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Sylvia Stokes

September 6, 1950- April 14, 2020

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Honoring Sylvia

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As many know, Sylvia Stokes was the founding staff member of the Platform of Hope in 2018-- formerly the Vice President of Programs at Jubilee Housing, Sylva (in effect) demoted herself so that she could lead the new, emerging POH initiative and develop this family-centered model. As the original "Family Care Lead" Sylvia worked closely with families in the engagement process, creation of Cohort A and then launch of Cohort B-- with her loving, fierce, funny and no-nonsense spirit becoming ingrained in the DNA of how POH built relationships with families. "A Platform of Hope is needed in every city," she declared.

You can hear and see Sylvia talk about the early vision for the Platform of Hope, along with Maureen Dwyer, in this video.


On April 14, 2020, Sylvia passed away from COVID-19. To lose this visionary and inspiring leader-- and in this early stage of the pandemic, to be unable to honor her together as a community, in person-- has been deeply painful and unmooring. The pandemic has claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of heroes like Sylvia and our heart goes out to the many communities who have suffered these losses without the connection and support we crave during moments of trauma and loss. Below, we share some ways we've honored her virtually and our opportunity in 2021 to finally be together in person at this time.

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Read more about Sylvia's multifaceted life and legacy in her obituary here.

Sylvia had a decades-long history of building community and supporting families, first in Massachusetts and then in the DMV area. We are proud to be just one part of her amazing story and to have shared her with a wide network of family, friends, colleagues, ministries and other communities. On behalf of our families, partners and staff, we send love to her daughter, Aliya.

Our Plans for April 2022 and Beyond

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For the first time, we will be gathering together in person with families from Cohorts A and B this April to honor Sylvia. Our Family Saturday on April 16th will feature a lunch, arts activities and sharing time so that families can express their feelings over Sylvia and her loss. Thank you to All Souls Unitarian Church for agreeing to host us outside this Saturday, as well as on April 23rd for Cohort C + D's Family Saturday gathering!


We know that so many in our community want to be a part of honoring Sylvia's memory. Given our limited capacity and continued challenges of COVID, we are first prioritizing this April's gathering for families in Cohorts A and B since they worked so closely with her and never had the chance to say goodbye. We are absolutely committed to finding other ways to more permanently honor her legacy and invite more folks into this process!


Thank you for understanding our current capacity -- please contact us for your ideas to honor Sylvia in the future in a more inclusive, expansive and permanent way. There are many future opportunities to celebrate her life together, including her birthday in September-- but truthfully, we honor Sylvia year-round!

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Feel moved to support the Family Saturday gathering this weekend with Cohorts A and B to honor Sylvia together?


We would be deeply grateful for your gift to underwrite the cost of childcare, catering, supplies and additional staffing for this event. Thank you!

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Remembering Sylvia: From Families + Staff

"Today we lost a family member. Someone we loved, admired and respected. She loved every one of us too. And all our children. I will never forget her. And I am devastated.

May her memory be a blessing in all of our lives."


"All POH members now as a family we have to support each other. No race, no color, no religion makes us different in these difficult times for each person. Thank you Mrs. Sylvia for showing us we are a family. And will always be thanked from here to heaven. May God keep her safe in his hands."


In 2020, we hosted zooms together to process and mourn the loss of Sylvia. We collected messages to share with Sylvia's daughter Aliya, such as the ones above, from families and partner staff.

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POH youth participant Anely drew this picture of Sylvia as an angel comforting her mother from heaven in 2020

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Last year in April 2021 we honored the first anniversary of Sylvia's passing with a zoom that included a slideshow of Sylvia, memories from families and interactive arts activity to create "Blessing Boxes." Sylvia would often create blessing boxes for the families to store their appreciations and hopes in. POH distributed boxes and art kits to participating families so they could create their own to share with us.

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Our staff team created a "Sylvia's Sayings" tree to remind ourselves of her favorite phrases.

Thank you for taking a moment to honor Sylvia's life today. We send our love and support to others mourning loved ones lost.

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