Holliston Woman Chosen For 2020 MA Heroines Award

HOLLISTON, MA — One Holliston woman was chosen specifically by Senate President Karen Spilka to be honored with the 2020 Commonwealth Heroines Award. Catherine Sugarman of Holliston was recognized by the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of women on Wednesday for receiving the award.

Spilka recommended Sugarman for this award because of her outstanding efforts in the area of substance use disorder, through her position as Prevention and Outreach Program Manager for the Town of Natick’s Department of Public Health.

“As part of my focus on ending the stigma around mental-health issues, I have been very impressed by the impact of Katie’s work,” Spilka said, “Not only has she changed the lives of those coping with substance use, but she has led the region by creating programs that have served as models of innovation and collaboration for other organizations in the Commonwealth.”

In her position with the Natick Health Department, Sugarman coordinates the Natick Opioid Task Force. Her collaborative approach to problem-solving spurred the merger of several community substance use prevention efforts to form the Natick 180 Coalition. Considered an innovative problem-solver, she has created some of the region’s first grief recovery support groups and the first vigils that brought the opioid issue into the open. In 2018, realizing that NARCAN was not available to many professionals, including social workers, she launched a distribution program that established MetroWest as the Commonwealth’s first region to distribute NARCAN through public health departments.

Sugarman and other awardees were recognized during the 17th Annual Commonwealth Heroines Award ceremony. A slide show presentation will be shared on the Commission’s social media platforms.

Other recipients of the 2020 Commonwealth Heroine Award, who also reside in the Second Middlesex and Norfolk District, are: Rhonda Garvin Conaway and Jennifer Marini D’Antonio of Natick (nominated by Rep. David Linsky); Dr. Sarah Hamerla, Framingham (Rep. Maria Robinson); Meena Kaushik, Hopkinton (Rep. Carolyn Dykema); Lynn Strider, Franklin (Rep. Jeff Roy) and Donna Wresinski, Framingham (Rep. Jack Lewis).