The City of Longview Partners in Prevention’s Unity and Diversity Committee announces Mrs. Shalonda Adams and Mr. Carroll Greenwaldt as the 2021 Unity Honors recipients. The Unity Honors is a lifetime achievement award that recognizes residents who have demonstrated leadership in promoting unity, mutual understanding, and social justice.
Special recognition awards will be presented to Beds of Hope, a volunteer group who builds beds for children who are placed in foster homes.
Shalonda Adams contributes significantly to the community by exemplifying servant leadership in many endeavors in Longview. She is the Principal of Pine Tree Independent School District (PTISD) P.A.C.E. Alternative Campus: DAEP and the PTISD Adaptive Behavior Unit. Mrs. Adams effectively works with students and their families of all races to overcome challenges and rise to their greatest potential, always encouraging them to “dream big” , be STRONG, and to be R3: Relational, Resourceful, and Resilient. Her passion is to be an “Intentional Hope Motivator & Facilitator.” Her work with Partners in Prevention Hope For Youth, a social justice initiative to stop violence among youth in our local communities, brought grassroots leaders together to address issues and barriers that divide people in our community, including gang violence. She has served as a Forever Friends mentor and group facilitator, Boys & Girls Club Board of Governors member and local board member, president of Delta Kappa Gamma, an International Society for Women Educators. She daily demonstrates leadership in the promotion of harmony through Circles of Reconciliation.
Carroll Greenwaldt, an engaged member of the Unity and Diversity Committee, has been an active humanitarian for the past 45 years since arriving in Longview. Carroll has initiated many projects locally and on an international scale to uplift people out of poverty and to feed the hungry. Carroll helped lead the initiative to bring a "backpack program" to Longview schools to feed children on weekends. Prior to the Pandemic, he regularly volunteered for the homeless and working poor at Newgate Homeless Mission. His international work has included volunteer leadership through Rotary International and as President of the Board of Directors of Refuge International in Longview. Projects have included improving maternal and child health, providing clean water to villages, and offering the opportunity for children and indigent people in Guatemala to see qualified health professionals from the United States. Most recently, Refuge International has implemented a Telemedicine initiative to provide ongoing access to medical care in Guatemala despite the limitations caused by the Pandemic. Carroll has also been the leader of advancing efforts of inclusion and equality within the workplace. Before his recent retirement, he helped to lead the inclusion and diversity effort at Eastman Chemical Company, Longview Operations, addressing and improving the workplace needs of women, African Americans, Hispanics, Veterans, and LGBTQ communities. Carroll has showcased, advocated for, and led efforts to build inclusive relationships within the community.
The Unity and Diversity Committee will honor the two recipients at the 17th Annual Unity Honors Luncheon. The luncheon will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on June 23 at the Maude Cobb Convention and Activity Center, 100 Grand Blvd.
Tickets for the luncheon are $20 and are available online or at any of three locations — Broughton Recreation Center, 801 S. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.; Longview Public Library, 222 W. Cotton St.; or Partners in Prevention, fourth floor of the Glover-Crim Building, 140 E. Tyler St.
Tickets must be purchased by June 16, 2021, as tickets will not be available at the luncheon. Sponsorships are available. For more information, please call Partners in Prevention at 903-237-1019.