2001 New Leadership Award Finalists
Austin | Brownsville | Chicago | Columbus | El Paso | Portland ME
Rockville Centre NY | San Francisco
Reicher Catholic High Graduate
Founder & First President of Student-organized Service & Advocacy Group
Mr. Cochran founded and was the first president of a student-organized group called SALSA Student Advocacy, Leadership and Service Association formed to enable students to build relationships with the poor rather than engage in periodic service projects. The students organized "neighborhood walks" to meet members of the Reicher community, the second poorest in Waco, attended neighborhood association meetings to learn their issues, and developed a relationship with staff and faculty of Brazos middle school across the street from the high school. The result was a tutoring program, and the involvement of 25% of the relatively well-to-do Reicher students in relationships with the economically disadvantaged families living in the blocks adjacent to the school.
A college student active in social justice at her parish
Ms. Alvarado is an active member of her parish, which has participated in developing community programs, including the opening of a health clinic, and a branch library and community center; creating after school programs; and calling for living wages for workers. In addition, she teaches parish classes, is a long-time altar server, and a member of the choir.
She is a student at the University of Texas - PanAm in Edinburg studying social work, a choice inspired by her social justice work in the parish and community.
A wife and mother who joined the ranks of those fighting for safer schools.
Mrs. Negrσn is an active member of the Blocks Together organization, which addresses a number of community issues in the West Humboldt Park neighborhood. Born and raised in Puerto Rico, she moved with her husband to the Bronx when she was 16. Three children later, she learned about Blocks Together when she enrolled in a class to earn her high school equivalency. Her work on education centered on her children's school, Lowell, and she has worked for school repairs and financial support for low-income schools. Caught in the cross-fire of a gang shooting outside the school, she became a vocal advocate for increased police presence in the neighborhood.
She has also become active in women's issues through Blocks Together, which is campaigning for a public health clinic in the neighborhood. She received her General Equivalency Degree certificate last year and received a scholarship to St. Augustine's College in Chicago where she is studying to become a teacher.
Program Coordinator for the Diocesan Department of Social Concerns
Mr. Freewalt coordinates the Parish Social Concerns Ministry Program and is Diocesan Rural Life Director. A 1995 graduate of Xavier University in Cincinnati, his work for the diocese has spanned a number of social concerns, from reaching out to youth to advocating against the death penalty to working on behalf of the disabled. As Rural Life Director, he turned his attention to the causes of poverty in the diocese, particularly among the Hispanic migrant/immigrant community. As vice-chair of the Ohio Catholic Rural Life Conference, he worked to identify regions with significant concentrations of migrant workers living in poverty and has worked inside and outside the Church to address those causes of poverty.
An El Paso Colonias Regional Leader, wife and mother
Mrs. Aragon is a member of Blessed Juan Diego Catholic Church, one of the poorest parishes in the Diocese of El Paso. A so-called colonia parish, it serves the colonias, underdeveloped neighborhoods marked by impoverished families living without water, sewer and other basic services.
Mrs. Aragon has spent five years working as a volunteer leader with EPISO, the El Paso Inter-religious Sponsoring Organization, a community project to identify the problems in the colonias and relieve the suffering among residents, and now serves as the regional co-chair. In this capacity, she represents all the county's colonia parishes to the larger organization on issues of water, education, job training and living wages.
When water finally arrives in the colonia, her own neighborhood will be one of the beneficiaries. Mrs. Aragon has also become personally involved in the job training program, and is studying to become a nurse.
A Student at the University of Southern Maine School of Nursing
Miss Mahanna spent the past five years as coordinator of Volunteer and Food Programs at the Preble Street Resource Center in Portland. After her graduation from Loyola College in Baltimore in 1994, she went to Preble Street as a member of the Jesuit Volunteer Corps. She served as the first Food Pantry Coordinator, developing and supporting meal programs and clothing assistance for 300 people daily, and worked to cultivate community volunteers among the poor and non-poor, who organized 100,000 grocery meals that year. She left Portland to continue her work with the Jesuits at a homeless shelter in Washington, D.C. but returned to Portland in 1996 to accept the staff position with Preble Street. In that capacity, she led efforts to unite 500 community volunteers, educate the community about the need, and supported a cooperative garden project that enables the poor to grow their own food.
A Pastoral Associate at St. Anne's Catholic Church
Ms. Tusiani-Eng served as parish coordinator of Youth Ministry at St. Anne's prior to becoming pastoral associate. She received a master's degree this past May in divinity from Union Theological Seminary in New York City.
In addition, Paula spent years organizing groups of people to advocate for better working conditions prior to becoming a parish employee. She organized clergy support for hotel employees and restaurant workers and built an organization of 17 interdenominational congregations in Las Vegas to address issues of worker justice. One of the hallmarks of her volunteerism and ministry is a constant effort to integrate prayer and worship with social justice issues.
A Healthcare Organizer and Advocate for Elderly
"I originally wanted to become an archeologist and go to graduate school after JVC, but then I realized that people's needs aren't being filled now, whereas archeology is about people's past." Meg realized that she could make a difference for people now.
Ms. Cooch first came to San Francisco in 1998 as a member of the Jesuit Volunteer Corps (JVC) and worked on issues pertaining to seniors as well as the disabled. She left San Francisco for a stint at a settlement house in Chicago, but returned to San Francisco to become Coordinator for the Healthcare Action Team, which addresses expanding homecare and supportive housing opportunites, and improves hospital discharge procedures to ensure that seniors and the disabled have a smooth transition from hospital back home.
She has also formed the Healthcare Action Team Singers, whose strength is not their voices but their message, which is the universal need to grow old in a community where consumers and workers are treated with understanding and respect.
Youth & Young Adult Home