The results from my Everyday Hero Giveaway are in, but first I want to share a portrait of the stories you shared with me. Each of the individuals nominated displayed qualities of selflessness, generosity, kindness, and commitment. As one nominator noted, “Heroes don’t put themselves first. Heroes move us forward. Heroes inspire us to be our better selves.”
My team of jurors and I were impressed and humbled. Let me tell you about a few people doing good work in your communities during this pandemic.
So many folks are making masks to donate. Bettina Broer directed our attention to Nate Barber, captain of the fire department in Nantucket and a father of two, who is on sick leave at the moment as he battles cancer. Nevertheless, he sits down at his sewing machine each morning and stays there for hours. He has already produced 700 masks for local hospital workers. Jessica Sirois nominated Katrina Kelley of Amphitrite Studio who responded immediately to the situation and began making masks for anyone working in healthcare, with the public, or who has an immunodeficiency. Liz McGee told us about Brian Braley, the manager of Spindleworks, an art-based day program for adults with disabilities. He has been sewing masks for his clients, as well as anyone with need in his community.
MJ Benson expressed gratitude to Joanna Russell who serves as a nurse and has spearheaded a campaign to get masks made through Maine Medical Center and Partners for World Health. Kim Possee and Janet Perlmutter Lesniak both nominated Kristen Thornton Navas, an intensive care nurse on Cape Cod, who has been using her vast social network to gather protective equipment donations for local healthcare organizations. Shannon Johnson nominated Meredith Wynn, who she follows on Instagram (@camerashymomma), for her uplifting images and content, as well as sewing masks and posting tutorials about how to do so, even as she faces her own battles with cancer. Finally, Jodi Walsh told us about Mel DeWees at Gray Contemporary Gallery in Houston. He is on the verge of losing his gallery and has turned it into a workshop for making plastic face protectors and quality masks for the local medical center. “I’m not sure the gallery will make it,” she wrote, “but he will go down helping others.”
Jaclyn Bousquet wrote about a pair of sisters, Christie and Ashley Jardine, who are dealing with two family members affected with the coronavirus. Their younger sister is hospitalized and their father is in a medically induced coma fighting for his life. Ashley continues to rally for care and medication for COVID-19 patients in Maine. Christie, who lives in Denmark, was recently laid off and cannot return home for two weeks because she just tested positive herself. Both sisters are staying strong and doing what they can to support their family.
Several people nominated people they know who are parents at home with small children doing what it takes to tackle the challenges of everyday life in this new normal. These people, such as Wendy Withrow (nominated by Mary Lamson-Burke) and Lauryn and Michael Hamilton (nominated by Marilynn Vander Schaaf), are fine examples of the many parents behind the scenes who are reinventing what it means to be together as a family during a time of crisis, finding creative ways to educate their children while taking care of themselves. Some of these parents also work in the medical field, such as Alaina Enslen’s friend Dawn, who is a nurse and the mother of three young girls. She has been working nonstop since the coronavirus hit New York and had to self-quarantine herself in her basement apartment last week when she began showing symptoms. Katie Garrity’s friend Kristina Maria, a single parent who teaches at Westbrook Regional Vocation Center, has juggled transforming her curriculum into online teaching lessons, even as she works weekend shifts at Maine Medical Center.
In Charleston, social activist Kat Morgan was nominated by Karyn Healey. Kat has long been involved with Charleston Area Justice Ministry, which brings congregations of multiple faiths together to discuss and research issues, as well as push for accountability and change. Kat also works with Allies Take Action, ChangeAbility Solutions, and Reading Against Racism Charleston. Kat’s upcoming move to California with her partner was interrupted by the pandemic, so she shifted gears and began creating free online educational resources to support her community.
Over in Tucson, Arizona, artist Catherine Nash’s new friend Shery Christopher heard about her husband’s medical issues due to complications associated with Lyme disease and immediately him offered use of her personal infrared sauna three times a week indefinitely, a treatment that had been recommended and which they could not afford.
Yoga instructor Lily Dougher Hagerman was nominated by Maryjane Johnston. Lily, also a mom, responded to the need for nurses and went back to work while continuing to teach yoga classes that emphasize beginning with what we have and using that to move forward in a way that brings us closer to our true nature.
Multiple people shared stories about how members of their own families inspire and care for them. In Maine, Kate Squibb’s sister Erin Squibb and her husband are paramedics facing scarcity in their fields, but rising to the occasion day after day while parenting two children. In Vermont, Dona Mara Friedman said that her husband Steven Schlussel reassures her everyday while listening to her feelings, thoughts, and fears. Trudie Wolking wrote from Louisiana to nominate her husband Chris Wolking, who is a paramedic and responded to their governor’s plea for help. He volunteered to go to New Orleans and serve on the front lines. Catherine Mansell told of her son Jon who works for CNN and refuses to leave Brooklyn. He is putting in 12 hour days to support his station and bring everyone important news stories.
Finally, Suzanne Lubeck nominated her friend Candace for the heroic and often unglamorous effort she makes to care for her sick husband day after day, and particularly for her honesty about her mistakes, breakdowns, and impatience as she does what needs to be done.
All of these folks are everyday heroes in my book. Thank you for sharing their stories. It was an honor to receive them. They inspired me and the members of my jury and made their job very difficult.
In fact, the jury results were too close to pick just one. Here are the winners.
Donna Dwyer, nominated by both Caren-Marie Michel and Judy West Schneider, is the CEO of My Place Teen Center in Westbrook, Maine. Since the center is closed at the moment, she developed a plan to make full meals for anyone to pick up at no cost. Her staff is also delivering meals to families, along with personal hygiene kits, and doing welfare checks on families and kids isolated from school.
Rachael Onik told us about her sister Elizabeth Keefe. This girl has faced a lot of obstacles in her lifetime, losing her father at 13, raising two boys as a single parent, and putting herself through nursing school while waiting tables. She is on the front line like so many in the healthcare industry, working the night shift in the ER at Boston Medical. Her fiancé also works at Boston Medical. Their wedding is scheduled for June 5th.
And finally, Tracey Leavitt’s twenty-two year old son, Asa Leavitt-Witt was so concerned when he heard about the virus spreading that he single-handedly engineered getting his mother home from a painting retreat in Mexico. He made all her necessary travel arrangements, orchestrating her return so she wouldn’t have to go through customs with returnees from Europe, and she wouldn’t have to fly through New York City. Once she was safely home and beginning her fourteen day quarantine, he announced he’d be arriving the next day, having driven from San Francisco to New York so he could be there to get groceries and run errands. He is currently working his job remotely from a nearby Airbnb.
All three of these folks will receive a 12” x 12” painting selected by the individual who nominated them, along with a copy of my catalog [PAUSE].