Rev. Beth O’Malley
Hood College
Beth has served the Hood College community for 18 years. Prior to her time at Hood, she served at Columbia United Christian Church in Oakland Mills. A Connecticut native, she is ordained in the United Church of Christ.
Beth serves Hood students, staff, and faculty from a place of faith while remaining deeply committed to supporting individuals of all beliefs and backgrounds. She walks alongside people through a wide range of life experiences, both joyful and challenging, always striving to meet them where they are through compassionate pastoral care.
In addition to her pastoral role, Beth leads a variety of programs that support wellbeing and connection. She coordinates a meditation and mindfulness group for students, faculty, and staff, helping participants build skills to manage stress and support their overall wellbeing. She also co-teaches a health and wellness course with her husband.
Beth is actively involved in Alternative Breaks, where she guides students through service-learning experiences during academic breaks. These trips, which typically last a week to ten days, take place locally, across the United States, and occasionally internationally, offering students the opportunity to engage in meaningful service while broadening their perspectives.
At the heart of her work, Beth values building authentic relationships and serving as a trusted resource and connector for the Hood community. A Hood graduate once sent Beth a postcard featuring a harbor, thanking her for being a “safe harbor” during a time of struggle. He shared that she provided comfort, relief, and a space to feel renewed before stepping back out to face the world. Beth took this message to heart and believes it reflects the kind of support she has been able to offer to many individuals throughout her years of service.
Beth has engaged in ministry in many different capacities and has found meaning in each of them, including serving as a hospice pastor and hospital chaplain. Still, she is especially drawn to her work at Hood, where she is part of a collaborative and compassionate community. Beth describes her as being the glue that quietly holds a community together, even when that work isn’t obvious to others. It means holding space in ways that foster connection, compassion, and a sense of belonging.
“Rev. Beth O’Malley brings compassion, wisdom and an extraordinary sense of care to everything she does. Through her leadership as Dean of the Chapel, she has created a welcoming spiritual home for people of all faiths and backgrounds, while also guiding students to live lives of purpose, service and reflection. Her ability to connect hearts, minds and communities truly embodies Hood College’s tradition of joining ‘Corde et Mente et Manu.’ Beth has touched countless lives on our campus and beyond.”
– Dr. Debbie Ricker, President
Christy Henry
Mental Health Association of Frederick County
Christy has been with MHA for 3 years as the front desk receptionist. Her job is to meet and greet everyone that walks through the doors. She knows the names of most of their weekly clients and loves talking with them. She enjoys sharing stories with them and hearing their stories. She’s good at making them feel welcome and comfortable in an environment that could make people feel nervous.
She is proud to be able to offer a happy face to ease their nerves when people come through the door because you never know what situation they are coming in for. She enjoys making their clients feel heard, listening to their stories, and not interrupting. Offering a little happiness in their day makes her job rewarding.
She enjoys being part of a community and getting to know their clients. Having an impact on their day by offering a warm, friendly face makes her job worth it.
Christy started as a CASA for MHA so it was a natural next step when she wanted to move from a volunteer to a paid role with MHA. She says she’s learned so much about people and about herself through this role. She is more patient and has more understanding for those around her. She genuinely enjoys coming to work each day and loves the team that she gets to do it with.
“Christy consistently creates a space where people feel safe, respected, and valued from the moment they walk through our doors,” said, Amy Thompson, Chief Operating Officer. “Her compassion sets the tone for the care our entire organization strives to provide.”
– Suzi Borg, Executive Director
Learn more about the Mental Health Association of Frederick County
Jennifer Leader Anderson
Blessings in a Backpack
Jen is a dedicated and passionate operations manager who has supported the programmatic efforts of Blessings in a Backpack, Frederick chapter for the last 7 years as both a volunteer and staff member. With a core team of 20 volunteers she helps to ensure participating schools are supported with the food needed for their students. She coordinates the collection, tracking, packing and distribution of food donations. She leads a cohort of 700 volunteers to facilitate large packing events to supercharge the ability to provide meals to 3,400 students in FCPS every weekend. She also impressively supports Blessings in a Backpack’s parent organization with coordinating packing events for the ENTIRE northeast region spanning up to Maine.
Jen is relationship-oriented and community-driven. She is intentional with making connections by partnering with other organizations such as TJay soccer, Girls Scouts, Little Changemakers and more to amplify Blessings’ impact and break the stigma around food insecurity within our community.
Jen considers helping to feed 3,400 in 32 different school in FCPS as the greatest accomplishment in her job. She started working at her kid’s school and couldn’t imagine a child going hungry. This inspired her to step up as a volunteer back in 2019 eventually joining the staff around 2022.
Jen is incredible! You can really feel the passion she has for the work she does and the kids she serves. A gem to our community!
“Jen exemplifies the very best of Blessings in a Backpack. Her leadership ensures operational excellence while never losing sight of the children at the center of our mission. She builds strong partnerships, empowers volunteers, and continually improves our systems so we can serve more children effectively. She is a leader who strengthens both our organization and our community.”
– Ashley Waters, Managing Director
Learn more about Blessings in a Backpack, Frederick Chapter
Stephanie McGovern
SOAR, Supporting Older Adults through Resources
“Stephanie has made significant contributions to our organization. She is a roll your sleeves up and tackle anything needed. I honestly do not think we could accomplish all that we do without her.”– Leslie Schultz, Executive Director
Allia Farzand
Heartly House, Inc.
Allia has been at Heartly House for 4 years. There, she provides case management to individuals served through Heartly House. The work is very client-focused – meeting the client where they are at while helping them set personal goals. Allia helps to match clients with beneficial resources to reach those goals while “being with them every step of the way”.
One of the most important aspects is building trust with clients, this could mean being there with them while they make an important phone call, listening to them when they need a safe space, or simply providing a safe space for them to be, conversation not required.
Allia emphasized her team that fosters collaboration over perfection, supporting each other and learning from one another to better serve clients.
Allia is first generation student, on her way to completing her masters of social work helping to further strengthen her service to her clients. Since high school, she knew she wanted to help those around her and provide support to individuals knowing mental health is difficult to navigate alone or without a support system. All paths lead to this road for her.
She emphasized the importance of taking care of yourself when taking care of others. Her quote she mentioned was you “Can’t pour from an empty cup”. It doesn’t matter if she’s talking to a insurance representative or customer service rep, she likes to ask: Did you do any self care today?
“I wholeheartedly support this nomination! Allia is a light in work that can often be very dark. Not only does she support our clients, but she is a constant source of support for her colleagues. I am in awe of the wisdom and strength she brings to her role, and I am grateful to be working alongside her.”
– Niki Thrash, Executive Director
Learn more about Heartly House, Inc.