Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Special to suffredin.org
by suffredin.org

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(left to right:  Trina Janes (Women’s Commissioner), Jean Cleland (2006 Unsung Heroine) and Sue Carlson (2010 Unsung Heroine)

Evanston resident Sue Carlson received the 2010 Unsung Heroine Award from the Cook County Commission on Women’s Issues.  The award was presented by Cook County Board President Todd Stroger.

The 13th Annual Unsung Heroine Awards Breakfast was held on March 25th at the Chicago Cultural Center’s Preston Bradley Hall.  Carlson, representing Cook County Commissioner Larry Suffredin’s 13th District, was honored along with sixteen other women - one from each of the 17 county districts – during Women’s History Month.  The Unsung Heroine Award honors remarkable women who have not received wide-spread recognition as a way to bring their stories to light, to thank them, and to celebrate their achievements in Cook County.  This year the award was renamed the Peggy A. Montes Unsung Heroine Award to recognize the founding chairperson of the Cook County Commission on Women's Issues.

Sue Carlson is a heroine guided by a deep faith that calls her to meet the needs of the “least of these” in society.  She began her work as an educator in the 1960s in Ohio, Wisconsin and Illinois.  Her compassion for the vulnerable led her to become a volunteer at VNA Hospice of Evanston.  She then became involved in the Evanston Ecumenical Council, the Food Aid Center and the St. John’s Home Health Board.  In 1986, she was one of the founding committee members of the Interfaith Volunteers Caregivers Program.  Although Sue is now retired, she continues to work with Evanston’s Housing 4 All, Citizens for a Greener Evanston, Faith in Action and the Chicago Botanic Garden.  She is also an active with her church, St. Augustine’s Episcopal.

“Sue Carlson has contributed to our community in so many ways.  While she is not one to seek recognition, our community is a better place because of her efforts and she deserved this honor.  It is often the most unsung among us who have contributed the most.  Sue Carlson is truly a heroine,” commented Commissioner Suffredin.