Kathleen Little, Everyday Hero

Kathleen Little is a special friend. While that statement can be definitively made by Neighborhood Housing Services, it can be stated by countless many more. As the immediate past Executive Director of NHS, Kathleen provided dynamic leadership, direction and energy to an organization that needed her special talents in a very real way. She has served this community as a vital voice of compassion and fairness and decency. Kathleen Little is a leader with an infectious optimism and an unshakable belief in the inherent goodness of those she strives to serve. She continues to provide for her friends and family with a vivacious heart filled with life, laughter and love.” Written by Neighborhood Housing Services for the Governor Robert P. Casey Medal-2009 Honorees.

The Governor Robert P. Casey Medal for a Lifetime of Service is presented annually by Neighborhood Housing Services of Lackawanna County in Pennsylvania. NHS work has resulted in thousands of educated homebuyers, over a hundred improved properties and millions of dollars worth of investment into local neighborhoods. Kathleen is one of the individuals being honored for faithfully investing her time and talents to the betterment of the quality of life in northeastern Pennsylvania.

Before Kathleen started coaching she didn’t know that her life wasn’t everything that it could be. She felt that the insights she had during the coaching was really shifting the core of who she was; her integrity, her work ethics and her values. They all became one entity as part of her life. She feels that the coaching has really enhanced these values for her and has put a greater value on her life; the way she wants her life to be; the joy she has in her life.

She had realized how much she had shortchanged her life; almost a mediocre to joy. She is coming from more of the internal aspect on life now not just the external, which has given her that peace, joy and effectiveness in all areas of her life. One of the biggest breakthroughs for Kathleen was that she started planning her life and being responsible for it. She gave up the control and being attached to everyone else’s values and took on honoring and valuing people for who they were.

She continues to have her vision present, reading a lot more and doing more to keep consistently move her forward. She stated: “When your heart and mind are open, it’s amazing what comes in.” She felt that the core of her being had shifted from participating in the Bravehearts Leadership Development Training Program and that she would never go back to that old person, not that there was anything wrong with that old person, but she is now living her life more positively with value, integrity and honesty.

As we saw early on in this article, Kathleen is very involved in her community. She is very active in her granddaughters’ school and outreach in the community. She is helping the local ambulance corps restructure and will continue doing the summer brunch program this year for those children in need. She is all about creating and maintaining the leadership in her community and looks forward to many more years of doing that.
Kathleen, you truly are an inspiration to us all. Your giving and generous nature allows so many people to live their dreams and for that, we honor you as this month’s Everyday Hero.