Meet GEDCO’s New Board Members!
At GEDCO’s recent Annual Meeting, Member Organization Representatives in attendance unanimously elected 5 new dynamic, and experienced professionals to serve a three-year term to GEDCO’s Board of Directors. GEDCO is looking forward to hitting the ground running in working with these exceptionally talented men and women!
Nicole Francis
Nicole serves as Managing Partner and Senior Development Strategist at Easton Strategy Group and the Executive Consultant of Operations at Black Girls Vote, Inc. She received much of her training through her pursuit of Business Administration courses at Albertus Magnus College. She earned a degree in Legal Studies from the Community College of Baltimore County and is also a Member of the Board of the House of Ruth, Maryland.
Mike Maxwell
Mike serves as Reporting and Business Intelligence Manager at Brown Advisory. He earned his BA/BS in Economics/Finance from St. Joseph’s University.
Reverend Richard J. Meadows, Jr.
Reverend Meadows serves as Associate Rector of Grace Episcopal Church in Silver Spring, MD. He studied at the Hampton Institute and received a M.A. in Divinity from Virginia Union University. Other credentials include a Clinical Pastoral Education residency through Sentara Norfolk General Hospital and a Graduate Certificate in Anglican Studies from Virginia Theological Seminary.
Yvonne Moore
Yvonne Moore, M.S. RN acts as a Nursing/Quality consultant to smaller assisted living organizations. She formerly supported the Johns Hopkins Home Care Connections as a Clinical Manager and Quality Improvement Coordinator. She is a Member of the Board of the Maryland Association for Healthcare Quality (MAHQ) and Chair of the organization’s Education Committee.
Sylvester Shorts
Mr. Shorts is a formerly homeless man who was a resident at GEDCO’s Harford House. He is a Journalism
major at Morgan State University that is almost finished with his degree. Mr. Shorts will bring a very unique perspective to the board as someone that has received services from GEDCO and who has a broad understanding of the other types of related organizations and services that are available within the Baltimore community.
GEDCO Honors Some of Our Amazing Volunteers!
At GEDCO’s 2017 Annual Meeting, we also presented awards to one group and two individuals that have all tirelessly persevered to propel our mission forward.
2017 Partner Awardee: Towson High School Key Club
Each year, GEDCO has the pleasure of recognizing a special organization whose partnership greatly enhances the success of our work. The Towson High School Key Club has provided over 150 volunteer hours over the course of the past three years to ensure that our fundraising initiatives, including our Annual Thanksgiving Tribute and this year’s 25th Anniversary Celebration, have been successful. We are so grateful to this team of dedicated young men and women for donating their time to benefit GEDCO.
2017 Bread and Bricks Awardee: Helene Perry
At each Annual Meeting, GEDCO recognizes an individual who has gone above and beyond in their support of our mission to provide affordable housing, supportive services, and emergency assistance to our neighbors in need. This year, our Bread and Bricks Award as we call it, rightly went to Helene Perry, who is not only a former GEDCO Board Member, but a woman who has also donated thousands of hours of her time throughout the past 20 years toward ensuring that the men and women in our Epiphany House truly have a home, not just a place to live. She has dedicated herself to beautifying the property’s gardens and has also coordinated both the Thanksgiving and Christmas Brunches at Epiphany House for over 10 years now. This is the true GEDCO Community Spirit that we are always striving to provide.
2017 Good Samaritan Awardee: Bonnie Thomson
GEDCO’s annual Good Samaritan Award always goes to an individual that has fostered the growth of G
EDCO throughout the years through unselfish acts of kindness. Approximately 12 years ago, middle school students at Friends School (another longtime partner of GEDCO!) designed handmade cards to sell on behalf of CARES. From there, the CARDS for CARES project took off. Many groups helped make cards, but there was one family that crafted cards a notch above all the rest. Finally, when it was time for a change in management of the project, Bonnie Thomson stepped up. She has been coordinating Cards for CARES for over 7 years now. Between her full-time job as the Clinical Education Coordinator and and being an active parishioner at Govans Presbyterian Church, she has found time to keep CARDS for CARES alive and well. She comes from a big family of GEDCO supporters, so making time for helping the community comes naturally to her.