Vanee Sykes
Note: The unhealthy conditions allowed to persist in prisons pose a public health threat not just to residents and employees, but also to the broader community of reentry advocates, family, and friends who support our returning community members. Such outbreaks in New York’s facilities may have played a role in the untimely death of Vanee, a passionate and loving advocate.
Photograph of Vanee Sykes, courtesy of the Sykes family, by way of The New York Times.
Memorial by Ms. Pittman
To An Angel On Earth
I'm going to make my words out as if I submitting this notation in the now and not the present. Thank you for an unselfish heart and warm spirit. Thank you, for assisting others who can not assist oneself with opportunities and choices that he or she didn't believe that they could do. Thank you for being the person who you are. Thank you isn't enough to say to you.
Memorial by Chastity Michel
Vanee’s colleague and friend
Vanee Sykes was a once in a life time type of person. She was the type of woman that you meet, and your spirit automatically gravitates to, pure hearted and selfless, she’s truly an angel on earth. The way Vanee and I met was like divine intervention, serendipitous, and we always talked about how the universe aligned things for our meeting. We connected on so many levels—as the child of an incarcerated parent I understood the things her children experienced, and she understood things from the parent’s perspective, bringing us closer together. I worked with Vanee as a Program Associate for Hope House NYC, which she cofounded, and poured her heart and soul in. She absolutely loved the women and wanted nothing but the best for them. Vanee was the true definition of a Woman who stands for Woman. Her unique set of experiences and skills lead her on a path of service for formerly incarcerated women and their families. She would always say “If you help a woman in need, you are extending that help and love to her children” and she was very passionate about women and their children. Vanee and I also cofounded Lexi’s Promise together, named after her daughter Alexis Sykes, a prom initiative to create the perfect prom experience for the child of an incarcerated parent. This was inspired by her inability to help prepare for and attend Alexis’s eighth grade prom. She wanted to give children with an incarcerated parent the same help, resources, and opportunity Alexis had while she was away due to the help of friends and family.
Vanee’s untimely death due to COVID19 was truly devastating and heart breaking—it seemed that she had so much left to do on this earth—but what I realized is that her legacy will always live on through all the lives she’s touched. It will also live on through the initiative of Dream Deferred Inc, Vanee’s Dream House, a safe housing space for formerly incarcerated woman and girls that will be located in Brooklyn, NY. Before Vanee’s passing we were working together to open a new trauma informed safe housing space that is more focused on trauma and healing. This was truly Vanee’s Dream and Vision she wanted every woman to live out their dreams and write their own life stories. Healing was at the forefront of her goals when it came to the transformation and rebuilding of formerly incarcerated women. With the support and guidance of Susan Burton and A New Way of Life, we will still be able to realize this dream for Vanee and Dream House NYC will be open in November 2020 in Vanee’s Honor. It is our goal to keep Vanee’s work alive and continue to spread the same love and passion she gave to so many.
From Mourning Our Losses:
Vanee Sykes, a firm believer in beauty, change, and second chances, passed away all too soon from COVID-19 on May 24, 2020. She was only 53 years old, and she had paved her way to a full, meaningful life ahead of her. Those who knew her can hardly believe she is gone; they mourn her life and miss her dearly.
Vanee was a devoted mother and advocate. After receiving a Bachelor of Arts in marketing and fashion from American College of Applied Arts in Atlanta, she worked in New York City’s Human Resources agency for over twenty years in her early adulthood. Incarcerated while she was caring for three children, she learned firsthand about the stress that incarceration, especially the incarceration of women, can create for entire families. But, incredibly, Vanee focused on her privilege. While she was in Danbury Federal Prison in Connecticut, she realized that many other women there were not as lucky as she was to have a home to go to once they were released. Vanee met Topeka Sam during her incarceration, and Topeka soon became a “sister” to her, she remembered with a smile. Vanee and Topeka together developed the idea to create Hope House, a house for women reentering society in New York City after they were released, so that other incarcerated women could have the experience of leaving prison for a place they could actually call home.
Photograph of Vanee and Topeka Sam at Hope House’s open house on October 28, 2017, obtained from Hope House.
Vanee’s and Topeka’s idea was based on the conviction that reentry needs to be a thorough, involved process and that incarcerated women can rehabilitate in a beautiful way if they have the right circumstances. “Re-entry began the minute I walked up the hill into Federal prison,” Vanee recalled. “I began to create for myself what I wanted my life to look like from day one.” And that life, she later declared, centered around Hope House. Referring to her time in prison, Vanee said, “I began to think that even though I'm in this situation, in a dreary building with hopelessness, I’m still going to look for life and beauty… If women are able to thrive in that dreary spot, imagine what they could do if we give them a beautiful space and an opportunity of a second chance.” Accordingly, Vanee and Topeka set about creating Hope House as a space that was beautiful, both physically and mentally, where women could reclaim their lives.
Vanee’s and Topeka’s journey was not without challenges. They received funding and mentorship from Susan Burton, an influential advocate whose organization in California, A New Way of Life, served as the model for Hope House. They were able even to purchase and decorate a house in the Bronx; still, they were for a period of time unable to fill the beds they had so diligently planned to use to support women in all facets of their lives. The New York Department of Corrections claimed that Vanee and Topeka had violated licensing policies and that they were ineligible to accept women on state parole due to their own supervision status. Members of the neighborhood where Hope House was located claimed that the program violated zoning restrictions. Vanee and Topeka led a persistent and directed campaign to overcome these barriers, which they attributed not to any valid policies but rather to the stigma associated with incarceration and, incredibly, with rehabilitation.
Photograph of Vanee speaking at the open house, obtained from Hope House.
Hope House officially opened its doors on October 28, 2017 and celebrated with a lively open house. Alongside Topeka and Susan Burton, Vanee delivered a powerful speech. “Every woman that comes in here… know that we love you,” she said. “And we’re not just saying that we love you, but through our actions you’re going to know that we love you.” And she was right: Hope House became a place where formerly-incarcerated women could heal, grow, and thrive, “a space where women know that vulnerability is a strength,” she said.
Video of Susan Burton, Vanee, and Topeka presenting at Hope House’s open house, obtained from Hope House. Susan talks first, Vanee begins at 4:38, and Topeka follows starting at 9:08.
After co-founding Hope House, Vanee continued her advocacy work with Witness to Mass Incarceration, a prison reform organization that focuses on women’s and LGBTQ rights. She worked specifically on the Suitcase Project, which provided essential items to people just released from prison. She was also deep into planning for the opening of a second reentry house, which would be located in Brooklyn and would be large enough to house twelve women.
Vanee’s role as an advocate was still in its infancy when coronavirus took her life. She was so vibrant, so motivated, and so loved, and she inspired those around her to work towards their goals. On the day before Hope House’s opening, Vanee’s daughter Alexis posted on Facebook, “I'm so proud of my mother for living out her dreams, opening hope house tomorrow which is a half-way house. My mom was incarcerated and now look at her, helping others out. This is the reason why I grind so hard in life.”
Photograph of Vanee arranging flowers, obtained from Fleur Elise Bkln on Facebook.
Countless others have recently spoken about Vanee’s unique heart and spirit. MOL team member Michelle Daniels wrote, “I didn’t work with Vanee very long at Hope House, but in the short time that I worked with her, I found her passionate, open-hearted and loving. She had a kind Mother-Earth quality about her that — with all of the challenges in her work and in her family — gave me the impression that she could handle anything and handle it with grace. A great example of a powerful woman. She will be missed.” A friend on Facebook commented in response to an announcement of her death, “Such a sweet spirit[.] Ms. Vanee it was such a pleasure to meet you and to witness the amazing things you and Topeka accomplished for women returning home to a real home and a safe place!” Another added, “Vanee was a force of nature and for justice.” Yet another wrote, “Giving was her life.” Finally, Susan Burton remarks, “Her beautiful spirit of grace and compassion will be missed by everyone whose lives she touched. Rest in power, Vanee. ❤️”
Photograph of Vanee and Topeka by Lise Metzger, obtained from Freethink.
Vanee helped to build a movement in which formerly incarcerated women can have a second chance not only at any life at all, but at a beautiful life centered around community. This community sorely misses Vanee, and her legacy and work will continue to persist in all of their lives.
This part of the memorial was written by MOL team member Eliza Kravitz with information from correspondence with MOL team member Michelle Daniels and reporting by Hope House, Rod Nordland and Zoe Greenberg of The New York Times, Amanda Winkler and Lise Metzger of Freethink, Adrienne Day of Nation Swell, and friends and family on Facebook.