The following is this week’s I AM, YOU ARE, WE ARE Honoree, by Erin Gregory
Katie Osterbur is the Executive Director of Peer Court, and through her role and as a remarkable human, she makes a positive difference in the community. She was born and raised in the Danville area and says this place holds a special space in her heart. She graduated from Schlarman High School in 2002 and earned a degree in interpersonal communications from Southern Illinois University in 2006. She, along with her husband Colin, decided to move back to the area 17 years ago when they had their first daughter. They decided to raise their girls, Emma (now 17) and Sophia (now 14) here to be surrounded by friends, family, and a strong community.
Katie started her time at Peer Court as the Program Coordinator but has since been promoted to the role of Executive Director. Through her career at Peer Court, she has been able to support many service organizations and has been able to get the youth involved through volunteering. Katie says, “Having the youth volunteer at events and through service projects connects them to their community.”
The youth must get volunteer hours in the community, but if the child does not have effective transportation, Katie will put them in positions that are close to their home. She says, “I love the kids I work with. They are like family. They know my family. I want to see them do great things.” Katie speaks so highly of the kids that are involved with Peer Court and she does truly want to give them structure and a system of support to do great in their lives. She finds ways to raise funds and awareness for Peer Court, and the best and most popular way is the annual auction that takes place every February. In the past she has been able to fill up Turtle Run’s banquet hall, and this last year the building was packed and there was barely standing room.
Along with Peer Court, Katie has volunteered for many years at Keep Vermilion County Beautiful and Douglas Discovery Garden. When asked why she does this work she said, “I believe in it.” She truly wants to see the Danville community thrive and become a place that everyone is proud of. “The best part of Danville is the community because if you set a goal and let the city of Danville know, people will show up. We were collecting Toys for Tots and the day before it ended, realized we didn’t have enough, so we put it on Facebook. The next couple of hours were fantastic because we exceeded the number of toys we needed. It was truly amazing watching the community band together like that.”
Katie truly loves the community behind her in Danville, and she has that community because she gives so much love and support to those who surround her. She understands that the youth she serves are the future, and we need to support them and set them up for success. We are truly lucky to have a stellar woman like Katie in the community.
If you have someone you would like to share,
visit https://forms.gle/deCPiQ1cxn1pDLhZ9
or contact Ashton Greer, City of Danville agreer@cityofdanville.org or
Nicole Van Hyfte, Vermilion Advantage nvanhyfte@vermilionadvantage.com.
