Bolingbrook woman honored for helping during tough times

"I feel like I got the Nobel Prize without the money!"

That's what Kimberly Owens, DuPage Township's Emergency and General Assistance director, said upon learning she was one of three people selected to receive the Bolingbrook/Romeoville Character Counts Coalition's highest honor, a Show Your Good Character Award.

"This is really special to me," she said.

She was hired at the township 10 years ago.

"My kids and I had just moved from Woodridge, where I had been very involved, and I wanted to do the same in Bolingbrook," she said. "The funny thing was that I wasn't looking for a job, I was looking for a volunteer opportunity."

At the time, the person who worked the front desk had gotten sick, and Bob Schanks and Dennis Meehan with the township hired her as a fill-in.

"Back then Bill (Mayer, the current township supervisor) was a trustee and he really liked how thorough I was with clients," she said. "After he got elected, a position for emergency assistance became available and he let me interview for it. I was hired, went through training and found my niche."

She said getthing the job was unexpected.

"I couldn't believe it," she said. "I do what I do because I love it and I love helping people."

She said earning the recent award was quite an honor.

"I wasn't looking for this, but it sure is nice to be singled out for doing the job," she said. "The people who come to me are many times at the lowest point in their life. It's hard to ask for assistance, and my job requires me to get detailed personal information. When I work with clients, I treat them the way I want to be treated. I want to give them all that I can give. I ask them all the same questions and I'm going to do my job to investigate all the ways the township or other agencies we're affiliated with can help. I don't even want to call the people who come to me clients because so many of them are a part of my life."

The Character Counts Coalition takes its awards seriously, said coalition member Ron Oestreich.

"This award is something we feel strongly about," he said. "The four people who won the 2009 award went above and beyond."

The other winners were Teresa Kostick, All Line Carstar in the business category, and Dancefore members Nya Thomas and Catherine Cook.

Residents and employees in both Bolingbrook and Romeoville are encouraged to submit nominations of worthy individuals and businesses when the annual contest opens for submissions.

Nomination forms will be made available through the coalition's Web site at www.brcharactercounts.org.

Contact Toni at tonig@comcast.net.