VIDEO: Young Commends Hoosier Sharon Pierce for Distinguished Career Serving Children and Families
Click here or on the image above for Senator Young’s full remarks.
WASHINGTON – Today, on the Senate floor, U.S. Senator Todd Young (R-Ind.) commended Hoosier Sharon Pierce for decades of service in Indiana’s child and family welfare system. Pierce is retiring as president and CEO of The Villages of Indiana, a non-profit child and family services agency.
“Sharon will soon be retiring after a distinguished 47-year career of serving children and families. Sharon also happens to be my aunt, and I have seen firsthand her love and dedication to Indiana’s children,” said Senator Young. “Her work has inspired countless others, including me and the policies I choose to focus on here in the Senate. I know my Aunt Sharon is looking forward to spending more time with her husband, children, and seven grandchildren, and she has more than earned this next chapter in her life. I offer my heartfelt thanks for her decades of service, and I wish her well in this next chapter.”
Click here to watch Senator Young’s full remarks.
Full remarks as prepared for delivery:
I rise today to commend an outstanding Hoosier whose work in Indiana’s child and family welfare system has touched countless lives.
Sharon Pierce, President and CEO of The Villages of Indiana, a non-profit child and family services agency, will soon be retiring after a distinguished 47-year career of serving children and families.
Sharon also happens to be my aunt, and I have seen firsthand her love and dedication to Indiana’s children.
Her call to service started early.
When she was young, Sharon’s mother volunteered at a youth home in Fort Wayne.
She and her siblings would help her mother with holiday parties, and it was there she first learned how important the family is to a child.
A graduate of Ball State University, Sharon’s entire career since then has been dedicated to public service.
Prior to her work at The Villages, she worked for several youth advocacy programs in Illinois.
She also served as a deputy director at the Indiana Division of Family and Children, which pre-dated today’s Department of Child Services.
While at the Division of Family and Children she helped create a 1-800 number to report suspected child abuse, and she established the Healthy Families Initiative, which provides resources to at-risk, first-time parents to help prevent abuse and neglect.
In 1992, she became the President and CEO of The Villages where she has created a culture of compassion and a deep commitment to supporting families in need.
At The Villages, children are enrolled in family and child support services with the goal of helping to keep family members together.
The Villages also provides foster care, and offers support for relatives and family friends who are helping to raise a child, including education and child abuse prevention services.
“Even though The Villages is probably best known for high-quality foster care, the reality is we want to do anything we can to keep families together,” Sharon has said.
It’s hard to imagine a mission more critical than this.
I am not the only one to offer my praise for Sharon.
Indiana’s Governor Eric Holcomb said:
“Sharon’s saintly efforts over the decades touched the lives of countless Hoosier children. She taught, inspired, led so many others over the years to invest in those who need it the most.”
Indiana Department of Child Services Director Terry Stigdon said:
“She exudes compassion and caring… It’s just innate to her being.”
Sharon has dedicated her life to ensuring children have a bright future, regardless of their circumstances.
Her work has inspired countless others, including me and the policies I choose to focus on here in the Senate.
I know my Aunt Sharon is looking forward to spending more time with her husband, children, and seven grandchildren, and she has more than earned this next chapter in her life.
I offer my heartfelt thanks for her decades of service, and I wish her well in this next chapter.
Thank you.
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