Awards, Jan 15, 1998

The following awards have been presented for work in philanthropy, fund raising, volunteerism, and non-profit management:

Cancer. The American Cancer Society (Atlanta) has given its 1997 Medal of Honor to Helene G. Brown, director of community applications of research for the Division of Cancer Prevention and Control at the U. of California at Los Angeles’ Jonsson Cancer Center. She was honored for her outstanding public-health achievements in cancer prevention and control.

Social services. The Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty (Grand Rapids, Mich.) has presented its 1997 Samaritan Awards, which recognize community-based programs that provide alternatives to welfare. Each organization will receive a $1,000 grant and will go on to compete for an additional $10,000 grant to be awarded to one top program. The recipients:

— Boys Hope/Girls Hope-California (Laguna Niguel, Cal.), which provides at-risk youths with educational activities and foster or transitional homes that have a family-like environment.

— Bridge of Hope (Coatesville, Pa.), which offers homeless women with children help in securing housing and employment through professional counseling and mentors from a local church.

— Building Together Ministries (Raleigh, N.C.), which provides children with academic and emotional support and adults with education, employment, and job-training opportunities.

— Housing at the Crossroads (Bellevue, Wash.), which provides low-cost transitional housing and counseling and support services for homeless families.

— Mothers’ Home (Darby, Pa.), which provides transitional housing for pregnant women and pre- and post-natal services to encourage self-sufficiency and a positive family environment.

— Prodigals Community (Winston-Salem, N.C.), which offers a structured ministry program for drug offenders that provides opportunities for spiritual growth, responsibility, and self-sufficiency.

— Save Our Youth (Denver), which intervenes in the lives of at-risk youths through mentor relationships focusing on educational and spiritual development.

— Skid Row Access (Los Angeles), which provides a 6,000-square-foot workshop where low-income and unemployed people can produce crafts, jewelry, wooden toys, and other items for sale.

— Union Mission Ministries (Norfolk, Va.), which supports needy and homeless people through such services as the Rehabilitation Program, the Family Shelter, and the Industrial Program, which provides jobs for men.

— Wingshadow (Fort Collins, Colo.), which helps troubled and abused children and develops specialized programs to meet their needs.