By RICK KAZMER
United Way of the Laurel Highlands
The United Way of the Laurel Highlands in April welcomed Karen Shaw to the team as an administrative coordinator.
Shaw worked for 13 years at Tableland Services in Somerset, where she led a housing team.
“I assisted community members with locating units, stopping evictions, utility assistance, reporting, data entry and various other duties,” she said.
The move to United Way provides her with an opportunity to continue helping the community. The United Way supports 24 carefully selected programs that help community members through core work of early childhood development, parental engagement and youth drug alcohol prevention, as well as other crucial health and human services.
“The United Way is an organization driven to make a difference in the lives of those they serve, and I am excited to be a part of a team that is working to make our community a better place,” Karen said.
She lives in Central City with her husband, Jim. They have been married for 40 years. They have three sons and a daughter, as well as two granddaughters and a grandson.
She is a fan of Pittsburgh sports, Pitt men's basketball and Penn State football.
She has a “zoo” at home, with four dogs, four cats, eight goats, a pig, chickens and ducks.
Karen and her husband enjoy the region’s four seasons, and riding motorcycles on the area’s back roads. She said she loves the fall, and all of the regional festivals during autumn.
“I cannot imagine living anywhere else, she said.