Commission on the Status of Women announces Women of the Year

Three local women will be honored in March for their service to Bloomington, Mayor Mark Kruzan announced Monday.

Karen Green Stone was named Bloomington’s Woman of the Year, Georgia Schaich was named recipient of the Lifetime Contribution Award and Debra Morrow was chosen to receive the Emerging Leader Award, according to a press release.

The recipients were selected by members of the Woman of the Year Subcommittee of the City of Bloomington’s Commission on the Status of Women. The Woman of the Year and Lifetime Contribution Award recipients will be honored at the Women’s History Month Lunch at 12:15 p.m. March 26 at the Bloomington-Monroe County Convention Center, 302 S. College Ave.

The lunch will be an opportunity to recognize individual and collective accomplishments of women in the community, according to the release.

In addition, organizations for women and women-owned businesses will have exhibits at the luncheon.

The theme of this year’s event is “Celebrating Women of Character, Courage and Commitment.”

Deborah Hearn Smith, chief executive officer of Girl Scouts of Central Indiana, will give the keynote speech at the luncheon.

Green Stone is an advocate for health care, according to the release. She is co-founder of Hoosiers for a Commonsense Health Plan, which works to educate the public and make health insurance and health care available to everyone in Indiana, according to the release.

Schaich has dedicated her time to making Bloomington a more senior-friendly community, according to the release.

In 1993, Schaich helped create the first TRIAD council in Indiana to help raise seniors’ awareness of crime and ways of protecting themselves. She joined the Commission on Aging in 2010 and has served on committees to organize the annual Creative Aging Festival and design Emergency Disaster Support for Elders, according to the release.
Morrow works to help others overcome their barriers to social mobility, according to the release.

She is the community services coordinator at Middle Way House and a volunteer at New Leaf. Morrow works with women transitioning from jail to the community by providing them with information about housing, social services and employment, according to the release.

Morrow will be honored at the Women’s Leadership Development event at 5 p.m. March 13 in City Hall Council Chambers, 401 N. Morton St. The event is free and open to the public.

— Rebecca Kimberly