In mid-September, UNC Horizons honored two amazing women for their help and support of Horizons’ programs. The Horizons team voted and chose Mayor Lydia Lavelle to be the 2019 recipient of the Big Heart Award. This is an award established in honor of Horizons’ founding medical director and his wife, John and Joe Carol Thorp. The award goes to one person each year who shown exceptional energy, commitment, dedication and creativity in advocacy for helping to improve the lives of women and children.
Horizons presented the award to Mayor Lavelle for her vision, exemplary leadership and dedication to the community of Carrboro. Her support for UNC Horizons and the families Horizons serves helps to improve the lives of this and future generations. Horizons recognizes Mayor Lavelle for the caring, loving and compassionate welcome our program and the women and children receiving help from Horizons have received from the town under her leadership.
“We could not ever dream of a better and more welcoming place to call home!” says Hendrée Jones, PhD, executive director of UNC Horizons and professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the UNC School of Medicine.
The second award given by the Horizons’ team was the Eva Eastwood Peer-Support Ambassador Award to Dawn Haywood. This award is given to honor peer leaders who use their stories of recovery and resilience to educate, empower and inspire others, and who demonstrate that people with substance use disorders can and do recover and lead meaningful lives. Dawn embodies all of the qualities this award is intended to honor. She goes out of her way to provide a living role model of recovery to the women of Horizons, consistently lends a hand, takes on duties and fills in gaps. She always seems to get things done in a kind way and with a positive attitude. She has helped to link women to resources and recovery networks. Dawn is a trusted and regular speaker on behalf of recovery for women and engages women in Horizons to use their voices for recovery.