Resilience, Resolve Fuel Morris Nonprofit Founder's Recovery From Stroke

MORRIS PLAINS, NJ — After suffering a major stroke in April 2023 due to a brain clot, Penelope Lopez said she was not expected to live.

The Morris Plains resident was paralyzed on her right side and and went through intensive therapy so she could re-learn how to use her legs and arms, and how to speak. Close to a year later, Lopez told Patch that though the stroke may have altered her journey, it has not taken away her resolve to help those in need.

Lopez is the founder and CEO of POWER CHANGES LIVES, an organization working to help low-income, minority, and underserved communities around the state.

POWER (People Organized Working Evolving Reaching) runs a variety of outreach programs — to feed food-insecure families, extend a hand to those experiencing homelessness, keep senior citizens connected to loved ones, help students in school, and more. Through GoFundMe, Lopez is asking for renewed community support to keep the mission going.

These programs include LavaLove, the first-ever mobile hygiene trailer in New Jersey, which provides showers, grooming services, and medical services for the homeless and other neighbors in need.

“There's a saying that we have on our truck that’s one of the rules we go by,” she said, sharing the quote by the Rev. Jesse Jackson:

"The only time you should look down at someone is when you are helping them up."

Lopez said POWER interns and volunteers have been working to get the program running again, which includes de-winterizing and sanitizing the LavaLove trailer, and getting its septic system inspected. She said donations can help provide people with a meal, hot shower, haircut, or anything else they might need.

“We go forth with the mindset that we are determined to help,” Lopez said. "We're very passionate about it."

Lopez mentioned a woman who came up at one of their outreach events and asked for help finding clothes, getting up to date on vaccinations, and cleaning up before she applied for a job at a hospital.

“It was the best feeling in the world to see come back two weeks later,” Lopez said. “I didn’t even recognize her (at first). And she told us the story of how she was offered the job.”

Many of POWER’s outreach programs mirror what Lopez has experienced in her own life, when she struggled with poverty and food insecurity as a single mother.

“I dealt with bouts of being homeless before I was married (in 2006),” she said. “I only had a high school education. I was smart, but I didn’t have the finances or know how to go about it.”

Determined to make a better life for herself and her children, Lopez achieved multiple college degrees, including a Master’s degree in Business Management. She said this allowed her the skills and expertise needed to address healthcare disparities and advocate for marginalized communities.

Lopez’s life has also been impacted by health challenges, including a breast cancer diagnosis in 2015. She also developed congestive heart failure from the chemotherapy, she said.

It was during this time that Lopez got an official nonprofit designation for POWER CHANGES LIVES. Her first mission was Project F.E.E.D., which stands for Friends Ensuring Every Dinner, to reach students whose families may not be able to afford a hot meal every night. Lopez said has partnered with local restaurants to feed students in cities such as Newark, where Project F.E.E.D. adopted 10 schools.

POWER has also extended to communities in South Jersey to help with food insecurity, and served the homeless and held LavaLove events in Atlantic City, she said.

As she continues to push forward with both her stroke recovery and her mission, Lopez said she is trying to get all of POWER’s initiatives back up and running - but is primarily focusing on LavaLove, Project F.E.E.D., and the Senior Connect program.

Click here to contribute to the GoFundMe, and learn more about POWER at powerchangeslives.org.