POLAND — Dionne Dowdy-Lacey recalled having felt perplexed in high school about why certain classmates were often intentionally ignored, so she took the initiative to reach out to them.

“I always wanted to be with the underdog-like people in the cafeteria that no one talked to. I talked to them and saw that they were no different,” Dowdy-Lacey, 56, executive director and co-founder of United Returning Citizens, said.

That approach was the beginning of a path for Dowdy-Lacey to figure out, then fulfill what she sees as her primary purposes: helping people and the larger community — especially those who have been incarcerated and are faced with the multitude of challenges related to re-entering society.

For her work toward bettering the lives of thousands of individuals in the Mahoning Valley and beyond, Dowdy-Lacey was the recipient of the 2025 Woman of the Year Award and was honored during the Youngstown Business & Professional Women’s club’s celebratory dinner and program Tuesday evening at The Lake Club, 1140 Paulin Road.

The four-hour fundraiser, at which a few hundred civic, business and community leaders and others attended, also was part of National Business Women’s Week, which began in 1928 to recognize working women’s achievements throughout history. The local award is distributed yearly to a woman who has made a significant contribution to her community and others.

A primary goal of Tuesday’s gala was to raise $15,000 to fund scholarships, Gina DeGenova, YBPW’s president, said. Last year, a total of $10,000 in scholarships were distributed among five young women, she added.

The nonprofit Youngstown-based United Returning Citizens provides a holistic approach and an array of services aimed at helping those who have been incarcerated re-acclimate to being back in society and build self-sufficient lives in spite of barriers they have faced. Such services include workforce training and employment placement to transform lives, development of financial literacy and related skills, alternative and holistic mental health support and transitional and stable housing, primarily for those who are re-entering society from having been in a correctional facility.

Of the more than 17,000 individuals URC has helped lead self-sufficient lives and overcome obstacles they had faced, several hundred of them have had their criminal records expunged, more than 6,000 of them have received support regarding job training and development and more than 5,000 of those served have found secure employment. In addition, more than 100 individuals have found stable housing.

Finding steady work and decent housing are the two most formidable barriers many returning citizens face, Dowdy-Lacey noted.

Regarding helping them to find a job, she talks to and fosters trust with landlords so they will give her clients “that second chance to give them housing,” she said.

In addition, URC has adopted the “Tiny Homes” concept in which some returning citizens live in 400-square-foot dwellings that prime them to eventually develop confidence to find their own places. Clients can rent, buy or use Section 8 vouchers for the homes, Dowdy-Lacey said.

Operating Tiny Home is a national nonprofit agency that partners with various organizations to offer affordable small houses to those who have reentered society, along with others who are homeless or are veterans, its website shows.

URC also is built on a foundation upon which it assists clients with developing greater morals, character, values and self-confidence, “because they’re really the foundation of life,” Dowdy-Lacey said.

In addition, the organization conducts roundtable discussions with some men to allow them to freely express their emotions. In some cases, the complexities of readjusting to life outside of a correctional facility come to life and are magnified because some of them have to learn ways to rebuild relationships with their children, for example, she added.

“We need to hear their real needs,” Dowdy-Lacey said.

URC’s holistic approach also includes art therapy, along with tapping to relieve stress and anxiety, something the clients can do privately if need be, she said.

Tapping, also known as the Emotional Freedom Technique, entails gently tapping on acupressure points while focusing on something stressful but using positive affirmations. The method is intended to calm the nervous system, decrease the body’s stress response and reframe negative thought rhythms and patterns.

In her remarks before being handed the award, Dowdy-Lacey told the audience that it’s easy to “be stuck in transition,” which can delay one’s ability to find greater purpose. Nevertheless, failure can be a bridgestone to empowerment, problem solving and other virtues, she said.

Each year, the local Business Professional Women’s organization honors one outstanding woman in business during National Business Women’s Week.

The first such award was given in 1966 to Esther Hamilton, a longtime Vindicator columnist.

Dowdy-Lacey also has been on the receiving end of a number of recognitions, honors and accolades. Last year, the Youngstown / Warren Regional Chamber recognized her as the Nonprofit Professional of the Year, and she received the Western Reserve Transit Authority Holiday Lights Honorary. This year, she was honored as the recipient of the WYTV-33 Hometown Hero Award and was the Regional Chamber’s Athena Award nominee.

In addition to her latest award, Dowdy-Lacey was given a proclamation during Tuesday’s gala from Youngstown Mayor Jamael Tito Brown.