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Alumni briefs: Odell ’97, Reavis ’81, Snyder ’12, Sumner ’73, Zlotnik ’07

Charles A. Odell, MSW ’97, LCAS, was given the prestigious Jody Kellerman Award by the Anuvia Prevention & Recovery Center in Charlotte on Sept. 12.  The annual awards are held in conjunction with National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month.  The award recognizes the contributions of an individual in North Carolina who “exhibits excellence in leadership and service in the field of substance abuse treatment and prevention” and is given to a deserving professional each year by Anuvia’s board of directors.

Odell has worked in the chemical dependency treatment field for 29 years, and is the CEO of the Dilworth Center for Chemical Dependency in Charlotte. He also serves on the advisory board of the McLeod Institute on Substance Abuse at UNC-Charlotte, the advisory board of the Presbyterian Samaritan Center in Charlotte, and is an adjunct instructor at UNC-Chapel Hill.

Paul Reavis, MSW ’81, retired in August with 16 years of service in the Commonwealth of Virginia’s Department of Social Services. Reavis served as operations manager for mass disaster sheltering for the VDSS, and was responsible for opening and staffing mass shelters in the Commonwealth’s largest coliseums and indoor athletic facilities, and his team’s planning resulted in the establishment of one of the nation’s best shelter programs for children who have been victimized by large scale disasters. Reavis now divides his time between residences in Danville, Va., and Carolina Beach, N.C., and with his spouse of 41 years, Brenda, and their 2 granddaughters.

Erica Snyder, MSW ’12, is now working full-time for The Salvation Army in Raleigh in anti-human trafficking. She is the Injury Prevention Coordinator, working in conjunction with a consultant to conduct a planning and assessment grant regarding child trafficking in Wake County (ages 21 and under).

Dr. Eugene Sumner, MSW ’73, of Raleigh is serving his 32nd year with the Mount Olive College Board of Trustees as chair of the Academic Affairs Committee.

Sarah Zlotnik, MSW ’07, will be a speaker at a briefing on Oct. 19, in Washington, D.C., “Children at Risk: Optimizing Health in an Era of Reform,” hosted by Congressman Edolphus Towns (D-NY) in conjunction with the National Association of Social Workers.