Clarksburg's Rexroad Receives Statewide Recognition with Beacon Award for Work with Area Homeless
By Connect-Bridgeport Staff on January 24, 2021 via Connect-Bridgeport.com
Clarksburg's Marissa Rexroad was named a 2020-21 Beacon Award Winner by Generation West Virginia. She is one of six winners recently announced and the only one from North Central West Virginia. 
Presented in partnership by the One Foundation and Generation West Virginia (GWV), the West Virginia Beacon Awards recognize, support, and connect young leaders between the ages of 18-40 who are working tirelessly with their communities to create lasting impact.
Beacon Awards Winners are leaning in to existing challenges, digging into possible solutions and most importantly, turning their ideas into action. The award winners serve as beacons in their communities and across the state, reminding us that even one person’s dedicated positive actions can truly make a difference.
Each year, the West Virginia Beacon Awards recognizes five or six leaders with a monetary award of $2,000 each to support and sustain the impact they are making in their communities. Additionally, GWV supports the cohort of Beacon Award Winners for a year by connecting them with local Generation groups for events, promoting their work through GWV’s statewide platforms, connecting them with coaching and mentorship based on their interests and needs, and hosting retreats where the cohort can learn and support each other to build a community that outlasts this award.
Rexroad is a long-time resident of Harrison County. Growing up, she remembers experiencing a powerful sense of injustice whenever she saw someone living on the street. A desire to help stuck with her, and it motivated her to create a Task Team with the mission of investigating lasting solutions to homelessness in the area. At the Task Team’s recommendation, she proceeded to establish the United Way of Harrison County’s Solution-Focused Street Outreach and Rapid Rehousing Programs, which aims to facilitate systemic pathways out of homelessness.
Marissa’s work is fueled by her belief in individual social responsibility, personal curiosity, and optimistic resilience—all qualities she hopes to further inspire in her community, because she knows that the only way to defeat homelessness is by stepping up together.
Editor's Note: Photo courtesy of Generation West Virginia's Facebook page.
