The League of Iowa Human & Civil Rights Agencies

SIOUX CITY -- Two people and a church will share the 2009 Human Rights awards Thursday for their efforts to improve the civil rights climate in Sioux City. Karen Mackey, executive director of the Human Rights Commission, announced Friday the winners are Barb Wingert, Susan Barta and St. Paul's Indian Mission.

The awards will be presented during the commission's celebration of Universal Human Rights Day Thursday. The program will start at 11:30 a.m. in the City Council Chambers, following by a luncheon. The event is open to the public and there is no charge for the food.

Wingert, resource coordinator at Women Aware, helps clients find jobs, affordable housing, obtain scholarships, quality child care and transportation. When a number of tenants living in Duane Meyer apartments lost their homes due to foreclosure, Wingert worked with the commission and VISTA volunteers to find them homes.

Barta has worked to serve those in need of substance abuse and mental health services. From 1996 to 2001, she ran the Native American Treatment Center in Sergeant Bluff. She is also a founding member of Indians for Sobriety Recovery group in Sioux City and the Woodbury County Drug Court.

St. Paul's Indian Mission, which is affiliated with the Episcopal church, has been an advocate for those in need for 44 years, speaking out on social justice issues affecting Indians. The church's mission is to feed, clothe and help the poor of any race.

Sioux City Journal