The Lois T. Messer Annual Conference Scholarship is presented in recognition of the contribution Lois Messer made to Victim Services and Victim Service Professionals from 1989-2003. In 1989 Lois was a court appointed volunteer with the Palm Beach Guardian Ad Litem (GAL) Program and later she developed and facilitated a GAL Training Program for over 380 volunteers.
She began work for the Department of Legal Affairs/Office of the Florida Attorney General in 1995 where, among other responsibilities, she was the community liaison for local officials and service providers within the Criminal Justice/Juvenile Justice System in the 15th, 16th and 19th Circuits.
Lois also provided direct service to victims for the 4th District Court of Appeals. As the Director of the Domestic Violence Elimination (DOVE) Unit of the Office of the State Attorney in the 15th Circuit from 2001 until her death in 2003, she was responsible for a staff of 26 Advocates and support staff. Among her responsibilities included grant compliance within the agency for grants totaling $2.7 million in addition to coordinating a community based computer program to ensure victim safety and offender accountability.
There are not enough words to describe Lois Messer - resourceful, innovative motivator with excellent interpersonal and public relations skills. She possessed outstanding leadership and team building skills with extensive experience in developing effective community coalitions within the boundaries and by the mandate of Florida Statutes. She was passionate about protecting children but she cared about all people and insisted that they learn to work harmoniously together. She never met a stranger and never found a situation too serious not laugh her way through. She will never be replaced, not her wit, not her laugh not her amazing capacity for work. The compassion she had for children and victims will continue as an example for all.
