Winston Salem Times

The City Council and the Human Relations Commission honored two city residents this week as the 2024 recipients of the Martin Luther King Jr. Young Dreamers Award.

The Young Dreamers Award recognizes two emerging or proven young adult city residents between the ages of 18 and 40 who have made a tangible difference in the lives of those from marginalized communities. 

Honored this year are Britney Dent, who has been the director of programs for LEAD Girls of NC for two years and Saliah Rice, who has worked with the United Way of Forsyth County to help students and their families avoid evictions and homelessness.

Dent’s supervision of LEAD Girls NC’s literacy program helped girls move from one-half to a full grade level in their reading tests, according to her nominator. Before coming to LEAD Girls, Dent spent 10 years as a public school teacher. She serves on the board of Triad Restorative Justice and volunteers with local organizations that prioritize education and community service. She has a bachelor’s degree in sociology from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where she is also pursuing a master’s degree.

In addition to her work with the United Way, Rice has an event planning and decorating business and she has shown her commitment to youth by offering youth design courses and has partnered with youth organizations to speak about becoming an entrepreneur, her nominator said. She has a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Gardner-Webb University.

The Human Relations Commission established the Young Dreamers Award in 2009 to encourage young adults to participate in philanthropic, altruistic community involvement that is in the spirit of how Martin Luther King Jr. lived and encouraged others to live.

Original source can be found here.