DENVER, CO – Last week, the 科罗拉多州 Health Foundation presented Liza Marron with the 2018 Dr. Virgilio Licona Community Health Leadership Award 在 科罗拉多州卫生专题讨论会. 受博士启发. Licona的开拓精神, this award program seeks to honor his life legacy as an advocate for social justice, 公民权利和社区健康. It recognizes impassioned Coloradans who are finding innovative and effective strategies to overcoming 社区 health barriers across the state.
Liza is the founding director of the San Luis Valley Local Foods Coalition (SLVLFC) in rural southern 科罗拉多州, a nonprofit organization that seeks to foster an equitable local food system that restores the health of the people, 社区, 经济与生态. 由丽莎掌舵, the SLVLFC negotiated with a local school district to preserve 38 acres near Alamosa, 科罗拉多州. Securing this land thus allowed newly unemployed migrant workers the opportunity to grow fresh food while temporarily out of work. 六年后, the families continue to partner 在 park; some grow food in family garden plots and others are part of a farmer incubator, 都被称为格兰德河农场公园.
The newly established park provides aspiring farmers with access to the land and farming opportunities to support career mobility. Among many food security and education programs underway, the SLVLFC has graduated more than 300 participants annually from its evidence-based Cooking Matters program teaching families to cook healthy on a budget since its inception in 2013.
从1989年到1997年, Liza worked as an income maintenance technician for the Saguache County Department of Social Services. 在这个角色中, 她改善了客户的条件, specifically migrant workers who were subjected to standing in long lines while waiting for food stamp interviews. She worked to change the policy so that doors would open at 8 a.m., allowing workers to get to their job in the fields on time, ultimately helping them to thrive and live healthy, 富有成效的生活.
她在警局工作的时候, Liza oversaw a promising youth mentoring program, 预防试点, 以中心合并学校为基础. 直到2005年, she worked to establish and run a weekly tutoring program, 家庭作业俱乐部, in all three Saguache County school districts. Using the Youth Assets Model, she matched volunteer mentors with asset-challenged youth.
在她领导指导项目期间, Liza was deeply affected by the story of a program participant who was floundering through the foster care system and decided to become a licensed foster home, 专门研究难以定位的年轻人. 自, she opened her home to several teens – all of which stayed with Liza until they were emancipated from the system and two of which who were the first to graduate high school in their families.
从2007年开始, Liza served as the coordinator of the first cohort of LiveWell 科罗拉多州 (LWC) communities in Alamosa at Valley-Wide Health Systems. She recognized that health equity was not a LWC priority and lobbied, 和其他三个人一起, to create the LWC Community Advisory Committee. Liza served on this committee for several years advocating for health equity. In 2016, she was part of the LWC team that brought Double Up Food Bucks for SNAP users to 科罗拉多州 and just this year, she became the first 社区 representative on the LWC 董事会 of Directors. 2007年至2013年, LiveWell Alamosa brought together 社区 health advocates monthly to learn, discuss and act to make the San Luis Valley a healthier place to live.
他是社会正义的真正捍卫者, Liza has relentlessly shined a light on 社区 health issues by raising the voices of those left in the shadows,” said Foundation President and CEO Karen McNeil-Miller. “Her lifelong path of activism is a testament to Dr. Licona’s unwavering commitment to those most in need. 我们很荣幸地向各位颁发2018年博士学位. Virgilio Licona Health Leadership Award to Liza for her determination and dedication to the health those she serves.”
Liza and her family joined the Foundation’s 董事会, staff and fellow Symposium attendees for the award ceremony on Wednesday, 8月. 1. 除了获奖, 基金会承诺捐出20美元,000 donation to a 科罗拉多州-based nonprofit of her choice.
“I am humbled and pleased to be recognized in the same realm as that of Dr. Licona’s critical life work to create health equity," said Liza. “我和已故的博士有一个共同的愿望. Licona to fight for social justice and equity. Being honored with this award gives me new vigor to support 社区 health that enriches the well-being of all Coloradans.”
该奖项以Dr. Virgilio Licona于2016年去世. Dr. Licona worked to improve the health of Coloradans most in need, focusing his expertise as a physician in rural health care delivery and migrant health. A nationally recognized advocate for social justice, his role as a leader in communities brought a critical voice to some of the most important conversations and decisions related to how we can bring health in reach for all Coloradans.