Celebrating the people at the heart of Frederick County nonprofits. 

From healthcare to education, housing to recovery, scouting to community associations - this award recognizes individuals dedicated
to touching lives in Frederick County.

​The Touching Lives in Frederick County Award offers a moment of public recognition for the "unsung heroes," our non-management staff members who have demonstrated outstanding involvement and commitment to touching the lives of others. 

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*This page will be updated each month as award recipients are announced.

Dr. Drew Ferrier

DR. DREW FERRIER | FREDERICK FOOD SECURITY NETWORK
"We've designed a distribution program to share food with those who need to be fed... " 
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Dr. Ferrier has been an educator for over 40 years!  As a professor at Hood College for the last 25 years, Dr. Ferrier has designed and run several hands-on programs including the Center for Coastal and Watershed Studies and the Coastal Studies Semester, which includes a visit to the Virginia Institute of Marine Science Field Lab in Wachapreague, VA, where his students get knee-deep (literally) in the Chesapeake Bay and all the science it has to offer.

But that wasn’t enough for Dr. Ferrier.  Two years ago, he and colleagues Claire Hudson and Connie Ray launched the Frederick Food Security Network to directly address the problem of food insecurity right here in Frederick.  “We’ve developed several gardens and designed a distribution program to share the food with those who need to be fed,” Drew told us in an interview in August.   FFSN has 7 non-profit community partners, including the Religious Coalition and the Housing Authority.  The food from these gardens reached more than 500 families in 2019, and student workers are employed to help maintain the gardens and pick the food. 
Dr. Ferrier hopes to share with the community that Hood is an academic resource for the whole community.  He wants the people of Frederick to know they are there to help solve community problems, and to be involved as much as they can to help identify, document, and work to find solutions to the problems facing the community, whatever they may be.  “We want to be a resource for the community more and more every day. Thank you Dr. Ferrier for being a beacon of hope for the community and a source of inspiration to us all that we can each do more every day!

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Kelly Overholtzer

KELLY OVERHOLTZER | SETON CENTER
"It's not enough for our program to just help with the bills... "
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Kelly Overholtzer has been a case manager for Seton Center for six years. She and another staff members realized that just helping clients with bills and advice was not enough.  She felt that her clients needed a new way to look at themselves and their lives.  In 2016 Kelly and another staff member began the Getting Ahead in a Just Gett’in by World program. This is a three-hour, 20-week program that uses a table top format to enable participants known as “investigators” to study their community, the impact of poverty on their lives and to develop their future story, armed with more resources. Seven groups and 41 “investigators” have completed the program and walked away with a new outlook on their future. Some have found better jobs, others planned to start their own business, some have gone back to school to get a degree of a G.E.D., and others have improved their relationships and all have a better understanding of themselves.
 At the end of each program a graduation ceremony takes place with family and friends, members of the community, clergy, and representatives from local, county, state, and federal governments.  The joy of having accomplished something so worthwhile is rewarded by the presence of those who attend.  This ceremony also serves to inform the entire community, state and our federal representatives of the value of this program.
Kelly, your kindness and patience has helped your clients feel affirmed and guided toward a better solution to their problems...you keep doing you!

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Kiesha Edmonds

KIESHA EDMONDS | HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF FREDERICK
"I dare not end my life the way I started... "
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Kiesha Edmonds is the Outreach Coordinator for the Housing Authority of the City of Frederick (HACF) and according to the Family Services Director, Ann Ryan, "she is the heart of all our community events [and]...works tirelessly to build relationships with our residents so they are invested in building communities." When we sat down with Kiesha in early July, it was clear that there was very little (including a pandemic) that would deter her from making sure that every person served by HACF knows they are special and her personal philosophy comes from that heart. She describes herself as someone who understands the accumulated hurt and trauma that keeps any of us from knowing our authentic selves and she realizes the power behind telling people how much she believes in them...even when they have a hard time believing in themselves. She credits her adaptability to her childhood in the military and her exposure to "friends all over the world." She credits these different experiences in building her ability to recognize that everyone has a different story. Part of her job with HACF is to look past the rough edges and help people heal and move forward in their lives.

Thank you, Kiesha, for being the kind of person who is so easy to celebrate!

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Our gratitude goes out to FCB Bank for their commitment to helping to recognize our unsung heroes of nonprofits in Frederick County!

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