Community Impact Awards

The Children’s Services Council of St. Lucie County, in coordination with the St. Lucie Chamber of Commerce, presents the Community Impact Award each month to an outstanding individual working with children and families in St. Lucie County. The Children’s Services Council is committed to recognizing the good work being done in our community by those who dedicate their lives to helping others. The most recent award winners are listed below.

You can also watch interviews with our winners on All In, (shows linked below) a partnership between Children’s Services Council of St. Lucie County and the St. Lucie County Chamber of Commerce to highlight individuals in our community who are "All In". On each episode, hosts Terissa Aronson and Sean Boyle will recognize a Community Impact Award winner as well as introduce local non-profits with opportunities for residents to get involved.

If you'd like to nominate someone who works in a Children's Services Council funded program for a Community Impact Award, please click here to submit your nomination.

Tommy John

Boys & Girls Club of St. Lucie County

As the Director of Community Outreach for the Boys & Girls Clubs of St. Lucie County, Tommy John works hard to ensure that opportunities exist for their club kids each and every day. He recently spearheaded the idea to open a Little "BIG" Library at the new Westside Campus of Boys & Girls Club in Fort Pierce. Through a Special Designations Request, Tommy was able to outfit a room at the new center with bookcases, chairs, bean bags and small reading group areas for club kids to come and check out books, participate in small reading intensives and just relax. Tommy continually goes above and beyond to support the kids in their clubs and throughout the community.

Kyle Cobb & Lauren Rubin

IRSC's Emerging Technology Summer Program

During the school year, Kyle Cobb teaches at Westwood and Lauren Rubin teaches at TC High, but during the summer, they both participate as instructors in the most immersive tech program on the Treasure Coast. With our funding and a small amount of Allegany dollars, they are immersing 30 low-income, primarily minority youth in a tech adventure that includes building robots, writing code, and other STEM activities at no cost.

Deanna Wilds

New Horizons of Okeechobee & the Treasure Coast

Deanna has provided substance abuse and bullying prevention services in St. Lucie County schools since August 2018. Deanna possesses the ultimate "can do" attitude while taking on tasks with positive energy. Her upbeat personality and calming presence have made her a go-to for students in need of a caring adult, and for school staff members when they need support or have had a difficult day. Deanna takes care to provide high quality work and is a source of encouragement for everyone around her.

Lorina Lee Beniamino

Big Brothers Big Sisters

Lorina was nominated by her supervisor and Program Director Samantha Taylor. Her nomination is shared below:

Lorina started as Program Associate in February 2020. She got roughly 3ish weeks of "normal" before our whole world was turned upside down in regards to how we ran our BBBS Reads program. Lorina has not let that hinder her and has flourished in her position. She helped me create a new way of serving for our members and has shown so much patience for our members who are seasoned and some just now learning the ways of technology. She has been my right hand gal and I don't know how I would have been able to transition to Program Director and keep this program running during the pandemic without her.

Congratulations, Lorina on an amazing first year in your position at Big Brothers Big Sisters. We look forward to more years with your dedication and determination.

Pastor Kenny Mills, Sr.

Save Our Children, Inc.

Pastor Kenny Mills is not unknown to most folks in the Fort Pierce Community. His work at Save Our Children, Inc. has been a cornerstone for the area for more than 30 years. Recently, with his help, a memorial was unveiled at Dreamland Park that honors the victims of gun violence in our community. His hope is that we never have to add another name to that wall.

Through Save Our Children, Pastor Mills and his wife, Donna, have raised a generation of children. Some former program participants are now sending their children to the program, and even though COVID hit their program hard, they are finding ways to stay engaged with their families. A new one-to-one virtual tutoring program has just launched as a way for them to help their students stay on track academically during these very challenging times.

Thank you, Pastor Mills, for always keeping the community's kids top of mind and ensuring that they have a safe, positive place to be themselves. Congratulations!

Joseph Richardson

Future Generations

Mr. Joseph Richardson is the founder of Future Generations, Inc. - a music oriented afterschool program serving students in Fort Pierce. When students attend Future Generations, they not only get the typical tutoring, homework help and guidance you'd expect at an afterschool program, but they also learn to play multiple musical instruments Mr. Richardson has a way of teaching students that gets them excited about the prospect of music as they learn and builds their confidence to pursue even greater goals.

The work he and his team put in to the program does not go unnoticed and we are proud to honor him as one of our Community Impact Award Winners.

Simone DuPree

END IT, Corp.

Simone was nominated by a member of her team at END IT. Here is an excerpt from that nomination:

I am writing this letter to nominate Simone Dupree for the Community Impact Award. Let me tell you a little about Simone Dupree.

Simone is the graphic designer, videographer/editor and also dance instructor on our team. She is also one of our phenomenal instructors, teaching our youth the art of graphic designing, the art of videography/editing and the art of dancing. She is currently a full-time student at Indian River State College and will receive her Bachelor Degree in Graphic Designing this winter.

Earlier this year, COVID-19 hit causing almost everything to shut down, including our program. The pandemic did not cease Simone to establish different ways to make our online presence relevant, attractive and engaging for our youth. Simone put in countless hours working on different projects, challenges for our youth to enjoy with each other while they are home during the pandemic shutdown. She has gone above and beyond to ensure we were still interacting with our youth via social media.

Despite the immense amount of work that she does, Simone consistently finds ways to interconnect with our youth, that she not only teaches them graphic designing, videography/editing and dance, but they are also comfortable to come to her as a compassionate adult/mentor. Her willingness to assist others is unequaled.

Not once since I have been working with Simone Dupree have I heard one negative comment from youth and/or staff about her. It is with great pleasure that I respectfully submit this nomination for Simone to be recognized as the Community Impact Award.

Tricia Goulet, RN

Florida Department of Health in St. Lucie County

As the Senior Community Health Nursing Supervisor at the local department of health, part of Tricia Goulet's role is to supervise the nurses who work in St. Lucie County Public Schools. School Health Nurses are dedicated professionals who work to advocate for the health and safety of the children in our community. These nurses require expertise in pediatrics, public health and mental health. Health promotion, assessment and referral skills are also an integral component of the role.

Especially during the coronavirus pandemic, Tricia and her team of nurses have worked diligently to ensure the health and safety of our students. We are grateful for the support she gives to her nurses, to our school district and most importantly to the children in our community.

Jessica Bright

Inner Truth Project

Jessica is an amazing peer advocate and certified nursing assistant with exceptional administrative and communication abilities. Working as the Outreach Coordinator for the Inner Truth Project, Jessica has helped that relatively new organization expand throughout our community while bringing knowledge about sexual abuse to our residents. Jessica has volunteered for many local organizations in the community, assisting the homeless and working with substance abuse clients. She was born and raised in Parkland, FL and is the mother to an incredible little girl.

Kathy Derringer

Helping People Succeed

Kathy Derringer absolutely represents the heart and soul of Helping People Succeed. Working at the agency for 35 years, she has touched nearly every part of the work being done in our community and those surrounding us. As the Vice President of Successful Families at Helping People Succeed, Kathy oversees programs including Baby Steps, Healthy Families, Music & Movement Classes, Infant Massage, Early Intervention and the popular BRAIN program (Building Readiness Among Infants Now!). These programs serve children between birth and five years old in Okeechobee, Martin and St. Lucie counties.

Kathy works tirelessly in our community to ensure that families with the youngest residents are equipped with everything they need to ensure a successful start for their babies young lives. To learn more about the programs that HPS provides in our community, visit them online at www.hpsfl.org.

Oralea Marquardt, MSW

Treasure Coast Hospice

Oralea Marquardt is a Grief Counselor at Treasure Coast Hospice in their Youth Grief Program. She lover her work with grieving children and their families and always strives to do the best for each person that she works with. She has presented to Universities and the Florida Hospice and Palliative Care organizations on supporting grieving children as well as working with parents who have lost children.

She is a creative therapist who works hard to connect with children, even creating grief specific games and art modalities to work with kids. She is a shining example of someone who takes difficult situations and turns them in to something meaningful. Learn more about Treasure Coast Hospice's programs and their Camp Good Grief here on their website.

Kaitlyn Spera

Boys & Girls Clubs of St. Lucie County

When COVID hit, Kaitlyn Spera jumped into action. Kaitlyn is the Club Director at the Garden Terrace Center for the Boys & Girls Club and when her kids could no longer come to the club, she and BGC found a way to bring the club to them by way of virtual workouts, mental health check-ins and reading groups. Kaitlyn also helped organize a tea party with Love Shack Fancy for girls in her club. The tea party focused on more than just fun, though. In her role as the Social and Emotional Learning and Trauma Informed Liaison with BGC, she found a way to incorporate those lessons into the tea party as well. Kaitlyn enjoys working with children to help them overcome behavioral barriers and reach their full potential.

Darcy McFolley

IGNITE Youth Alliance

In 2015, Darcy McFolley was the first street outreach worker hired through Restoring the Village Youth Initiative (now IGNITE Youth Alliance). He quickly stood out as a leader among his peers and was soon promoted to lead outreach worker, and finally to Supervisor for the whole street outreach team. With solid street credibility and innovative ideas, Darcy has had a huge impact on the street outreach component of IGNITE. He is a positive adult and advocate for hundreds of youth in the community, as well as a mentor to the rest of the outreach workers at IGNITE. In addition to his job at IGNITE he also works full-time as a behavior technician at a drug rehab facility and is active in his church, (often seen in the streets of Fort Pierce, delivering meals to the homeless.) Darcy is married and has three children.

Jessica Drew - Annual Community Impact Award Winner

PACE Center for Girls

Jessica Drew is a hidden gem at PACE Treasure Coast. She is a passionate advocate for the girls that she serve on a daily basis. Every year she prepares them for an annual poetry event, encouraging them to use the traumatic situations they have gone through as their testimony.

Jessica once picked up a student every day because she lived within a 2 mile radius of the school and she could not get a bus assigned by the district. Jessica wanted to ensure that the girl attended school daily because she was close to graduation, so she added this student to her "Magic School Bus" route.

Jessica ensures that the girls remain connected to the community keeping them involved in the Youth Leadership and the Mentorship Program. She advocates tirelessly for the girls in the program ensuring that all of their academic and social/emotional goals are met. There isn't a battle or a neighborhood tough enough to keep Jessica Drew out of, when it comes to serving our girls.