Anchor House is excited to announce the two recipients of the Douglas C. McCune Memorial Award, Wayne and Myasia.
Each year, the Anchor House Foundation presents these financial awards to young adults in Anchor House programs to help them pursue their goals. It is given to young adults like Wayne and Myasia who demonstrated many of Mr. McCune’s qualities, including humility, hard work, academic achievement, and a concern for others.
The first Award was presented in 2012 in memory of Mr. McCune, a scientist at the Princeton Plasma Physics Lab, in recognition of his dedication to Anchor House. He had participated in the Anchor House Foundation Ride for Runaways for 16 years and was a top fundraiser.
The award is presented at the Ride banquet annually, this year on July 18. Both Wayne and Myasia were in attendance to accept their awards and recognized and thanked the Anchor House staff, Anchor House Foundation and Mr. McCune’s widow, Susan Jefferies who continues to provide financial support toward these awards.
Learn more about the recipients:
Wayne came to Anchor House in 2019. He has been an active member of the Anchor House Youth Advisory Council (YAC) and represented Anchor House on the Trenton/Mercer County Continuum of Care (CoC) Youth Advisory Board where he served as its President. As a member of the YAC, Wayne has been to the Capital advocating with the legislature around issues facing youth experiencing homelessness. He recently conducted a workshop for Anchor House staff on best practices from a youth perspective. During his speech at the banquet, Wayne said “Anchor House has helped me by understanding my purpose in this world. They also helped me realize that if you believe in what you want and work hard for it, you will definitely receive it.” Wayne was able to go back to school and graduate as a certified medical assistant and is working at a local ENT office as a clinical assistant.
You may remember Myasia from our March 2024 e-blast and blog highlighting her trip to Miami to attend the conference, “Achieving Success: Partnering with Transitional-Age Young Adults for Strong Housing Solutions.” During her speech, Myasia credited her Case Manager for helping her enroll in community college and graduate, relocate to a safer area in her own apartment, and assist her with her daughter’s extracurricular activities. “They [Anchor House] have always been available to assist me in any manner they can, meeting many of my needs,” said Myasia during her speech. “They are my family, and I feel blessed to have them in my life. There are not enough words to express my appreciation to them!”
“I like to think that Mr. McCune is looking down with pride at both Wayne and Myasia and all the youth that have received this award in his memory,” said Kim McNear, Anchor House Executive Director. “He was a humble man but we know he would be happy to know we are carrying on his legacy through this award.”
