Beth Ann Dreas - 2014 ALFA Hero Awards

Cook, BMA Management, Centralia, IL
Beth started out working as a dietitian in hospitals and nursing homes. She discovered senior living when her husband's uncle found a home there. She took a job as a dietician in a senior living community and soon found herself doing one of her passions -- cooking. She learned to cook when living in a boarding school run by nuns. The other kids would go home on the weekends, but she had no home to return to so she'd go to the kitchen and learn to cook. "The kitchen was my comfort," she says. When she left boarding school she took cooking jobs in restaurants, went to college and worked night shifts. "Cooking brings people together," she says. "There are so many heroes. I just want to be a little voice of happiness in the world." She continues to work on a farm with her husband about 25 miles away from her job.

Each year, the ALFA Hero Awards recognize individuals who are ideal representatives of the hundreds of thousands of people serving in senior living communities. Visit www.alfa.org/hero for more information.