Center for Respite Care announces 2026 honorees:
Annual Tribute Pays Honor to Leaders and Organizations Transforming the Greater Cincinnati Community
For more than a decade, the Center for Respite Care has recognized key community leaders and organizations who exemplify outstanding service to the region’s most vulnerable populations. The Center for Respite Care announced the roster of recipients for the 2026 Transformation Awards.
The upcoming 2026 tribute features promotional campaigns in the months ahead alongside media partners Channel 12 and The Cincinnati Business Courier.
“Each year, we select people and organizations who exemplify what it means to drive true community transformation,” said Laurel Nelson, CEO of the Center for Respite Care.
“The Center has received vital support for our mission from many of our past and current honorees. This award is our way of paying tribute to those who stand up for our community’s most vulnerable individuals, and we are thrilled to celebrate this year’s exceptional cohort,” she said.
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This year’s distinguished honorees include:
Dr. Mark Manley
Dr. Mark Manley is a lifelong Cincinnatian who has dedicated 34 years to practicing anesthesia at The Christ Hospital and TeamHealth. Personal experience with the healthcare system following the loss of his first wife to cancer ignited a lifelong passion for expanding healthcare access to underserved populations. Dr. Manley channeled this mission into a 12-year tenure on the Board of Trustees of the Center for Respite Care, including over a year as Board Chair, during which he championed critical hospital-to-respite care transitions.
Richard “Rick” Schaeper
Richard “Rick” Schaeper is a retired community pharmacist who dedicated more than 40 years to providing accessible, personal healthcare services to Cincinnati neighborhoods. After graduating from the University of Cincinnati College of Pharmacy in 1985, Schaeper operated independent pharmacies in Northside and Westwood alongside his father. Throughout his career, he prioritized compassionate, dignified care for underserved groups and worked in close alignment with the Center for Respite Care to guarantee timely medication access for vulnerable patients.
Sister Marie Romejko
Sister Marie Romejko, a member of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, has committed her life to crossing geographic and cultural borders in the service of others. Her decades-long ministry spans teaching primary school, serving eight years in mission communities in Peru, and helping adults earn GEDs in Washington, D.C. Currently residing at Mount Notre Dame in Cincinnati, Sister Marie continues her legacy of human dignity by volunteering at the Center for Respite Care, where she provides a transformative and supportive human presence to patients in recovery.
Kendall Fisher and The Street Medicine Institute
The Street Medicine Institute (SMI) is a globally impactful non-profit organization focused on delivering trauma-informed, patient-led healthcare directly to unsheltered individuals where they live. Under the executive leadership of Kendall Fisher—who brings decades of crisis intervention experience from Cincinnati-based advocacy organizations like Women Helping Women—SMI dismantles traditional institutional barriers to care. The organization is honored for its vital alignment with the Center’s mission to restore dignity to marginalized populations.
About The Center for Respite Care
For 23 years, the Center for Respite Care has served vulnerable community members. The Center is the only facility providing comprehensive recuperative care to individuals experiencing homelessness in the Greater Cincinnati region. Operating a non-profit, 20-bed medical facility, the Center provides 6,000 annual bed nights and 146,000 hours of service to adults. Through a comprehensive staff of physicians, nurses, and caseworkers, the Center is a safe place to heal while helping clients break the cycle of homelessness. Notably, seven out of ten Center clients successfully transition to stable housing upon medical discharge. For more information, please visit www.centerforrespitecare.org