C.A.C.A George Frisbie Hoar 5th Award Gala Program Book

Leadership Award 2022
Cheryl Lussier Poppe, Secretary of the Department of Veterans’ Services (DVS)
brings to this position 30 years of experience with the Massachusetts National
Guard. She was appointed permanent Secretary of Department of Veterans’
Services in October 2020 after serving in an acting capacity since June 2020. The
Mission of the Department of Veterans’ Service is to be the primary advocate for
over 300,000 Massachusetts Veterans and their Families. She previously served
as the Deputy Secretary for Programs, Services, and Personnel. From November
2014 – June 2020, Poppe served as Superintendent of the Soldiers’ Home in
Chelsea. Cheryl holds a Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education from the
University of Rhode Island and a Master of Business Administration degree from
Salem State University and is a graduate of the U.S. Army Command and
General Staff College.
Robert Santiago serves as the Commissioner Veterans’ Services, City of Boston.
He joined the City of Boston in 2016 as Deputy Commissioner. He is the first
Puerto Rican and LGBTQ Veterans' Commissioner in the City's history. Before
joining the Mayor's Office of Veterans' Services, Santiago served 20 years in the
Navy in diverse duty stations including sea duty on four warships; and tours in
Belgium, Puerto Rico, Panama, and Japan. Santiago participated in Desert
Shield/Desert Storm, Eastern Exit, Enduring Freedom, and Iraqi Freedom. His
final duty station was in Boston onboard America's Ship of State, the USS
Constitution which is the oldest commissioned warship afloat in the world. He
retired from military service in 2008 while onboard USS Constitution. Santiago
is on the Executive Board of the Massachusetts Veterans Services Officer
Association and is a life member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the
American Legion.
Community Impact Award 2022
Eugene Welch arrived at South Cove Community Health Center in 1998 with a
background in finance manufacturing/administration, and had no background in
the medical/healthcare field. Before coming to South Cove, he operated a
manufacturing company for 15 years. He first arrived at South Cove as a
consultant to do a special project for 6 months working directly for the Board of
Directors. After spending several months at South Cove, he was offered the
position of COO, working on re-organizing the health center’s facilities and
systems, and shortly after, assumed the role of Executive Director/CEO. Fast
forward, Eugene has been the Executive Director/CEO for the past 24 years. His
mission is to mentor young people in the organization to assume the responsibility
of someday managing South Cove, which now serves over 38,000 patients with
190,000 visits a year and is true to its mission of serving the underserved Asian
community in Massachusetts in 5 locations.