Arny Spahn Community Service Award
When you look around the community, it’s common to see the same friendly, familiar faces at all the community events. Arny Spahn is one of those faces. His spirit and commitment to the community can be seen and felt through Central Vermont and beyond. Spahn has worked on several local town projects and served on many boards, including the Clara Martin Center board for more than 40 years. This award was named in Arny's honor in 2016, to recognize his work and dedication to Clara Martin Center and to our communities.
2021 Recipient
Kym Anderson,
Orange County Restorative Justice Center, and COSA
Left: Jenny Beaudin, Clara Martin Center Center: Kym Anderson, Orange County Restorative Justice Center and COSA. Right: Adam Bindrum, Clara Martin Center
Kym returned to her home state of Vermont in 2004 after working on behalf of victims of domestic violence in Washington State for many years. When I met Kym, 17 year ago, she was working on our local domestic and sexual violence task force providing countless hours, grant writing skills, and community engagement efforts to support much needed work in Orange county. Our work overlapped again when Kym joined our Intensive Domestic Abuse Program (IDAP) supervision team. Through that work, she was integral in supporting both probation officers and agency staff in facilitating groups for men with domestic violence convictions who were at high risk to re-offend. Kym’s work in this field demanded advocacy and supervision skills, compassion for those we served and a vision for hope, safety and justice for abused women. After that (or maybe at the same time as that), Kym began running our Restorative Justice Program in Orange County. I served on the board with Kym for many years and have watched her work tirelessly, and with great compassion and skill to help individuals re-entering our community after incarceration. While Kym’s work focuses on helping individuals navigate the criminal legal system, Kym’s work demands a strong understanding of mental health and substance use needs and services as well. The bulk of Kym’s work involves organizing and participating in Circles of Support and Accountability (COSA) teams for our most high risk individuals. Additionally, Kym facilitates the Safe Driver program and most recently, she was an integral part of securing a new transitional housing grant for people coming out of prison into Orange County. Kym is understated and humble, however, anyone that is paying attention can see that she is committed, passionate, empathetic, and giving and that she has made a remarkable difference in the lives of many within our community. She has strong relationships with business owners, service providers, landlords, probation and parole staff, and all of the clients that she serves as well as their families. As a therapist working with criminally involved clients, I often count on Kym for resources and I have seen her commitment and work play out in incredibly positive ways for our clients who are not only considered at high risk to re-offend or relapse but who are also often dismissed in our community. Kym’s career has been one of service to others and for the past 17 years, that service has been concentrated in Orange County. Kym is a collaborative professional who is often referring clients to our services and working in conjunction with our staff as necessary. She is an asset to our community and to the people that we serve. I hope you will consider her for this award.
This letter is in regards to the Arny Spahn community award. I would like to nominate Kym Anderson. I have worked in this community with Kym in her role with the Restorative Justice Program and COSA for over 10 years now. Kym has been an incredible support to many of the clients we share on our caseloads. She has supported people in accessing CMC services and has always been ready to team and provide resources to clients in the criminal justice program who need her support (and whom are a historically underserved and isolated population). Kym works tirelessly to support both victims and offenders in the community, she is constantly in background supporting with skill acquisition and resources such as housing. She is an amazing benefit and asset to the and I think this award would be a great way to recognize all her hard work and honor her commitment to making the world a better place.
Prior Year Recipients
2020 Recipient
Peg DeGoosh
Director of the Atkinson House in Newbury, VT
Peg is being recognized as an invaluable resource and care-giver devoted to helping others in our local area, for over a decade.
Peg has been a role model for community engagement and advocacy for the needs of individuals experiencing aging and physical and mental health challenges.
Peg has extended a warm welcome for more folks who struggle with mental health challenges, to become residents of the Atkinson House. Her kind and generous invitation is a beacon of hope for those seeking a place to call home.
Peg’s ongoing advocacy and addressing stigma is work that is impactful and essential, now more than ever.
Thank you Peg, your efforts exemplify how the accessibility of fundamental needs support the healing and well-being for all individuals!
2019 Recipient
Dede Tracy, SASH Coordinator
Dede Tracy has had a positive impact on many CMC clients’ lives for many years. Staff that have worked with her have witnessed the caring and supportive help that she has extended to the people she works with. Dede arranges transportation to activities, visits seniors in their home and does what she can to make seniors feel welcomed and part of the community at large. The role of the SASH Coordinator is the most frequent and consistent staff presence in the SASH hub. This presence allows the SASH Coordinator to build trusting relationships with participants, and to develop a thorough knowledge of each participant’s strengths and challenges as they pertain to living safely in his or her home. The responsibilities of the SASH Coordinator fall into three broad categories of interventions. These three kinds of interventions, provided for SASH participants in a person-centered, holistic manner, are a foundation of the SASH model. These three intervention categories are Transitional care, Self-management education and Coordinated care interventions.
Dede is not new to the helping profession, prior to her role as the SASH Coordinator in the Randolph Health Service Area, Dede worked as a Case Manager for the Central Vermont Council on Aging. It is very evident that Dede was born to help others and this is evident by her commitment to the needs of her clients. Individuals that are served are often people that are very vulnerable and could be at risk of being overlooked or lost in the system. Dede seems to follow all of them closely and is attuned to who they are and what they need. It is truly impressive to see all that she’s done in the community to expand opportunities for socialization and connection for her clients. Dede is a shining example of “People helping People”. Thank you for making our community a better place.
2018 Recipient
Mike Nelson
In appreciation of you being a special kind of landlord and understanding the challenges of people living with serious and persistent mental illness;
In recognition of your generous “helping of compassion”, encouragement and support of your tenants when issues arise;
In honor of your creative and caring approach to the business of being a landlord;
In acknowledgement of your endless commitment to maintain livable housing for people who are so often on the verge of homelessness.
Thank you Mike! Your contributions are recognized and greatly appreciated!
2017 Recipient
Ramsey Papp
Arny Spahn, President of the Board of Trustees, presented the Community Service Award to Ramsey Papp of Capstone Community Action. The award was dedicated in his name last year to honor his 40 years of service to the Clara Martin Center Board. Papp was nominated by Clara Martin Center staff who wrote that “If she does not have a simple solution, she never hesitates to take the time to brainstorm what other options there are; sometimes to help a client who she may never have even met…She is the definition of commitment to not only her employing agency, but also to the community she serves.”
2016 Recipient
Marla Simpson
Marla Simpson received the very first Arnie Spahn Community Service Award. Simpson has been a strong public advocate to support mental health services in Orange County and the State of Vermont. She is a member of the Board Advisory and Local Standing Committee for Clara Martin Center. Members of this committee are involved in the development of the local system of care plans for the various programs at the agency.
Marla was nominated by the governor to be on the committee for the Vermont Governor Council on Pathway from Poverty. This committee provides input regarding the local issues related to poverty. She strongly advocates and works to educate other committee and community members on the needs of adults who live in poverty and those who have mental health needs.
Marla is also a member of the Vermont Adult Statewide Program Standing committee on mental health. This committee advises the Department of Mental Health on key issues and developments.
Gretchen Pembroke, Director of Adult Service and Primary Care at Clara Martin Center, said Marla is a “bright, compassionate woman who does not shy away from an opportunity to use her voice to help others. Marla has been and will continue to be a passionate advocate for members of the Randolph community and the larger state mental health system.”