On June 2, 2024, Richelle Frabotta became the first recipient of Harmony Creek Church’s Clara and Larry Rezash Equality Advocacy Award, which honors an individual or organization for their positive impact on behalf of the LGBTQ+ community in the Miami Valley. This annual award, lovingly known as the “Clary Award,” is named in memory of United Church of Christ Pastor Larry Rezash and his wife, Clara Barnum Rezash. The Rezashes worked for decades to ensure that all people feel known and loved, especially those who are LBGTQ+ and are not accepted by their families.

 

Like Larry and Clara, Richelle is tireless in her work as an advocate for the well-being of the LGBTQ+ community. As Dayton and Montgomery County’s Public Health LGBTQ+ Health Initiatives Project Manager, Richelle is dedicated to promoting health equity for members of our LGBTQ+ community. She provides education and professional development on health equity throughout the region, our state, and the nation. Her approach is interdisciplinary, prevention-focused, and inclusive of and about folx with marginalized identities.

 

Read more about the impact and importance of Richelle’s work, watch her recent TEDx Dayton Talk, and meet one of the young people she is mentoring in this article from the June 2024 edition of our Currents newsletter.

 

Richelle approaches everything she does with courage, intelligence, integrity, and enthusiasm. Like Clara and Larry Rezash, she exudes joy, warmth, and compassion and is dedicated to ensuring that all people are known and loved, as well as empowered and healthy.