NAMI Dubuque Recognized as 2023 Crawford Cares Winner

DUBUQUE, IA - For the tenth year in a row, Crawford North, a division of Crawford Company, has honored nonprofits dedicated to service and making a positive impact in the region. Since 2014, Crawford has awarded $25,000 to nonprofits serving Dubuque and surrounding communities.

The 2023 overall Crawford Cares winner is NAMI Dubuque, while the runners-up are the Dubuque Dream Center and Centralia-Peosta Volunteer Fire Department.

Ten area nonprofit organizations were nominated through the Crawford Cares Program. There was no voting period this year.  

All judging was done by an impartial team not employed by Crawford Company. The overall winner received a $3,000 donation, presented by Crawford North. The two runners-up each received a donation in the amount of $1,000.

The overall winner was announced, and finalists recognized during an awards ceremony held at Old Chicago-Dubuque. To be eligible, the nominees had to be a Dubuque area 501(c)3 organization, have a Board of Directors and be nominated by a local resident. All nominees had to serve local causes for the purpose of having a positive impact on the region. The organizations were also required to demonstrate they were mission-focused and operating on limited resources.

Summary of the 2023 Crawford Cares Winners:

Centralia-Peosta Volunteer Fire Department

Centralia-Peosta Volunteer Fire Department is fully Volunteer and a Non-Profit organization. CPFD provides Rescue, EMS, and Fire Protection to approximately 10,336 individuals in a 25 Square Mile radius, with 35 full-volunteer members.

Dubuque Dream Center

Dubuque Dream Center is a Community Outreach Center committed to mobilizing youth and families to build on Dr. King's Dream of transforming communities by embracing, empowering, and unifying those who live there. They strive to inspire vision and purpose through: Impacting Youth, Strengthening Families and Building Community. The Dubuque Dream Center strategy — to Impact Youth and Strengthen Families — begins with their In Your Life Mentoring model. On the foundation of genuine relationships, In Your Life Mentors are strategically connected around an individualized plan to provide a child with the assets they need to be successful in school and in life. The program is structured to strategically impact students through their Academic Center, Career Development, Spark Activities, Healthy Meals (along with Meal Mentoring), Character Development Curriculum, and Family Engagement. The Dubuque Dream Center's long-term vision includes holistic initiatives to benefit the entire community. Their essential youth impact structure includes Academic Initiatives, Character Development, and College and Career preparation.

NAMI Dubuque (National Alliance on Mental Illness)

NAMI Dubuque brings stigma-free brain and mental health efforts to the forefront allowing their expanding service areas to be compassionate communities where those with lived and shared experience, can thrive. They focus on education, support and advocacy for peers and their families. NAMI Dubuque believes in advocating for those who cannot advocate for themselves and work collectively to live and build a stigma free community where mental health services are equitable and sustainable. They believe in community support, as all their programs and services are free of charge. NAMI Dubuque provides interim care (non-clinical) by way of support groups, education classes, materials, presentations, and programming using evidence-based models. NAMI Dubuque strives to be an approachable, accessible nonprofit organization that meets the needs of other agencies through resource sharing and providing emotional support and complementary care for peers and their families that live within Dubuque, Jones and Delaware counties and surrounding areas.

There were seven additional nonprofits nominated – They include:

Cans for NON-Profits, Inc.

Dubuque Area Labor-Management Council

Junior Achievement of the Heartland

Platteville United Methodist Church

Research for the Kids

Resources Unite

Whispurring Hope Animal Rescue