St. Mary’s County’s Commission for People with Disabilities is accepting nominations for its annual awards program, which recognizes individuals, employers, and organizations that improve life in the county for people with disabilities. Nominations are due by 5 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 25.
Six awards will be presented this year. The Volunteer Award goes to someone who has given significant time and effort to the disability community, while the Notable Employer Award recognizes a business that has expanded employment or volunteer opportunities for people with disabilities. The Care Partner Award is open to any care provider, paid or volunteer, who advocates for and empowers people with disabilities, and the Innovative Program Award honors someone who has built a new initiative promoting inclusion. Two additional awards carry the name of Vicki Brown: one for a student of any age with a disability, and one for an adult 18 or older, both meant to recognize a person with a disability who serves as a role model for others. The commission’s public materials don’t detail the award’s namesake; that’s a detail worth asking the commission about directly for anyone curious about its history.
Nominations can be submitted by any member of the public and are reviewed by the commission itself, which then selects the winners. Commissioners of St. Mary’s County will present the awards during a meeting in October — a tradition that dates back decades. Last October, for example, commissioners recognized Janice Woods with the Care Partner Award, Cathy Dikerson with the Innovative Program Award, Derond Carroll with the Vicki Brown Award, and Pathways Inc. with the Notable Employer Award.
The awards program itself traces back to the commission’s founding. The county established what was then called the Commission for the Disabled on April 16, 1991, in direct response to the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act the year before. The body has been renamed twice since — first to the Commission on People with Disabilities in 2002, then to its current name, the Commission for People with Disabilities, in 2022 — and had its bylaws formally adopted in 2010. Made up entirely of volunteers, the commission’s role is to advise the Board of County Commissioners on ADA compliance and to promote broader awareness, acceptance, and inclusion for people with disabilities across county life.
Nominations can be submitted by email to Cynthia Slattery at Cynthia.Slattery@stmaryscountymd.gov, or by phone at 301-475-4200, ext. 1110.
