“Remember it doesn’t matter where you’re coming from — all that matters is where you are going.”
That’s the message callers who reach Felecia Wilson’s voice mail are left with before “the sound of the tone” — and it’s a message that defines the Riverhead woman’s life.
Wilson, who has been chosen as the East End Women’s Network Woman of the Year “is a living and breathing example of finding success after rising above the adversity life dishes out,” the group said in the announcement of her selection.
“Felecia found herself an unwed mother at 17 and living on social services. With the help of a mentor, Felecia turned her life around, turned a file clerk position into a top-earning sales career and ‘paid it forward’ by mentoring another young woman and serving as a role model to disadvantaged children in the local school, church and community,” the women’s network said.
Wilson, manager of the Riverhead office of Judicial Title Insurance Agency, serves on the boards of the Riverhead Community Awareness Program and the Family Community Life Center. She is a frequent benefactor to Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Long Island, which recently named her its woman of the year. In 2015, the Town of Riverhead designated October 1st “Felecia Wilson Day” to honor her community service in the Riverhead area.
Wilson’s humility prevents her from being too exuberant about the recognition she’s received, including this latest one.
“It’s really nice to be honored just for what you contribute to your community,” she says. “But I just do what I do. I’m not really looking for recognition. It’s good for children and youth to see and hopefully it will inspire them to do the same.”
East End Women’s Network will honor Wilson at a dinner on May 24 at Stonewalls Restaurant, 967 Reeves Avenue, Riverhead. Tickets are $45 for members who RSVP by 4 p.m. on Monday, May 22 and $50 for non-members and those without an RSVP. The event takes place from 5:30 to 8 p.m.
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