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.

Andrea McCulsky

 ANDREA MCCLUSKEY | HEARTLY HOUSE
"A bright light in dark times.​"
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Andrea McCluskey embodies the Heartly House mission in its entirety by offering support and safety to sexual assault and domestic violence victims she sees at Frederick Memorial Hospital. As an ‘on call’ advocate, she provides clients with the emotional safety, support and compassion they need to start to heal. Andrea has achieved a strong balance of empowering the client to make their own decisions, while advocating when she sees a need that is greater than the client has the strength to do. Medical accompaniments often last five or more hours. Once, Andrea attended 3 medical accompaniments, totaling 14 hours in a 24-hour period.

 Andrea’s assistance continues with providing gift cards, advocating with other organizations for the client, communicating with Heartly House legal department about protective order hearings and much more. This all helps traumatized clients heal sooner.  After every Medical Accompaniment response, Andrea always ensure that clients receive follow up services, as the support Heartly House offers doesn’t end with the forensic exam.
 
Andrea’s compassion for others drew her to the work. As an adjunct​ professor at Hood College, she became aware of the work at Heartly House and was compelled to become involved. At the time, she was looking to use her years of lived experience to support others. Andrea is a professor at Hood College, and has taught at the Lucy School – those experiences have given her insight into how younger people think, which is so helpful in this role. The work with clients is intimate – treatment after interpersonal violence is difficult and follows one of the darkest time in a survivor’s life.

​She draws on her ‘mom’ skills and teaching experience to establish trust and to stay sensitive to the client’s experience and life view. 
When asked how she handles the intensity of the work, Andrea let us know that self-care and a solid foundation of support in the staff of Heartly House is critical. She is able to process her personal experience with the team. The variety of skill sets on the team, combine to create a wealth of knowledge and understanding – which informs the work going forward.

Co-workers and clients have observed that Andrea is a bright light during dark times and her work enables a victim to take the first step toward becoming a survivor.

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Lena Laug

 LENA LAUG | COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF FREDERICK COUNTY
"It’s amazing to watch how many people care so deeply about our community and are willing to come together and collaborate to achieve shared goals to make positive change. Supporting that work is an honor and I hope to help encourage the next generation to continue what those before them have started...​"
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​Lena Laug is the Administrative Associate for the Community Foundation of Frederick County (CFFC) and according to President and CEO, Betsy Day, “touches lives everyday with her sensitivity and caring ways.” Pre-Covid, she was often the first smiling face greeting donors at the door and looks forward to the days of welcoming everyone back to the office following the pandemic. Having grown up in Frederick County, Lena was in awe after learning all that the CFFC does for the community and jumped at the opportunity to apply for a job there. She recalls an immediate sense of pride, seeing the generosity of the community and witnessing how people engaged with CFFC. She knew she had found the place for her! Lena, a recent empty nester to two budding college students, spends her days at the CFFC helping to support all departments in the organization. Specifically, she recognizes the generosity of their donors by sharing their contributions with the community through social media, press releases, events and more.  Lena is driven to help promote the great work that CFFC does, educate people about the community’s needs, and hopes to encourage others to get involved to help make Frederick even more special. ​Thank you for taking your “place” to a higher level, Lena!

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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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