2020 Achievement Women of
The organizaTion honors 10 area women for Their ouTsTanding efforTs in The communiTy. By Alecia Humphreys | Photos courtesy of Trotter Photo
for 65 years, women of achievement has been shining a spotlight on the wonderful women making a difference in the metro area and beyond – and this year, that mission holds true. “we are so proud to be the longest-running program that honors women and volunteerism in st. Louis,” says woa president marian nunn. “each class is special in their own way, but this year’s class is quite special and includes a wide diversity of backgrounds, age, economic status and a wide variety of the many wonderful organizations that they support.” This year’s 10 finalists were selected from approximately 100 nominations from the metropolitan area, including illinois. “as you can imagine, it is a very difficult task to select only 10 honorees from this incredible group of women,” nunn says.
Susan Balk
imPaCtfuL LeaDerShiP
After Susan Balk overheard comments made at her book and museum exhibition, “Vienna’s Conscience: Closeups and Conversations After Hitler,” at the Holocaust Museum in St. Louis, she realized something had to be done. “The book features interviews and photos of Viennese reactions to her late husband, Richard Winter’s query 50 years after the Holocaust,” reads Balk’s nomination. “A time when he was a 17-year Jewish boy [who] had to escape to save his life. Most of the comments were chilling, and the book was written and published to show how antiSemitism was still alive in the Austria of long ago, as well as today. She was alarmed to hear comments about how horrific the Viennese were and that they did not see the broader message about hate breeding hate everywhere.” In 2010, Balk founded HateBrakers, a nonprofit that aims to reduce hate in our community and around the country by holding events, engaging stakeholders and working with organizations in an effort to spotlight “hatebraking” in schools, homes and communities. Today, HateBrakers is even engaging local classrooms through its signature Meet a Hero, Be a Hero program, which spotlights heroes with short video clips and curriculum opportunities that engage students in the process, and has an interactive curriculum that has been adapted by Life After Hate, which works directly with members of white supremacy gangs in and out of prison to help them leave the lifestyle of hate and live meaningful lives.
Debbie Caplin
Pet theraPy aDvoCaCy
Approximately 11 years ago, Debbie Caplin and her husband adopted a Portuguese Water Dog named Sookie that Caplin says changed her life. “[Sookie’s] goal in life was to spend every waking moment lying in someone’s lap, regardless of whether she knew that person,” Caplin says. “She was a touch therapy dream dog … ” Caplin and Sookie completed the Therapy Dog certification and began visiting hospitalized children, often fighting life-threatening illnesses, through the organization Duo Dogs. “Had it not been for Sookie, who unfortunately only lived to be 8 years old, I likely would have never found my calling,” Caplin says. “For these children, our visits are often the only moments of happiness they experience each day.” Today, Caplin serves as the board vice chair of Duo Dogs – an organization that trains and certifies dogs and their owners as Touch Teams and breeds, trains and donates assistance dogs to individuals and facilities – a cause she has been serving for the last decade. Simultaneously, she has been serving on the Animal Protection Association, which places for adoption thousands of animals each year. “Seeing these oftentimes abandoned animals bring joy into the homes of their adoptive families is a heartwarming experience,” she says. “The years I have spent working with my touch dogs, bringing joy and comfort to others, has been an absolute labor of love.”