if schools are doing really great, we wanna be the resource to help them grow more seats.

- You know, the statistic and getting ready for the interview, the statistic just blew me away.

And we've done a lot of program about the Newark public schools.

They've been a big part of our longtime program Stand and Deliver, which teaches and promotes leadership and communication skills for young people.

But this is just a fact.

81% of third graders in Newark public schools are not reading at grade level.

What are the implications of that, Barbara?

- We know a lot about what happens to you if you do not learn how to read by third grade.

This is scientific, this is not people's opinions.

If you do not learn how to read by third grade, your life outcomes completely change.

And so, and look, this is not just a district problem.

We've got a lot of schools that need to be doing better by kids.

And we can only do that if we collaborate and all get together.

But we have to start from the vantage point that 19% reading rate is just not good enough.

And we can do better.

- Not even close.

Barbara, help us on this.

The FAFSA, the financial form.

The FAFSA stands for?

- Oh, you put me on the spot there.

- I got it here on my notes.

It's the financial form that everyone has to fill out.

It's the free application for student aid.

I apologize for putting you on the spot like that.

Why is that a "on ramp to success," particularly for low income Americans in urban communities?

This FAFSA, no one even knows what it talk, what it, you know, you have to do it, but nobody knows what it stands for.

Go ahead, Barbara.

- You're exactly right.

And that's why we are putting a tremendous amount of resources and efforts to create the FAFSA challenge.

We recently announced that we have a FAFSA challenge in Newark.

It involves every single high school in Newark, whether you're a district, charter, magnet, private, county school.

And we're going up against Camden.

And so we want our kids to fill out more FAFSA forms than Camden.

And the reason why it's so important is because the FAFSA is a gatekeeper document.

You cannot get federal financial aid if you do not fill out this form.

And every year, hundreds of millions of dollars goes unused by Newark students who don't fill out the FAFSA.

And so through a lot of great work that many organizations have already done, including the district, which has made applying through a FAFSA part of your graduation requirement, and I really commend superintendent Roger Leon for doing that two years ago.

The FAFSA completion rate right now in Newark is 66%.

It's higher than the national average and higher than the state average.

And we should be very proud of that.

We can get it higher.

And so we just launched a big campaign and a big collaboration with the city hall, with the district, and with a lot of organizations, Rutgers, NCLC, to push that number even higher 'cause all kids should fill out a FAFSA.

- And by the way, that FAFSA stuff is complicated for those of us who are parents and how do you, what, how, it's complicated and the fact that you and your team are are helping and there's a FAFSA challenge is terrific.

Before I let you go, I'm curious about this.

You come to this work at the New Jersey Children's Foundation and the website will come up again through a background in journalism, a transition.

Why?

- Yeah, ever since I was a little girl, I wanted to be a reporter and I went to "The Wall Street Journal."

I had a great time at "The Wall Street Journal."

I covered a lot of different beats and the last beat that I covered was public education.

And it really inspired me.

I was in a lot of schools that worked and I was in a lot of schools where kids weren't learning anything.

And it really touched me and really made me realize we don't need, it doesn't need to be this way.

All kids can learn.

And we have to make sure that as grownups, we are creating the systems and schools that make it possible for them to learn and be who they were meant to be and who they want to be.

- You're doing important work, Barbara, and I wanna thank you.

This is Barbara Martinez, who's the Executive Director of a really terrific organization called New Jersey Children's Foundation.

Barbara, I wanna thank you for joining us.

Wish you all the best.

We'll continue this conversation.

We don't do these one-offs.

Hey, we do, did that on urban education.

No, there's a whole range of conversations that need to take place and we look forward to you being a part of that.

Thank you, Barbara.

- Really appreciate it.

Thank you.

- You got it.

I'm Steve Adubato, that's Barbara Martinez.

We'll see you next time.

- [Narrator] One-On-One with Steve Adubato has been a production of the Caucus Educational Corporation.

Celebrating 30 years in public broadcasting.

Funding has been provided by The North Ward Center.

Investors Bank.

The Russell Berrie Foundation.

Kean University.

Johnson & Johnson.

PSEG Foundation.

The Fidelco Group.

New Jersey Sharing Network.

And by the Adler Aphasia Center.

Promotional support provided by Insider NJ.

And by The New Jersey Business & Industry Association.

The North Ward Center continues to expand their services and outreach in Newark, from the childhood years to the golden years, Offering programs like preschool, youth leadership development, Casa Israel Adult Medical Day program our Family Success center, as well as a gymnasium.

And most recently Hope House, a permanent home for adults with autism, supporting and nurturing our autism community with Hope House 2 coming soon.

The North Ward Center.

We’re here when you need us.