Руководитель Vista Del Mar удостоена награды за борьбу за права детей и семей

Lena Wilson, president and chief executive of Cheviot Hills-based Vista Del Mar Child & Family Services, this month was awarded with the inaugural Cher Ofstedahl Legacy Award: Warrior for Children and Families. The award was presented by the California Alliance of Child and Family Services at its Stronger Together conference hosted in Anaheim last week. The award is named in honor of Cheryllynne “Cher” Ofstedahl, who was chief executive of Claremont-based Trinity Youth Services when she died in May. The organization said Wilson – who has led Vista Del Mar for more than seven years – was selected for “a career defined by challenging systems that fail children and families, rather than simply working within them.” It specifically highlighted her successful work at a prior job in Michigan to change a law placing the newborn children of minors into foster care, creating a new program where mothers retain custody of their children under supervision and support. In reflecting on her career, Wilson recalled to me how, when she was 19 and first breaking into her career, she worked with a small boy as a youth specialist who maintained a bright disposition despite a life of abuse and neglect. “For me, it started off with that one child,” Wilson said in the interview. “I think you have to keep that in focus of what’s in front of you. The overall number can be overwhelming, but when you narrow down what it is you’re truly about and what this child or family really needs, that’s how you get through it.” Wilson had worked with Ofstedahl in the past and said she found herself humbled that the California Alliance viewed her in the same light as the “fighter and warrior” that she knew. “I’ve been grappling with it because I’m just doing what I want to do. Recognition for something that you know in your gut is right is very interesting,” Wilson said. Vista Del Mar offers a variety of treatment programs for children with emotional, social, learning and developmental disabilities.