INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — Selected from a group of dedicated volunteers in our community, Marta Schneider was honored with the 2011 Silent Angel Award at the United Way Community Leaders Breakfast on Oct. 26 at Oak Harbor Club in Vero Beach.
Nominated by Children’s Home Society of Florida, Treasure Coast Division, the nonprofit cited that as chairman of the board of directors for the Indian River Advisory Board, Marta has positively impacted the lives of thousands of children who have become part of the foster care system through abuse, neglect and abandonment.
But her dedication to the community’s most vulnerable children didn’t stop when they aged out of the system at age 18.
Marta also led a $5 million capital campaign to build the Youth Transition Center on the Vero Beach campus; that provides much needed housing for youth in the Transitional Living Program who often face homelessness without this residential component of the program.
Marta began her activism with CHS in 1997 and embraced the role of chairman of the Indian River Advisory Board of Directors in 2005.
She oversaw the construction of Baines Hall and recruited other interior designers to help decorate the home for teen foster girls. In 2008, she identified a need to provide math and reading tutoring for foster children to bring them up to grade level or prepare them for GED testing.
Funded through grants from Quail Valley Charities, Inc. and SunTrust Bank since 2009, the “Summer Enrichment Math and Tutoring Program” has impacted the lives of over 100 children living in Indian River County.
“Some people make a difference for a day, but Marta has made a difference and persevered in her long-term commitment to helping children that struggle with a history of abuse in their lives,” explained Jan Swink-Huffert, explained Jan Swink-Huffert, Executive Director, Children’s Home Society of Florida, Treasure Coast Division. “The initiatives that have moved forward within our organization because of her efforts are beyond measure.”
For more information visit www.chsfl.org or call (772) 344-4020.