Defender
One who champions the cause of a disadvantaged person or group

Shawn Wilkerson

Nominated by her husband Bob and her friend Dr. Dennis Rowlen

Bob says, “She is the mother of our four children ages 14, 12 and 3-year old twins. After 19 years of marriage, we were blessed with twins, one of whom, Caroline, has Down's Syndrome. Shawn spent countless hours searching for information pertaining to Downs and related programs on the local and national level in order to find the best of care for Caroline. She soon learned that while there are resources for parents, they were not well organized or well known to the general or physician population. When Shawn read that some parents were trying to start a support group for Downs, she became involved. Her involvement and energy was for the purpose of providing information to new parents, because she was afraid that some children would miss the chance at needed therapy because the information was not readily available on how to help their children. Shawn headed the project to create a guide for parents that contains all the information they need to know about Down"s Syndrome and helping their child. She spent countless hours, many times at night after everyone was in bed, perfecting this guide to benefit the parents and their special children. The New Parent Guide was recently recognized by the Public Relations Association of Mississippi with their highest honor, a Prism award, for a Community Relations Project.”

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