“Edmund Doughty has such an amazing dedication and commitment to the 5 counties and communities that he serves and assists with. With over 973 logged volunteer hours in Blood Services since 2017, Edmund’s hours equate to assisting the Blood Donor Ambassadors for approximately 195 blood drives in his tenure. In the past he has also volunteered with Disaster Cycle Services and Service to the Armed Forces. Edmund is a regular blood donor, donating over 5 gallons of life saving blood. He is always willing to help wherever he is needed and often that is last minute to ensure blood drives have the best customer service from the Blood Donor Ambassadors. He works well with staff and blood donors and he is truly impacting patient lives every day.” – Sherry Clontz, Nominator

The team at Centro Unido Latino Americano (CULA) make a tremendous impact in the community they serve. They credit their teamwork and the group’s ability to learn and grow together as the basis for their success. Every person brings their rich cultural history with them and shares it with one another to create bonds with members of the community.

Carlos Lopez is the Coordinator for Youth Engagement and has been living in Marion for 16 years. As the oldest of two, he always seemed to fall into leadership roles throughout his life. First as a volunteer with CULA, where Carlos participated in an outdoor youth program and realized he could be an advocate for the youth in the community and prepare them for their future with a strengthened mentality.

Highlights of the CULA team include:

• They’ve served the Latino and minority communities in McDowell County since 2009.
• They’ve significantly increased the organization’s capacity when it comes to resources and staff, specifically since 2021.
• Today, they operate out of two locations, serving hundreds of families each year.
• They offer a number of programs and services, from education and workforce development to health and wellness support.
• They sponsor community-building events and activities, such as K-7 afterschool programs, tutoring, financial assistance and a variety of additional resources for mental health and youth development.
• The staff uses every opportunity to learn and grow. They now hold certifications in Youth and Teen Mental Health First Aid, QPR Suicide Prevention, Community Health Workers, Trauma and Resilience and more.
• They operate a bi-weekly food pantry, which has served many families during the pandemic and continues today.

Centro Unido Latino Americano is a non-profit organization to benefit the rural community of McDowell County and surrounding areas. Their resources reach the community at large as they encourage Latinx residents to overcome barriers that can obstruct their livelihood, including translation for people who don’t speak English, food for families that don't get much to eat, access to healthcare for the uninsured and much more. Their goal is to raise potential for more social integration, economic opportunities and cultural justice.

As Carlos puts it: “We are training community leaders to know how to identify mental health challenges and give them solutions that work. We show up because we understand that it takes an empathetic effort to make a change.”

“Vonnie Durant is more like a staff member than a volunteer. She works long hours and is committed to excellence in all the tasks she takes on. She takes new volunteers and staff members under her wing, teaching them in a way that ensures the next generation of Red Cross workers will be just as amazing (or better) than the current generation. Need help? Vonnie will be there. Have a question? Vonnie has the answer! She volunteers with Disaster Cycle Services about 40 hours a week, responding to local disasters as well as preparing the community for emergent situations. Vonnie was recently awarded the North Carolina Governor’s Volunteer Medallion for her outstanding volunteer hours with the American Red Cross. She is a tremendous asset to the Western North Carolina chapter.” – Karen Ventrice, Nominator

Stephanie Austin is a 911 operator with the Skyland EMS team. She’s received accolades for her calming voice and practical advice that she provides people when they’re often experiencing some of the scariest times in their lives. She discovered this is the best way she’s found to be able to help people in need.

“A distressed wife called 911 regarding her husband’s inability to breath,” recalls a grateful recipient of Austin’s assistance. “She was scared and unable to understand what was happening. But the voice of the 911 operator on the telephone line spoke with such calm assurance, she was able to save her husband’s life. That voice, Austin’s voice, provided the woman with the strength she needed to begin chest compressions. Austin called out, ‘1…2…3….4,’ with a rhythm the wife will never forget. She made the wife feel brave. She was composed and compassionate throughout the entire call until the Fire Department arrived and took over.”

Highlights of Austin’s career include:

• She worked at a jail for 10 years before going into communications.
• The job suits her because she really likes to help people and talk to folks from all walks of life.
• She has developed tremendous patience on the job, talking people through the stressful situation that caused the 911 call.
• She’s become quite astute at finding out where people are calling from, which is one of the most important parts of her job. “If you can’t get anything else, I at least need to know where to send help,” Austin says. “The rest we can figure out, but I need to know where you're at and that part can be frustrating because people are panicking, and I understand it’s really bad, but we have to know where you are to help you.”
   

Because she cares so much about people, Austin says that the most frustrating part about the job is that she never knows what happens to them after the ambulance arrives and they’re taken to the hospital. “You get them to the hospital, but you don’t really know how it goes after that,” she says. It was through social media that she heard about the couple who was so grateful for how much Austin helped them keep the husband alive through her gentle guidance until the EMS arrived.

Austin’s grateful for her husband and family because they are her greatest support system whenever she deals with the challenges of her job.

Have been a volunteer, fire chief for 20 years. I been in the fire service, 25 years, but a chief, 20 years.

My dad was the Fire Chief at the volunteer department in yancey County. I was just kind of been in my blood the whole time I guess.

 Well, we have certainly moved into the new facility, and we've been just getting set up and ready to move forward to that. We were in the other. So, for about 50 years,  we tried to do this one, correct and everything set out for another year, I suppose. And so, I've been working with that, and we have recently lowered our rating to it. ISO class 4. We were 5. So we got our ISO, right. Okay. And that that takes a lot of work. those are the things. That I've been working on how so. Try to help that when we moved here and you build and we do a lot.

 We outside facility open to some of the other groups like this sheriff's office. Police department. That agencies to do their training in that children because we might had a nice trainer. So I kind of schedule that stuff and keep all those things I landed as well. I  Loan out my training room. It’s  useful for other people.

 I've got a lot of support from other people in particular, and the town council on that to give them credit for help for helping us did it very facility, which took a long time to get the sanding and everything said it. very helpful with that. and I'd have to give Montessor to people, I've been in the fire department. Here's the Into their guidance and support. And I had, we had a former cheese that worked for me. Part 10 and takes care of my retired members. Tony. encouraged me a lot. So, He was very helpful and then, of course, Danny day back to doctors that she before. Me, and, and he said, the groundwork for a lot of the things that we've been able to keep going. So, that's really him with a lot.

Charlie Easley, who was a past Chief , he’s retired now. You really just started a division about getting a new fire department years ago. We just kind of picked up and try to get going with it. I've said it was getting pretty run down so we'll be a facility that we carry on something. 

Trying to keep up the training in, those kind of things. Well, the biggest challenge is branding on air department. Nowadays, ours is not really an exception is volunteers. They're just Getting tours. So really getting a A team together and getting people who want to join and be a part of something. Right? It is is kind of test these days. So recruitment vacation, The firefighters are always a challenge for volunteer departments today. 

 People don't realize that the state requires the same thing. For the volunteer department, they do for career department which I know the level of training, the same level of equipment that kind of thing in order to have. That's what sets the Raven regardless where your volunteer career. So right, right.

Well then one last thing. Yes, you don't get to these positions alone. It takes everybody in Your department together so well, have a lot of good people working with the years and a lot of good members or so, that's it.

A nurse at Mission Health’s Asheville Surgery Center, Lisa Clark is truly a good Samaritan. Since 2019, she’s committed to a project wherein she uses discarded medical wrapping for surgery supplies and sews them into warm, waterproof sleeping bags and pillows to donate to homeless shelters. She has created more than 500 sleeping bags and other items since then, providing them to local non-profits like Beloved, Homeward Bound, ABCCM and Aurora Veterans Home for Women.

Highlights of Clark’s career include:

• She served in the Air Force, which led to her affinity for Veterans and their causes. “Veterans are close to my heart because you’ve got to look out for one another,” Clark says. “Your veteran crew is your family.”
• She got the idea to make waterproof sleeping bags from a Florida group of children who made yoga mats for homeless women vets with kids. As a recovery room nurse, she wondered what the hospital did with the leftover blue wraps and discovered they went to a landfill. “That just about killed me,” she says. “We do about 10,000 surgeries a year— that’s thousands of pounds of wrapping material. And it's all sterile. It's also waterproof. And it's warm.”
• She then began gathering other materials that went unused and designed things like bags with drawstrings, bags that go over backpacks to keep them dry and other practical items.
• She’s helping a fellow veteran find the supplies and workers needed to complete and open a women's shelter in Hendersonville.
• Meanwhile, she’s working with an artist to paint a bear as a mascot for the shelter. “The bear has seasons,” Clark says. “We did spring and summer on the front, fall and winter in the back and then there's a beautiful sunset across the chest and the stars on his head.”
   

Women veterans and their children hold a special place in her heart. She has worked with female veterans since 2014, when she saw a need in the community and a way that she could address it. Using resources in a way that reduces waste, she helps others at the same time. She’s inspired many people inside and outside the organization with her generosity, ingenuity and humility.

She considers the veterans she serves to be the heroes in her story.

Detective Paige Shell is being honored for her bravery and responsiveness to a near-drowning that occurred at Lake Junaluska, a year ago.  A male had fallen out of his kayak and was not wearing a life jacket. Someone out walking heard him yelling for help and called 911. The caller stated that he was about to drown, Det. Shell arrived on scene, as other people looked on, she jumped into the lake and swam out to the male. Det. Shell was able to grab him and swim back to the shore. Det. Shell’s quick thinking and willingness to help someone in need saved the individual's life. Paige’s selfless actions were heroic, and she is a true professional, who is an asset to Waynesville Police Department and the citizens of Waynesville.

She was born on the Marshall Islands (in the middle of the Pacific Ocean). Her dad was in the military. They moved to FL and in middle school they moved to NC.  She has lived in Haywood County ever since. She was always interested in criminal justice and attended Western Carolina University where she obtained her 4-year degree in criminal justice and attended and completed her BELT (Basic Law Enforcement Training).  She has been with the Waynesville Police Dept ever since.  She has a 10-year-old son, Zane.

As demonstrated by her heroic action, Detective Shell takes care of her community.  She says community support is integral to the success of the entire department and feels lucky to work in such a close-knit community.  WPD is large enough to provide advancement opportunities while the community is small enough, so you know many of the people you work with and respond to.  Her commitment to her community and to law enforcement is demonstrated by her pursuit of a SWT medic program. On top of her parental and job responsibilities she is also dedicated one day a week for 8 weeks and several practice hours to attending paramedic school. Once complete, the WPD can start their own SWAT medic program, a service that bridges the gap between emergency services and law enforcement where swat teams will be able to deploy a medic along with the swat team - this person is cross trained in both.  This benefits both the community and law enforcement as it means less response time to emergency situations, less waiting for an ambulance to arrive as they will already be trained and will have life saving devices with them.  They can respond immediately and provide quicker treatments.

As you can see Detective Shell is continuously working to improve the WPD and support the community she lives in.  She is determined.  Her advice to others pursuing this career - if you have a passion for helping people, this career will help you do that.  Be determined in your pursuit as sometimes cases are easy to solve and sometimes, they are more difficult and require that spirit of determination. No matter what, you will find this career to be rewarding.

Lt. Col. Joe Healy is a nurse at the CarePartners PACE program in Buncombe County. He feels inspired to take care of folks, help people heal and nurture them back to health. He’s found nursing to be the most effective way to do that. He’s humbled by his experiences and says that taken all together, his life’s journeys put him where he is today.

Highlights of Healy’s career include:

• He’s been a nurse since 2008, when he started out in intensive care.
• He’s been in the military since 2008 as well, first as a deputy chief nurse in an Air National Guard unit.
• He was active duty in the Air Force, where he served in Kuwait and Afghanistan.
• Overseas, he flew with the Critical Care Transport team, a highly specialized and trained medical team that can create and operate a portable intensive care unit on board any available aircraft during flight.
• He’s still an active-duty Air National Guardsman with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.
• In the military, he currently serves in the position of clinical operations manager.
• He’s organized and taught a Tactical Combat Casualty Care course for over 100 airmen at his base.
• In his civilian life, he has worked his way up into management, where he feels he can better help more people.
   

Healy’s grandfather played a big role, inspiring his grandson to serve his country. A World War II veteran, he instilled in young Healy a respect for the military. Healy understood that it took a lot of character to be a member of the armed services and to stay a member. “They say that active-duty personnel are one percent of the population in the United States. So, I pride myself on being part of that one percent,” Healy says.

His grandmother inadvertently gave him the idea to become a nurse after she had a heart attack and ended up in intensive care when Healy was 10 years old. The male nurse who took care of her showed great kindness and attentiveness. The nurse eventually became a role model to the boy. “Rayford was his name,” Healy says. “He was an excellent individual. He took the time and effort to show me how you can really care for an individual and care for them like they're your family.”

Healy appreciates the support he receives from his family and the communities he serves.