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Introductory Remarks to the Janet Miller Award
By Birte Falconer, Program Committee Chair of Children's Trust Foundation
It is an honor for me to present the 2009 Janet Miller Award for Excellence in Family Support to Claudia Dickinson.
The Janet Miller Award of $10,000 as an unrestricted grant, was established in 2007 by the Children's Trust Foundation Board of Directors and Advisory Board in recognition and appreciation of Janet's lifelong dedication to the wellbeing of children and prevention of child abuse and neglect.
I see Janet's work as a piece of art, a quilt (quilt creations was another talent of Janet's) where loving hands and caring hearts share space with pinpoint seams and expert corners.
Through observation and research she embraced and supported the concepts of focusing on family strengths rather than weaknesses when working with families in prevention work and guided this organization towards supporting both tried and true parent education models and time and place sensitive, as
well as innovative programs in family support.
We want to keep Janet's passion for children in our hearts and minds as we move into the future.
In the future as we have in the past, we rely on the tireless efforts of people like Claudia, who for over 15 years on a daily basis familiarizes herself with the needs and wishes of the community she serves and takes action.
Within Lutheran Community Services Northwest she has given direction and managed programs in two locations. At South Snohomish Family Resource Center in Lynnwood she has not only focused on meeting basic needs and parent education but also been instrumental in raising awareness of a changing fabric of the community and finding ways of making newcomers of ethnically diverse backgrounds feel welcome at the family center and in the community.
In 2007 Claudia was trusted to integrate family center activities that are meaningful to the SeaTac community where she manages the Family Resource Center at Angle Lake. She is shaping a place that not only offers opportunities for learning and ways of coming together but also ways for people to give back. Using the words of one of her colleagues--she has the compassion, strength, and wisdom to develop sustainable programs.
Congratulations, Claudia!