A longtime leader who has worked to improve life for refugees in Lawrence and the director of a center that serves unhoused people are the 2024 recipients of the Tom and Anne More Peace and Justice Awards.
The annual awards are given out at the Ecumenical Campus Ministries’ International Day of Peace Gala. Charles “Chuck” Olcese and the Homeless Resource Center were honored as this year’s award recipients on Saturday night.
Olcese, the individual award winner, worked for 28 years as a university administrator specializing in international affairs, according to his nomination.
“Chuck believes that studying in a foreign country is a transformative experience that builds empathy and understanding lasting a lifetime,” according to the nomination. “For 7 1/2 years Chuck directed the office of International Support Services at KU. Chuck met with students with special needs, usually financial. He has even helped students from his own pocket.”
Olcese worked to develop training programs in intercultural communication for KU faculty and staff to better understand the international students they serve. He also helped start the Lawrence Interfaith Refugee and Immigrant Ministry in 2017.
“Chuck believes that direct experience of the cultures of other countries, and relationships with people from other countries, contribute to a deeper understanding of what it means to be human,” according to the nomination.
The Homeless Resource Center — formerly the DARE (Drop-In and Rest) Center — won the organization award.
Brett Hartford was announced as the new executive director of the HRC in November, following the retirement of longtime leader Loring Henderson. He is currently its only employee, and he accepted the award Saturday night.
“I have watched this organization strive to advocate for our unhoused neighbors day in and day out, while simultaneously combatting the misinformation and ignorance of housed people in our community,” Tatyana Younger wrote in nominating the HRC. “Not only do they make sure people are fed, have access to warm showers, and laundry support on site, they also do the work of connecting different resources and organizations in town to help support their guests.”
Younger wrote that the HRC collaborates with Bert Nash, the Lawrence Community Shelter, Lawrence Humane Society and more to help guests and their animals, all with no judgment.
“Even as some people they support may be in acute crisis, the people at the Homeless Resource Center only show empathy, kindness, and care for those going through a hard time. They recognize the physical, emotional, and mental impacts of being unhoused, and show up in our community as a kind ear and a safe space for people who are going through some of their hardest moments,” Younger wrote. “In a world that continues to demonize and criticize people for struggling, The Homeless Resource center actively shows us a better way of being in community.”
Other nominees for the organization award included The Lawrence Chapter of Moms Demand Action; Kansas Holistic Defenders; and KU Students for Justice in Palestine and the students of the KU Palestine solidarity encampment. Judy Carman, a longtime peace activist, and Kar Woo, founder of Artists Helping the Homeless, were also nominated as individuals.
Rabbi Moti Rieber, executive director of Kansas Interfaith Action, was the featured speaker.
Previous winners of the awards are as follows, according to a list provided by organizers:
1994 — Shelly Miller; Ed Dutton
1995 — Eva Edmonds; Simply Equal Coalition
1996 — Petey Cerf; Women’s Transitional Care Services
1997 — Sr. Barbara Wieseler; Independence, Inc.
1998 — Hilda Enoch; L.I.N.K; The Lawrence Coalition for Homeless Concerns; Mother-to-Mother; The Mainstream Coalition; Project Acceptance; Hospice; Women’s Transitional Care Services; The League of Women Voters; Friends of KU Women’s Studies; The Lawrence Ministerial Alliance; Ballard Community Center; Lawrence / Douglas County Advocacy Council on Aging; Lawrence Partnership for Children and Youth; Douglas County Detention Center (tutorial program)
1999 — Saunny Scott; ECM
2000 — Howard Baumgartel; Jubilee Cafe
2001 — Pelathe Community Resource Center
2002 — Mary Michener; Kaw Valley Living Wage Alliance
2003 — Deborah (Misty) Gerner; Kansas Audio-Reader
2004 — Dave Lowenstein; KS Bill of Rights Defense Committee
2005 — Norman Forer; Solidarity Radical Library
2006 — Loring Henderson; Small World
2007 — Kim Kreicker & Arla Jones; Douglas County ACLU
2008 — Josh Longbottom; Forrest & Donna Swall
2009 — Rebecca Woodman; KU Peace & Conflict Studies Minor
2010 — Enrique Peñaloza; Katherine Dinsdale; Save Our Neighborhood Schools
2011 — Thad Holcombe
2012 — The Occupy Movement
2013 — Linda Lassen; Lawrence Community Shelter Staff & Volunteers
2014 — KT Walsh; Centro Hispano
2015 — Jean Ann Pike
2016 — Marilyn Hull & Craig Sweets; Change of Heart
2017 — Sara Taliaferro; Catholic Charities
2019 — Diane Huggins; Willow Domestic Violence
2020 — Beth Schultz
2021 — Graham Kreicker; Family Promise; Meghan Heriford (read more)
2022 — Lyle Seger (Building Peace INC); Justice Matters (read more)
2023 — Christine Smith; Sunrise Project (read more)
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Andrew Beaven, USD 497 / Contributed photo
