MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – Photographer Sharon Dawson on Nov. 8 received Lake County’s highest tribute for her “Wave of Hope” program, a nonprofit organization she launched only five months ago.
The tribute was the Stars of Lake County Marla Ruzicka Humanitarian Award.
It was one of 20 stars presented at the 17th annual Stars of Lake County Community Awards ceremony at the Soper Reese Theater in Lakeport.
Ruzicka was killed in 2005 while on a mission of mercy in Iraq.
Dawson launched her organization on May 31 of this year as a means of lowering the suicide rate and restoring hope to people who are down and out.
Key to the program are people who have overcome difficult episodes in their lives whose stories bring encouragement to others.
“It’s a big deal,” said Dawson of the Star Award, “but there is a team of volunteers behind me. I did not do this alone; I couldn’t. I just spearheaded the thing. “
She said she didn’t know she would receive the award until two days before the ceremony and that she was so overcome by the honor that she needed tissue to dry her eyes.
“I’m holding a big wad of Kleenex and didn’t want to be photographed doing that, so I shoved the Kleenex in my bra. I’m looking over at my board of directors and they’re looking back tensely at me like, ‘Oh God! She didn’t!’”
Wave of Hope is expanding into other venues, other towns and other counties with its incisive self-revelations and artful photos of “Waves,“ as the people in the program are known.
“We’ll be in the Lakeport Public Library for the month of November,” said Dawson. “St. Helena Public Library will be taking our exhibit for the month of December and in January and February we’re slated for the Sonoma County library system.
“In the interim we will continue to present to the schools and create more ‘Waves.’”
In the time Wave of Hope has been up and running, Dawson has taken it to the Life Gallery and public library in Middletown, Circle of Native Minds in Lakeport and the Redbud Public Library in Clearlake, and twice to Lower Lake High School.
The display has been shown at Middletown Days, the Fourth of July celebration in Clearlake, the Pear Festival in Kelseyville, the American Foundation for Suicide’s “Out of the Darkness” walk and is part of a permanent installation at the Mental Health Building in Lucerne.
The people who have been served by Wave of Hope are as diverse as:
– a woman whose mother banged her head against the wall during the woman’s earlier years.
– a young man who when he was 10 saw his brother accidentally shoot and kill himself.
– a 78-year-old cancer survivor who was taking a prescribed medication that had a pervasive side effect that caused him to think suicidal thoughts.
Dawson said she is presently concerned with getting Wave of Hope into the schools.
Lower Lake High School has agreed to bringing it on campus several times during the school year. The Middletown Unified School District Board viewed her program on Wednesday night.
She said Bill Roderick, Middletown High School principal, has expressed enthusiasm about what she's doing.
“We want to put a package together beyond where we can drive it for the schools,” said Dawson. “We’re trying to fine tune it.”
She continued, “My reason for wanting the schools is I want Lake County, which has so generously donated and got us launched, to see that we have done a lot in such a short time and we have a lot more going on.”
Nina Gibson, health teacher at Lower Lake High School, has enthusiastically welcomed Dawson and her program.
Gibson, in fact, has an arrangement with Dawson to bring Wave of Hope to the school on an every-20-days basis.
“Suicide is the third leading cause of death for people 18 to 24,” said Gibson. “So we have to talk about it. I think that’s what Wave of Hope brings to the table. They did a great job the last time they came and I think this next time is going to be even better.”
Wave of Hope has made progress. It now has a seven-person board of directors. It has also received a fiscal sponsorship preliminary to being awarded 501(c)3 nonprofit status. This makes raising funds a lot easier, Dawson said.
“Sharon has really believed in the Wave of Hope since the very beginning,” said Rev. Audrey Ward, the minister for United Methodist Church in St. Helena. “I think (suicide) is the No. 1 subject in the United States today for young people. What we want to encourage with the Wave of Hope is that this is not something to be ashamed of. If you feel your life is not the way you want it to be it is a starting point for something that is.”
Says Dawson: “I am the writer, I am the creator and it is eating my time. But it is my passion and I love it. All of those associated with the organization put their heart and soul out there and, if it saved one person, it made a difference.
“But we have saved a lot more than one person.”
Email John Lindblom at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .