Our Support for Moldova and Ukraine

      Our Support for Moldova and Ukraine

09
Dec
2019

Liliana Malancea Receives the Edna Silberman Humanitarian Service Award

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Keystone Human Services is proud to announce that Liliana Malancea is this year’s recipient of the Edna Silberman Humanitarian Service Award. This award is given annually to an outstanding individual who has made significant contributions to the community and Keystone Human Services and has played a major role in making Keystone’s vision real in the lives of others.

Liliana is the Project Director at the Unitate Community Center in Tudora, Moldova through the Keystone Moldova. She began her journey with Keystone in 2001 in the International Internship program, where she served as a Community Support Specialist with what was then Keystone Residence of Lancaster. Her internship provided her with the opportunity to visit many of Keystone’s services, including Capital Area Head Start. She was very impressed with Head Start and recognized how her native community, Tudora, could benefit from such a program.

She developed a business plan and received funding in 2003 that allowed her to buy a house that was adapted into a community center, named “Unitate.”

The community center began providing daily after school educational activities and meals for children ages 8-12 in the community, as well as a youth club once a week. As the program grew, it focused on the children’s needs, adding social and educational support, psychologic counseling, art and vocational activities, and hygiene services. Because of their participation in Unitate, children experienced better school results, became more sociable, and increased their self-esteem.

In 2013, the Unitate Community Center moved to a larger space in the local school and continues to provide services. The house was transformed into a multifunctional museum where children can learn about the history of Tudora and how to make traditional arts and crafts from their culture.