LakewoodAlive's Mark McNamara Wins Benjamin Rose Golden Achievement Award

LakewoodAlive is proud to celebrate Mark McNamara, our Community Engagement Specialist, winning the 2024 Golden Achievement Award presented by Benjamin Rose.The Golden Achievement Award honors individuals 60 years of age or older who have achieved distinction in their professional field of expertise and/or community leadership. Nominees' commitment to rethinking aging and defying stereotypes serves as a model for others. 

Having spent the majority of his career working for the Cuyahoga County Department of Children and Family Services, Mark was a social worker who handled child abuse, neglect, and adoption cases. After retiring from his initial career, he returned to the workforce, joining LakewoodAlive in 2015 as a part-time Community Engager. Rather than slowing down over the years, Mark expanded his responsibilities by transitioning to full time employment as Community Engagement Specialist, allowing him to connect with more residents, particularly in the Birdtown and Scenic Park neighborhoods. 

Working primarily with low-to-moderate-income and senior residents, Mark helps fellow seniors age in place safely by conducting assessments of their daily routines and providing recommendations to improve their homes. This allows Mark to build relationships with fellow residents and helps grant them access to other programs such as weatherization, exterior paint, and more.

As a social worker, Mark helped many families throughout the community and connected them to resources. He was a volunteer youth baseball coach for 15+ years, long after his own children aged out of the program. He values how sports can bring a community together and help folks get to know their neighbors. In 2017, he coached a team composed primarily of immigrant children, many of them refugees. Doing this on his own time, he was inspired to help the kids continue to learn over the summer, build friendships with each other despite the language barriers, and bring the community together. A secondary benefit was Mark developing relationships with the players parents and building trust, allowing him to help those families access resources to maintain their homes and yards.

Mark also knows the impact community gardens can have on a neighborhood. He worked with Harrison Elementary to help them establish and maintain a garden that not only brought people of all ages together (elementary students to high school students to adults and seniors) but also fed neighbors. In 2018, Mark completed a Tree Steward training to teach the community about the immense value trees provide, as well as how to plant, prune, and care for trees.

Building relationships is Mark’s super-power; he has formed relationships with community members from all walks of life and of all ages (from kids to seniors). Additionally, he’s developed relationships with individuals at partner organizations which has led to increased collaboration and communication. It’s with great pride that we call him our colleague and friend, and thank you Mark for all that you do!