Winner of the VIP Terminator Award: Sara Beth Vaughn

From the Aurora website: “Sara Beth Vaughn has served as Aurora’s Assessment Specialist for the Housing Support Team Program since October 2012. This position makes Sara the central access point for families and individuals experiencing a housing crisis in Vanderburgh County. Sara also functions as the point of entry for the community to the Housing Support Team. Sara’s top priorities are to engage individuals and families during a housing crisis in a professional, yet empathetic manner; provide a thorough assessment that helps to facilitate decisions regarding appropriate service referrals for the client; and assist the client in developing a housing plan. Sara strives to serve as a beacon of individual and community support for all those who seek assistance from her.

Homeless prevention is a large piece of Sara’s role at Aurora. To better understand this concept in a systems approach, Sara is actively a member and participates in the following committees; Homeless Prevention Coalition, Financial Assistance Committee, Childcare Committee, as well as the Coordinated Entry Task Force.

Prior to serving at Aurora, Sara focused on gaining the knowledge and skills required for working with the community’s vulnerable populations. In 2011, Sara earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work from the University of Southern Indiana. Continuing her education at University of Southern Indiana, she went on to graduate with a Master’s Degree in Social Work in 2012. Sara is a member of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) and is actively seeking to gain Indiana state licensure in the field of social work.”

In recent events, Evansville’s Sara Beth Vaughn is one of 10 amazing individuals featured in the forthcoming book, (Extra)Ordinary: More Inspirational Stories of Everyday People (KiCam Projects, October 10, 2017).

Sara Beth was chosen by author Keith Maginn because of her remarkable resilience, courage and positivity in using her cerebral palsy as fuel for her career as a social worker helping to end homelessness.

Sara Beth, who sees her “disability” as her greatest asset, says her physical handicap is what has allowed her to fully understand compassion.

As a motivational speaker, she has shared her inspiring message to corporations, universities, prisons, shelters and civic groups, encouraging everyone she meets to embrace their own uniqueness and the uniqueness of others.

“I love to show people their own abilities and witness that empowering moment of transcendence when ‘you can’ becomes ‘I can,’” Sara Beth says.

Because of her compassion for others, her willingness to overcome every obstacle, and to help those who are in need in the Evansville community, Sara Beth Vaughn has been selected as the winner of The Terminator Award for June/July of 2017.

Congratulations Sara!! And keep up the amazing work. It is people like you who really make a difference as you shine your light in this world.

We look forward to hearing more of your story to be published in the book (Extra)Ordinary, and in the articles to come, both online and in the printed publications of The Vanderburgh Independent Press.