COURTESY PHOTO
Lynn Community Health Center event committee planners Stephanie Connolly, Marilyn Smith, Adrienne Kelliher, Christine Allen and Magnolia Contreras. Not pictured: Phyllis Sagan, Christine Cowden, Karen Meyer and Mary Manning-Ritter.
BY MICHELE DURGIN
LYNN — Lynn Community Health Center is preparing for its annual “Women for Lynn Community Health Center Recognition Breakfast” on Thursday.
This year’s honorees include Secretary of Health & Human Services Marylou Sudders and philanthropist Rose-Marie van Otterloo of Marblehead.
Sudders is being honored for her commitment to public service and helping people with behavioral health issues. She oversees a state agency with a $19.4 billion budget.
She was commissioner of the Department of Mental Health where she established the state’s first children’s mental health commission.
Sudders also led the Massachusetts Society for the Protection of Cruelty to Children.
She has been an associate professor at Boston College’s Graduate School of Social Work, as well.
Throughout her career she has served on several charitable boards, including the Pine Street Inn and the National Alliance for Mental Illness
She has held the title of Social Worker of the Year and has been recognized by the National Association of Health Workers Foundation.
Rose- Marie van Otterloo is a native of Belgium who moved to the U.S. at the age of 22. She has been a longtime champion of those in need, with a special commitment to those with mental health issues.
For 10 years van Otterloo served on the board of Chemonics International, a company that manages projects in third world countries aimed at ending poverty.
Van Otterloo also served on the board of trustees at McLean Hospital in Belmont, where she and her husband made a $5 million donation.
“This is our fifth year hosting the event and we are all looking forward to a wonderful morning honoring wonderful women,” said Cynthia Steger-Wilson, communications manager.
The event will be held on May 12, from 7:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. at the Kernwood Country Club in Salem. Tickets for the breakfast are $75 and can be purchased by visitinglchcnet.org/Women2016 or calling Clare Hayes at 781-596-2502 extension 2778.
