Sister Corinne Marie in Women's Hall of Fame

In March. Sister Corinne Marie was one of seven women inducted into the Alameda County Women's Hall of Fame. Her selection in the education category honored her 30-year commitment to working with low-income families.

"What we really try to do is empower parents, not do it for them," commented Sister Corinne Marie. "We don't promote the 'give it away' concept. We support the satisfaction and independence of personal achievement."

The Women's Hall of Fame was founded by the Alameda County Board of Supervisors. the Commission on the State of Women, and the Highland Foundation in 1993. Women are nominated in seven categories-culture and arts, education, environment, health care, justice, sports and athletics, and community service.

"What distinguished the winners from other applicants was that they all have a strong belief and commitment, outside their professions, to make a difference in their communities," said Dr. Susan Cota, Los Positas College president who oversaw the award ceremonies.

This year-end report is dedicated to the memory of William M. Valva, who came to the Day Home as a child and grew up to be one of our dearest friends and most devoted advisors. We were blessed with his wise counsel, his boundless enthusiasm, and his love of our children for nearly 50 years. Bill was always looking to the future, always helping us plan soundly, always focusing on how we could ensure that Saint Vincent's would be able to carry on the work that was so important to him and to all of us.

Bill was a man for whom people mattered, and his concern was always for the individual families whose struggles he had shared. So in his honor, we are establishing the William M. Valva Fund for Children. Valva scholarships will be given to those families most in need. In these days of reduced funding, increasing numbers of families are unable to secure safe and enriching care for their children as they work to improve their futures. Thanks to the Valva Fund, ... "As long as there is a Saint Vincent's, there will always be a place for a child to call home."

We begin building the Fund today. Your participation will help carry on our work, to which Bill was so devoted. You will make a difference in the life of a child ... just as Saint Vincent's Day Home did many years ago, when little William M. Valva was a child here himself. We repay the blessings in our own lives when we invest in someone else's life.