People and Places

LOCAL YOUTH OFFER RECOMMENDATIONS

Arkansas high school students are lending their voices to Washington policies as members of U.S. Sen. John Boozman’s Congressional Youth Cabinet, a program to expose students to the legislative process and opportunities for advocacy and civic engagement. Students were chosen because of their emphasis on community involvement and leadership.

Third Congressional District students participating included Samuel Cobbs of Rogers, Trent Curtis of Dover, Morgan DiBasilio of Rogers, Cora Ferguson of Fayetteville, Reeya Gandhi of Berryville, Garrett Hays of Gentry, Brian Huang of Fayetteville, Kade Jarvis of Gravette, Alex Jordan of Lincoln, Obadiah Koster of Bentonville, Zegita Rapert of Fayetteville and Elizabeth Ricker of Rogers.

The Congressional Youth Cabinet is a nonpartisan initiative that allows students to gain firsthand experience of engaging in the democratic process. Participants will attend several meetings throughout the school year. As part of the program, they will research a national issue they select and present their recommendations for Boozman at the final meeting in April.

TWO LOCALS NAMED TO UAMS BOARD

Carl Collier and Denise Garner, both of Fayetteville, have been named to the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Foundation Fund board of directors.

Collier is a pharmacist and owner of Collier Drug Stores. He represents the UAMS Northwest Arkansas campus advisory board. Garner is the founder and board chairman of Role Call, and the founder of Feed Communities and Feed Fayetteville. She represents the UAMS Psychiatric Research Institute advisory board and is a member of the UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute Foundation Fund board and the UAMS Psychiatric Research Institute Director’s Club.

The UAMS Foundation Fund board members serve as ambassadors and raise public awareness of the role UAMS fills in Arkansas.

SOCIAL WORKER EARNS DAIRY HOLLOW FELLOWSHIP

Liat Katz of Rockville, Md., has been named the recipient of the “From Mental Illness to Wellness” fellowship for 2017 at the Writers’ Colony at Dairy Hollow in Eureka Springs.

Katz is a licensed clinical social worker and a latein-life writer. Her work has been published in Lilith, The Washington Post, Washingtonian, Gargoyle, Kveller and the narrative medicine websites PulseVoices and KevinMD. She is a graduate of the New Directions writing program through the Washington Center for Psychoanalysis.

“From Mental Illness to Wellness” is awarded to an author working on a nonfiction story of success about the journey from mental illness to wellness. This fellowship provides for two weeks of free residency at The Writers’ Colony at Dairy Hollow.