LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The fifth annual Kelsie Small Future Healer Award was presented to Kiara James, a Community Health Worker with the J. David Richardson Trauma Center at UofL Health – UofL Hospital. Kiara was chosen because of her dedication to serving patients each and every day.
The award was established in 2021 in honor of Kelsie Small, a Central High School graduate and nursing student at Northern Kentucky University, who was killed the day before Mother’s Day in 2020. As an aspiring nurse, the 19-year-old was anxious to start her long and successful career of making a difference in patients’ lives. Kelsie’s kind-heartedness and willingness to help anyone and everyone would be the exact ingredients needed to achieve that goal. It’s why, each year, the award is presented to a medical professional at UofL Health who exemplifies excellence, caring, compassion and commitment to education.
Through nominations and a judging committee, Kiara James was named the 2025 recipient of the Kelsie Small Future Healer Award. She has worked with UofL Hospital for five years, starting as one of the only Community Health Workers. She now leads a team of four others doing this work. Those who nominated Kiara say she “models trauma-informed care, how to connect and build relationships with individuals and families” and “how to support and advocate even when it’s hard.”
Throughout her time with UofL Health, Kiara identified a gap in services for victims of gun violence who had impaired mobility after discharge and a home that wasn’t wheelchair accessible. She started her own nonprofit called Pushing Forward, which builds ramps for this very population. Over the last year, Pushing Forward has built ramps in 10 different houses, serving 10 more former patients.
Kiara also started a survivor support group for gun violence victims which has served almost 100 people in the last year.
Kiara has proved her dedication to helping patients navigate through life after trauma, and that determination to make a difference resembles the same spirit as Kelsie Small.
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