By George Houde
Irish American Post Chicago Bureau

The three honorees this year were Sister Kathleen McIntyre, of the Sisters of the Little Company of Mary; Sheila M. Murphy, former presiding judge of the Sixth District of Cook County Circuit Court; and Meg Heron-Blake, a learning disabilities specialist and educational psychologist who is director of the Illinois State Board of Learning Disabilities.

The Brigid Awards are bestowed by the Chicago chapter of Concern Worldwide, a global relief agency that carries out humanitarian projects in 29 countries, most of them in the Third World. 

The awards are given to women who best exemplify the mission of Concern Worldwide and the memory of St. Brigid, the 5th Century nun who is revered as one of the patron saints of Ireland, along with St. Patrick and St. Columcille. St. Brigid established a center of learning in Kildare which became renowned. 

For Sister McIntyre, it was the large hearts and generous nature of her Irish parents that led her to a calling of helping the poor and needy. Her parents migrated to the United States from Co. Mayo.

"We learned concern for children as an Irish family whose parents had an open door, open heart policy," she said. "My parents would take in people and help them as they came from Ireland." 

Sister McIntyre told the large crowd at the Hyatt Regency in Chicago that the name Brigid means "fire arrow" in Gaelic and that women today need a burning passion to help the impoverished and ailing people of the world. 

"It takes women of faith and courage to inspire love and action," she said. "Concern Worldwide is a call to action, whether we are washing clothes in a stream, going to market to help small businesses, or in a board room, so that each family has a hope of strength and stability for the future."

After growing up with her brother and sister on Chicago's South Side, Sister McIntyre took vows with the Little Company of Mary and graduated from the order's school of nursing. She eventually joined the Little Company of Mary Hospital in Evergreen Park, Ill., becoming its president and CEO. She currently is the chair of its board of directors. 

A native of Colorado, Judge Murphy graduated from Marquette University and taught grade school until graduating from DePaul University Law School. She served as a Cook County public defender and a federal court defender until 1989 when she was appointed an associate circuit court judge for Cook County. One of her key cases was a death sentence appeal in which she ordered DNA testing for four defendants convicted of murder. Two of the defendants were then exonerated of the crime. 

Judge Murphy said Concern Worldwide and the Irish people in general fit naturally into humanitarian missions in developing countries. 

"The Irish are a great cultural fit for Third World nations," said Murphy. "This is because until Ireland until recently was a Third World nation and an oppressed colony. So, the Irish understand desperation. They've known poverty, they've known famine, so they are soul mates to the Third World."

But Murphy said one does not have to travel to the Third World to find hopelessness.

"How many in Chicago are desperate? How many are hungry? How many need our help?" she asked.

Thanking the assembly for its support of Worldwide and its many projects, she said, "May heaven open its arms to you as you have opened your arms to the poor today."

An advocate for those with learning disabilities, Meg Heron-Blake has been involved in leadership and fundraising for such organizations as the Girl Scouts of America and the Chicago Anti-Hunger Federation and has done service projects in Guatemala and Costa Rica. She began her career at Illinois Masonic Hospital and then went to Rush Neurobehavioral Center where she founded an outreach program. 

She received the "Friend of LDA" award in 1997 from the Learning Disabilities Association and the LDA's President's Award in 2001. She currently is in private practice in Oak Park with Learning Specialists Associates where she works with individuals who have difficulty in written language or mathematics.

Heron-Blake described her work to the Concern Worldwide audience, thanking the organization for the honor of the Brigid Award. She said working with learning disabled students is a rewarding profession since they often are misunderstood in society.

"Learning disabled students present a puzzling mix of both gifts and shortcomings," she said. "A student who can solve advanced calculus problems but can't construct organized paragraphs or a student who can memorize innumerable facts but doesn't comprehend all of their connections is confusing for everyone, even neuroscientists and especially parents."

She is currently working on her Ph.D. dissertation and holds degrees from DePaul University and Northwestern University and an educational specialist's degree in school psychology from National-Louis University. 

Regarding the Brigid Award, Heron-Blake said, "This reward is icing on the cake and truly an inspiration for me to try to do more and be better tomorrow than I am today. I thank Concern for this honor."