The Rockford Legacy of Service Award is received by individuals and organizations within Rockford that have shown distinguished service to country through the armed forces, or a commitment of service to their community, country, or the veteran community; locally or nationwide. Recipients are selected by other community members and volunteers and are honored at the annual Legacy of Service event in front of community leaders and peers.
2019 Rockford Legacy of Service Honorees
Individual Recipient: Judge Rosemary Collins (Ret.)
*Courtesy of Rockford Register Star
Judge Collins has created and brought new programs to the area to address family violence and helped secured more than $5 million in federal grant funds for local agencies and service providers. This includes the Family Violence Coordinating Council, the Domestic Violence Assistance Center, Children’s Safe Harbor, Domestic Violence Coordinated Court Division, the Mayor’s Office of Domestic Violence and Human Trafficking Prevention and the soon-to-be Family Justice Center, a centralized and trauma informed facility, where specialized organizations will work together so survivors and their children may safely and more easily access the services they need.
Organizational Recipient: K-FACT - Keeping Families and Communities Together
KFACT Inc. is a grass roots, nonprofit youth development and holistic mentoring organization established to alleviate opportunity gaps among girls living in the Rockford community. Our signature mentoring program, Lady All Stars is one of a kind due to the direct service and long-term relationships built with the girls from middle school through adulthood. The vision of Lady All Stars mentoring program is to enhance and empower the development of young girls, provide a forum to expose them to the benefits and importance of post-secondary education, and assist with developing and implementing individual life plans. Girls served in this program currently have a 100% graduation rate and 96% of girls pursue post-secondary education.
