Homeless Advocate Lois Varner Honored

29th Assembly District Woman of the Year for 2018

SACRAMENTO — Assemblymember Mark Stone (D-Monterey Bay) has awarded Seaside resident and community leader Ms. Lois Varner with the 2018 Woman of the Year designation for the 29th Assembly District. Ms. Varner has contributed to the communities where she has lived, has improved public health, and has helped educate the next generation of health professionals.

“Ms. Varner has selflessly served our neediest community members for many years,” said Stone. “She has improved the lives of so many residents in the Monterey Bay, and she richly deserves the designation as the Woman of the Year for this Assembly District.”

In 2015, Ms. Varner founded the Fremont Street Mission for Elderly Women in Seaside. The Mission assists dozens of older homeless women in the Monterey Bay region with access to food, safe shelters, and job placements, and will eventually expand to include legal and financial counseling services and more permanent housing assistance.

Ms. Varner has worked for over fifty years as a public health nurse in Michigan and California. She participated with designated rescue crews during the Detroit riot.

While working with the Santa Clara County Health Department, she designed and directed the first Discharge Planning System for Valley Medical Center of San Jose. Additionally, she participated in two Health Department Senior Service projects for “hidden seniors” both initially federally granted funds and then taken over under combined state and county funds.

As Director of Nursing at Ava Maria Convalescent Hospital in Monterey, she began part time teaching at the Monterey County Adult School Program in Pacific Grove. She continued there for over 20 years and helped hundreds of graduates begin a career path towards registered nursing and other specialties. Currently, she teaches classes for CNAs needing recertification training.

Ms. Varner will be honored at the California State Capitol in Sacramento on March 12 with the 2018 Women of the Year designees from the other Assembly and Senate Districts.