DeLand Woman of the Year Awards celebrates community leaders

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DeLand Woman of the Year Awards celebrates community leaders
BEACON PHOTO/MARSHA MCLAUGHLIN<br> A WELL-DESERVED ACCOLADE — Brenda Flowers-Dalley, at left, founder and CEO of Rising Against All Odds Inc. recipient of the 2024 DeLand Woman of the Year Award, with keynote speaker and 2021 Woman of the Year recipient Belinda Huttmann. Flowers-Dalley established RAAO in 2009 to provide access to community services that help manage the stressors that accompany a positive HIV diagnosis. The organization also serves as a community resource for free and confidential HIV testing.

On March 14, The Junior Service League of DeLand hosted the eighth annual DeLand Woman of the Year Awards at Venue 142, located on Woodland Boulevard in Downtown DeLand. 

The 12 2024 nominees represent a wide range of community support advocates, service providers, and government and business leaders who help form the foundation of the tightknit community that is DeLand.

And the winner is…

Brenda Flowers-Dalley, founder and CEO of Rising Against All Odds Inc., was presented with the 2024 DeLand Woman of the Year Award. 

Flowers-Dalley established RAAO in 2009 with an impassioned mission to provide tangible help to individuals diagnosed with HIV. RAAO provides access to community services that help manage the stressors that accompany a positive HIV diagnosis and also serves as a community resource for free and confidential HIV testing. 

Flowers-Dalley has a deeply personal connection to her advocacy work and services she provides. 

According to Flowers-Dalley’s nomination biography: “When Brenda returned home to DeLand after her military discharge and while working for the Veterans Administration, her heart was grieved when she witnessed the detrimental medical needs of those who were challenged with some of the same afflictions she was currently experiencing with addiction and living with HIV.”

“I am blessed that I have a rapport with [those who come into RAAO]. I can be in touch regularly and always have a voice in their lives,” Flowers-Dalley told The Beacon.  

“My main message I’d like to get across is: if you’re HIV negative, you can stay negative. There are medications you can take and things you can do,” she added. “I wish people can be empowered — and make life work for them, don’t let life do them.”

Building rapport with her clients is a basic part of Flowers-Dalley’s process.

“With our services, we try to address the ‘whole person.’ I know I am an HIV/AIDS advocate, but you can’t reach them for treatment unless you address the whole person. We focus on building relationships, and they know that it’s a safe place they can come to,” Flowers-Dalley said.

RAAO is located at 340 S. Woodland Blvd. in DeLand. A full description of RAAO’s community services can be found at https://risingagainstallodds.org/

As attendees of Thursday night’s event greeted each other and spent time socializing prior to the award ceremony, RAAO’s Community Services Director Vanessa Richardson-Brown described Flowers-Dalley’s nomination and some of the invaluable services that RAAO provides to DeLand community members. 

“Our mission at RAAO is to hopefully one day eradicate HIV, but in the meantime, we are out there to help control, provide PrEP, provide testing, and if someone has tested positive: We connect them to care, and free care if needed,” Richardson-Brown said. “We help provide social services, such as helping with food stamps, insurance, and the West Volusia Hospital Authority for those who have absolutely no insurance. RAAO provides service for over 1,000 homeless people in this community. We have telehealth and three infectious disease providers.”

BEACON PHOTO/MARSHA MCLAUGHLIN
Taylor Bass, left, owner and CEO of BakeChop Co., and photographer Susie Macon receive flowers as they are presented with the 2024 “Heart of the Community” Award. This award recognizes an individual’s local impact and social media engagement. “Junior Service League made every nominee feel special, and I loved the two community awards. This event has definitely grown and is fast becoming a premier DeLand event,” keynote speaker Belinda Huttmann observed.

In good company

This year’s event marked growth in attendance and in the style of the annual ceremony. For the first time since its inception in 2017, the award ceremony was hosted in the evening. More than 100 people attended. 

“As a brand-new addition to the DeLand Woman of the Year Award, we invited a panel of community leaders to take part in the voting process,” Junior Service League of DeLand Event Chair Cecelia Earl said. “In 2023, we introduced the ‘Heart of the Community’ award. This recognition is independent of the DeLand Woman of the Year Award and takes into account the public’s engagement with posts on our social media.” 

This year, Taylor Bass, owner and CEO of BakeChop Co., and photographer Susie Macon were presented with the “Heart of the Community” award. 

For the first time in event history, American Sign Language interpreters were active throughout the length of the ceremony. Lake Howell High School students Avery Iglesias and Jeniah Rivera switched off and on for ASL duties throughout the evening, as they expanded their interpretation experience under the direction of their teacher, Mrs. Rebecca Haley Kunos.

Closing remarks were provided by DeLand Mayor Chris Cloudman. 

“It is my privilege to be here in this room full of so many amazing people. I serve on different boards across the county and the state, and I always feel lucky that I’m the mayor of the city of DeLand,” Cloudman said. “The people in DeLand love to give back and love to serve this community, and we have no shortage of them here tonight.”

BEACON PHOTO/MARSHA MCLAUGHLIN
The 2024 DeLand Woman of the Year Award nominees accept recognition from the Junior Service League of DeLand. From left, are Katherine Russell, Taylor Bass, Barb Shepherd, Karla Nieves, Emilie Wren Schmitz, Dr. Casey Attenberger, Amanda Agnew, Holly Brunelle, Heather McLean, DeLand City Commissioner Jessica Davis, Brenda Flowers-Dalley and Susie Macon.

Full List of Nominees for the 2024 DeLand Woman of the Year Awards

Amanda Agnew: State Farm Agency business owner, past president of the DeLand & Greater West Volusia Chamber of Commerce

Dr. Casey Attenberger: owner of Impulse Chiropractic, current president of the Rotaract Club of DeLand

Taylor Bass: owner and CEO of BakeChop Co.

Holly Brunelle: Pure Bliss, Downtown DeLand business owner

Brenda Flowers-Dalley: founder and CEO of Rising Against All Odds Inc., Army veteran

DeLand City Commissioner Jessica Davis: currently serving third consecutive term as city commissioner, middle-school teacher

Susie Macon: photographer, retired business owner

Heather McLean: executive director of DeLand Pride, member of Rotary Club of Downtown DeLand

Karla Nieves: owner of Loosen Up DeLand, personal trainer

Katherine Russell: CEO of Foundations to Freedom

Emilie Wren Schmitz: inventor, director of People Operations at Germfree

Barb Shepherd: publisher of The West Volusia Beacon, president of Conrad Realty Co.

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