Jallinda Amos, Delores Wright, Gail Davis, Lee & Jonathon Patterson, Floyd Robinson, and Christina & Jason Wilson · Unsung Hero Awards
The Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina presented six Unsung Hero Awards across the state of South Carolina to individuals who have demonstrated extraordinary care to enhance the well-being of children in South Carolina’s kinship families as part of the Kinship Care Initiative. Formal (licensed) and informal (non-licensed) kinship caregivers in South Carolina who provided care for a relative’s child throughout the preceding year or longer were eligible for nomination, including fictive kin.
- Charleston, South Carolina: Christina and Jason Wilson, Delores Wright, presented by Foundation President, Tom Keith.
- Columbia, South Carolina: Gail Davis, Lee and Jonathon Patterson, and Floyd Robinson, presented by foundation board member Lisa Bernardin.
- Greenville, South Carolina: Jallinda Amos, presented by foundation Board Chair, Gerald Smalls.
The Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina (Columbia, SC)
Contact: Langley Shealy
Phone: 803.254.0230
Email: lshealy@sistersofcharitysc.com
Heavenly Berkley · 2017 Superstar Award
Saint Luke’s Foundation announced that Heavenly Berkley, a Program Coordinator with Open Doors Academy, is the recipient of the foundation’s 2017 Superstar Award. This award recognizes the very best direct service staff in the field who distinguish themselves and their work by using data to constantly adjust their service delivery approach while intentionally striving to build transformational relationships with those being served.
Saint Luke’s Foundation is cosponsoring the Superstar Award alongside the Baltimore, Maryland-based Superstar Foundation. The Superstar Award is a $5,000 cash prize awarded to a deserving nominee in Northeast Ohio by a five-person award committee.
Ms. Berkley serves as campus administrator for the Academy’s Monticello campus. She also serves as a liaison between parents and teachers when parents are not able to be in touch with teachers. Her after-school responsibilities include ensuring that programming runs smoothly; all scholars are accounted for; adequate food is on-hand for scholars; the after-school curriculum stays on track; and scholars have a quiet environment in which to do homework, and have necessary materials on hand.
Saint Luke’s Foundation (Cleveland, OH)
Contact: Anne Goodman
Phone: 216.431.8010
Email: agoodman@saintlukesfoundation.org
19 Casey County High School Students · Healthy Kentucky Policy Champion
A group of 19 Casey County High School Students are the first recipients of the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky’s new Healthy Kentucky Policy Champion award for their work to change the smoking culture on their school campus. The Casey Youth Coalition’s (CYC) campaign has helped reduce smoking, leading to a 10 percent decrease in 30-day tobacco use among 10th graders in 2016, for example.
Casey Youth Coalition students include Taylor Beard, Courtney Britt, Braydon Brown, Jaden Brown, Kylie Cosner, Chelsea Griffin, Austin Harne, Brenna Hayes, Gracie Johnson, Alyssa Jones, Hannah McQueary, Savannah Owens, Seth Owens, Abigail Shakelford, Morgan Smith, Delaney Sowders, Dalton Summers, Emily Whitehurst, and Presley Woodrum.
With the support of Casey County Public Schools Superintendent Marion Sowers and the Casey County Agency for Substance Abuse Policy, CYC members have been using photographs and other messaging to educate fellow students the health risks of tobacco use and reminding students, faculty, staff, and visitors that the campus is tobacco free. They also have helped identify hot spots where compliance was lower, and worked with the school system to reduce the opportunity for violations.
The CYC is now eligible for the Healthy Kentucky Policy Champion of the Year award, which comes with a $5,000 grant from the foundation to a Kentucky-based nonprofit of the winner’s choice.
Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky (Louisville, KY)
Contact: Bonnie Hackbarth
Phone: 877.326.2583
Email: bhackbarth@healthy-ky.org