Thousands of dollars could be put towards affordable housing if a long-time Maple Ridge resident has her way.
Mo Korchinski is competing for an online Connecting the Community Award where if she receives the most votes she will receive $10,000 to put towards the YWCA program of her choice.
Korchinski is nominated for a YWCA Women of Distinction Award that honours individuals whose outstanding activities and achievements “contribute to the well-being and future of our community.”
She is one of five women nominated in the category, and one of 66 overall nominated for an award.
All nominees are also eligible to win the Connecting the Community Award, where they choose a YWCA cause that is important to them and the recipient is selected by popular vote.
Korchinski is a UBC faculty of medicine member, and joined the Collaborating Centre for Prison Health and Education in March 2015.
She is currently the project administrator for the CCPHE project Unlocking the Gates Peer Health Mentoring Program.
Prior to joining the project, Korchinski worked as a research lead on the research project Doing Time at UBC’s Department of Family Practice Research Office.
She graduated from Nicola Valley Institute of Technology with a Bachelor of Social Work in 2014. Her passion is working with women who are involved in the justice system.
She spent many years incarcerated due to a long history with drug addiction, including in Maple Ridge.
The winner of the Connecting the Community award will be announced live at the 36th annual YWCA Women of Distinction Awards to be held at the JW Marriott Parq in Vancouver on May 13th.