The Children’s Advocacy Center of Hamilton County (CACHC) is announced several award recipients from its One with Courage Awards Dinner this month. The One with Courage Awards celebrate champions of children, who enrich the lives of kids through help, hope, or healing. The event also honors those who support the children served by the CACHC through giving, service, or voluntarism. The ceremony was hosted by Alison Lebovitz and the One with Courage Committee was chaired by Dr. Kathleen Hunt.
Annually given, the CACHC Volunteer Awards recognize those who support the children served by the CACHC through giving, service, or voluntarism. Award recipients are as follows:
The Child Protective Investigative Team (CPIT) Member of the Year award was presented to Amanda Stanford, Department of Children’s Services. Amanda was honored for going above and beyond to ensure children are safe and some of the most difficult situations imaginable. She is a detail-oriented professional and a true champion for kids.
The Curtis L. Collier Volunteer of the Year Award was presented to Jessica Angel Roddy, a dedicated CACHC Intern. She is meticulous, genuine and extremely caring and most recently, she took on the daunting task of hand-making 656 pinwheels to adorn the wall of the CAC for the entire month of April which represent each of the children served last year.
The Janet Ricks McConnell Corporate Volunteer of the Year Award was presented to MIG Wire and Tube. In October, the CACHC had been selected as the beneficiary of “Charity Days” initiative for Manufacturer’s Industrial Group. For six weeks, employees of MIG Wire and Tube, were encouraged to donate a percentage of their paycheck to the company’s charitable fund, which totaled over $8,000.
The final CACHC award of the evening was the Emeline W. Haney Award, the agency’s highest honor. Receiving the award was CACHC board member, Heather Brewster. Having been a member on the board of directors since 2012, Ms. Brewster has offered tremendous guidance and expertise to the CACHC staff from her vast professional background in nursing, management, and sales and spearhead the inaugural Out Run Abuse event, coming up this year on April 30.
The annual One with Courage Awards finalist had videos created by Network Seven. Each video can be found at www.cachc.org/news and on the CACHC YouTube Channel
The Help Award went to Melissa Jo Brassel, counselor at Orchard Knob Middle School and executive director of 22:6. While serving as an educator at Orchard Knob Middle School, Ms. Brassel also founded the non-profit 22:6 which educates and empowers teen parents to receive their diploma and achieve their life goals. Other finalist in the Help category were Ronnie Workman of The First Tee Chattanooga and Amanda Senentz of Chattanooga Foster & Adoptive Care Association.
The Hope Award went to Joli Anderson of Baylor School. As Baylor’s Community Service Director, Joli is a passionate role model for servant leadership through her own service work while training students to make a positive difference in the world. Other finalists in the Hope category were Stacy Lightfoot of Public Education Foundation and Toccora Johnson of Girls Inc. of Chattanooga.
The Healing Award went to Julie Sackett of the Mental Health Collaborative. Going above and beyond to support children in mental health crisis, Julie has touched the life of each child she works with. Her compassion, commitment, and trustworthiness has saved lives. The other finalists in the Healing category were Andy Smith of YCAP and Jennifer Stanfield of Children’s Emergency Department of Erlanger.
The Organizational Winner was Chattanooga’s Girls Leadership Academy. By nurturing self-confidence, inspiring leadership, encouraging critical thinking, and promoting academic excellence, CGLA gives hope to girls to achieve their full potential. The other organizational finalists were Chattanooga’s Kids on the Block and Bridge Scholars of Chattanooga.