Join us in Celebrating this Year's 2011 Ruby Honorees

SI-Ashland honors Susan Moen, Jackson County SART

Charity Donation: Jackson County SART

Susan Moen has worked in the field of sexual assault response since the early 1990s, when she trained as an advocate with the Los Angeles Commission on Assaults Against Women.

After moving to Southern Oregon and discovering there was no Sexual Assault Response Team (SART) in her county, she worked for 5 years to create a non-profit SART and Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner program to coordinate services and provide acute care, free of charge, for sexual assault survivors.

She served as Jackson County’s SART first Executive Director until 2010, and currently volunteers as the Agency Manager as well as doing outreach and education for local schools and community groups. Former Attorney General Hardy Myers has called Jackson County SART “the most impressive effort of its kind in the entire state.”

In 2010 Susan was awarded the SART Award for her contribution to the advancement of SART in Oregon.

CONGRATULATIONS TO SUSAN for being selected as a Northwestern Region Ruby Winner, receiving an additional $1,000 to her charity of choice.

SI-Medford honors Peggy Trowbridge

Director of Rogue Valley YFC/Campus Life Teen Mom Mentoring Program

Charity Donatio: Teen Mom Mentoring Program

Peggy Trowbridge is the Teen Mom Mentoring Director with Rogue Valley YFC/Campus Life. Her passion is to give teen moms and their children a safe place to come, relax and have fun. They receive a hot meal and childcare for the evening as they engage in crafts, bible studies and other activities.  Another purpose of this unique program is to provide each teen mom with a stable and reliable mentor.

 Peggy started as a volunteer and mentor with Teen Moms in November, 2001. After the Director stepped down in 2003, Peggy took over the duties. She recruited mentors, selected teen moms, provided the means and direction for the meetings, organized Xmas parties, provided clothes and many other essentials for these moms and their babies.

 Peggy has a big heart for these girls because she understands what it was like to be a teen mom herself.  Peggy has often been seen packing her materials from one location to another to meet with the Teen Moms and their children to provide the guidance and mentorship they so need.

SI - North Valley honors Ginger Rilling, Schools Program Director

Charity Donation: Mediation Works

Ginger started off as a volunteer in the Schools Program twenty years ago with Mediation Works, a local non-profit community dispute resolution center in southern Oregon, subsequently being hired as the organization’s first Program Director.  As the Schools Program Director, Ginger pioneered the extensive Peer Mediation program and later a separate, Bullying and Harassment Prevention in schools throughout Jackson County.  These programs now have state wide and national recognition.

After ten years as Schools Program Director, Ginger took over Mediation Works’ fledgling Family Mediation program - mediating between parents and teenagers and working with parents to develop parenting plans.  She extended the program to reach “at-risk” youth and their families with a significant amount of work being done with youth being discharged from the Jackson County Juvenile Detention Center back to their families.

Ginger’s historical perspective and breadth of knowledge of all the programs at Mediation Works has been an incredible resource for both families and professionals in the community. She is a joy to work with and an inspiration to both volunteers and professionals alike. Ginger has touched many lives and leaves a great legacy behind her.

SI-Rogue Valley Sunrise honors Lynn Hobbs, Nurse Administrator Hermotology and Oncology and Regional Lead for Gude Dogs for the Blind

Charity Donation: Rogue Valley Special Eyes (Local)

One of Lynn Hobbs brothers was born blind. She saw that he was unable to do the things that Lynn enjoyed. The neighborhood kids would be mean. Lynn had would hide in the bushes and when the kids would make fun of him, she would jump out of the bushes and beat them up.  Well, that action got her in big trouble with her mother.  She sat Lynn down and explained that she would not be around her brother forever, and if she wanted to really help him, Lynn needed to find a way for him to help himself. Lynn realized that her brother needed a guide dog so he could have freedom as well!

That freedom is one reason Lynn became a nurse, and is now nurse administrator for the Hematology Oncology group in Medford. In her spare time, Lynn has been volunteering as a puppy raiser for Guide Dogs for the Blind for over 15 years, and serves as the regional lead for Southern Oregon. The primary goal for Guide Dogs for the Blind is to provide mobility and an aide for the visually impaired to achieve independence and Lynn is able to do so for local women and girls in our area every day.

“I am very blessed and thankful to work for doctors who support helping people less fortunate and allow Guide Dog puppies to come to the work place with me daily.” The program is funded solely by donations and volunteers, so that dogs are given to people in need regardless of their ability to pay.   She is making an impact on many people’s lives.