Jessica and I have been searching for a way to honor Meredith — something long-lasting and reflective of her values and talents. Coincidentally, a perfect way to do that was just created. Meredith was an active member of the Board of Directors of Boulder Bridge House, a non-profit that provides services to homeless people. The Bridge House Board has established a $500 annual staff award in honor of Meredith, which they named the Meredith Spear Award. The Award will go to "...a staff member who best exemplifies Meredith's qualities and contributions to the organization". The full description of the Award is below. About 60% of the 41 Bridge House non-administrative program staff are formerly homeless or have a history of addiction or incarceration. So, the Meredith Spear Award helps to set a standard of outstanding work performance for Bridge House clients, helps to support the winner financially, and furthers the mission of Bridge House. Meredith would have loved the goals of this Award (although she would have been embarrassed by the name). The Meredith Spear Award is a wonderful way to remember her as a person and to inspire those qualities in others. We can think of no better way to honor Meredith than to continue to invest in the causes she cared so much about. Therefore, we have created an endowment to support the Meredith Spear Award. 

The endowment will provide an annual gift to Bridge House to fund the Award "in perpetuity". If Bridge House ceases to exist sometime in the future, the endowment can support a similar cause. The endowment is being established as a Designated Endowment Fund at the Community Foundation Boulder County. Our goal is to establish the endowment in the amount of $25,000, which is large enough to fund the current annual Meredith Spear Award from interest and investment income, and large enough to help the endowment grow in the future through Community Foundation investments. This way, the Award will be able to withstand ups and downs of the economy, and the annual amount given to Bridge House can be increased appropriately with inflation over the years. If you would like to support the endowment, please feel free to use this website page. Thank you for your kind thoughts and wishes.

Peter, Eli, and Jessica 

P.S. If you would like to learn more about Meredith's wonderful life and accomplishments, you can go to the memorial website that Jessica and Eli set up: rememberingmeredith.com.

BRIDGE HOUSE MEREDITH SPEAR AWARD Meredith Spear was a highly respected and treasured member of the Bridge House Board of Directors from 2012 to 2017. To honor her service and memory, Bridge House has initiated an annual award for a staff member who best exemplifies Meredith's qualities and contributions to the organization. Meredith had a dynamic personality and was always an active contributor of her experience and insights with any given task or proposed idea. She strove to exceed expectations and push beyond the boundaries of her basic Board job description. Meredith was always thoughtful, both to her colleagues and in her approach to any task or challenge. She considered everyone's viewpoints, from clients to stakeholders, listening carefully to all perspectives. Not only was she an excellent communicator, but she was fearless and would never hesitate to voice a well-reasoned viewpoint. Additionally, Meredith was smart, witty, and insightful and she brought out the best in others, making her an essential member of our team.

The Meredith Spear Award is open to any full-time or part-time staff member that has been an active Bridge House employee for at least 6 months. Any staff member can nominate an eligible staff member for the award, be it a peer, superior or subordinate. Each staff member may only nominate one individual, and they cannot nominate themselves. The Bridge House Board of Directors will review all nominations and make a decision on the award recipient. The person honored with this award will receive $500. Thank you very much for your participation and exemplification of the qualities that made Meredith such a valued member of the Bridge House family.