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Dominic Watson is intimately familiar with the disparities that exist in Springfield and Sangamon County.
Growing up, he would travel from the north side of town to the east side to attend St. Patrick s Catholic School near the corner of MLK Drive and South Grand Avenue. Driving from the north side to the east side, or from the west side to the east side, you can see how things change,” said Watson, 37, who is president and chief executive officer of the Springfield Black Chamber of Commerce. “You transition. It s like a whole different world.
In Sangamon County, the median household income for a Black family is $27,003, while it is $66,648 for their white counterparts, according to five-year estimates from the 2019 American Community Survey, the most recent available. The survey shows that 39.2% of the county’s Black residents live in poverty while 10.3% of white residents live below the poverty line. Of the 13 Illinois counties with Black populations of 15,000 or mo
The other finalist for this year’s award was Sara-Ann Rosen.
Elizabeth Ribarsky of Springfield, associate professor of communication at UIS, was honored with the Star Staff Award.
Ribarsky has chaired the annual Illinois Humane Trivia Night and in two years, she raised an additional $25,000 for the organization with this event.
Reagan Weichold of Chatham was honored with the Youth Volunteer Award. She was nominated by the Animal Protective League.
Weichold is a mentor for the APL’s Junior Volunteer Program.
Other finalists included Tyler Lancaster and Audrey Lupton.
Twenty volunteers were also honored with the Heart of Gold Award. Individual recipients were: Dennis Ahlberg, Anne Anderson, Stacey Austin, Jim Barr, Sandy Bellatti, Sally Cadagin, Becky Gabany, Paula Harris, Dorothy Hart, William G. Holland, DeeDee McCarty, Allison Montney, Traci Moore, Kristie Parkins, Megan Philpot, Renate Selby, Teressa Shelton, Kate Ward and Laura Winkelmann.