Our Story

The Circle of Life Children’s Center is the vision of Dr. James M. Oleske, a pediatric infectious disease specialist, who along with a colleague, Lynn Czarniecki, an advanced practice nurse, recognized the need to create a program for children with life-limiting medical conditions that would ease their suffering and increase the quality of their lives. Dr. Oleske and Lynn Czarniecki had worked together at UMDNJ in Newark caring for children with HIV and AIDS for 20 years, giving them great insight into the many and varied needs of this population of sick children, and an understanding of the needs of their families who lived primarily in typically underserved urban areas.

In 2002, with the assistance of Norma Godin Millison, who had both a nursing and a nonprofit background, and other professionals who provided legal, financial and business expertise, the Circle of Life Children’s Center (COLCC) was born. A 501(c)(3) foundation, Circle of Life Children’s Center is dedicated to providing state-of-the-art palliative and end-of-life care for children and families in the Greater Newark and surrounding areas. More than 20 committed professionals joined the Circle of Life Steering Committee, many from the medical field, contributing their expertise to the overall design and development of the COLCC mission, ensuring that it fully met the existing needs caused in part by the fragmented healthcare system in New Jersey, inadequate professional knowledge about pediatric palliative care, and lack of adequate funding for such a program.

Start-up funding for phase I of the Circle of Life program, a Pediatric Palliative Care Consultation Service, was provided by The Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey, and the Circle of Life Children’s Center began to serve its first clients in January, 2006.