Stacie France Receives OCO’s Whelahan Award

Services to Aid Families Community Response Coordinator Stacie France is the recipient of the agency’s prestigious Amelia Whelahan Leadership Award.

Presented annually, and selected by the Board of Directors, OCO’s Amelia Whelahan Leadership Award recognizes a staff member who has made outstanding contributions to OCO and the Human Services profession. The award is given in the memory of Amelia Whelahan, a dedicated and committed member of the OCO family for many years. Welahan served on the agency’s Board of Directors, its Planning and Evaluation Committee, and as its President. For Welahan’s many contributions and accomplishments, the Board of Directors recognizes her memory by honoring a distinguished employee with this award each year.

France began her career with OCO in 1991 as a part-time assistant with the WIC program. Two years later she was promoted to operations assistant and in 1998 moved into a management role. In 2012 France transitioned from WIC to OCO’s Victims Services program and in 2016 was promoted to her current position, coordinator of Community Response for OCO’s SAF program.

As coordinator of Community Response France’s role is to assist the Domestic Violence / Sexual Assault program by helping change the social norms and attitudes that contribute to domestic violence and sexual violence. She works to develop a network of support for victims and their families that is both available and accessible. Community response programs use the full extent of the community's legal system to protect victims, hold batterers accountable, and enforce the community's intolerance of domestic violence.

“Stacie and her staff engage the entire community in efforts to improve the response for victims, said Director of Crisis & Development Services Cristy King. “This includes, educating the community on domestic and sexual violence, providing training to professionals, increasing awareness of the issue, leading the Domestic Violence Coalition and serving as the lead with our partners and outside community agencies.”

“I couldn’t be happier to see Stacie chosen for the Amelia Whelahan Award,” continued King. “Stacie truly understands and embraces what it means to be an advocate for survivors of violence. She believes in the SAF program and its ability to ensure victims are provided with the best possible care and that all our community partners are educated on how to provide a survivor centered response. Her poise and dedication is commendable and helps make her a role model and leader for the SAF Program advocates. Stacie is an asset to our team and to the survivors in our community. She is truly deserving of this recognition.”

Pictured here at the award presentation, are, from left: OCO Executive Director Diane Cooper-Currier, Director of Crisis & Development Services Cristy King, Stacie France, and OCO Board President Holly Carpenter.