Aurora honors employee to highlight National Development Disabilities Awareness Month

The Beacon-News - 3/21/2024

If you’ve gone to Aurora City Hall in the morning and been greeted with a smile, you’re not alone.

Mayor Richard Irvin said every morning he gets that same smile from Quationna Strowder, a greeter at the entrance to the main building for city offices on the Water Street Mall downtown.

“Every day when I show up at City Hall, I see a smiling face,” Irvin said at Tuesday’s City Council Committee of the Whole meeting. “She asks me every day, how are you doing? I hope you have a good day. No matter how I feel, I feel better.”

Diagnosed with health challenges and physical disabilities as an elementary school student, Strowder uses a walker for mobility. She exudes a greater ability, described by Katrina Boatright, manager of Aurora Senior and Disability Services, as “an inner quality.”

Irvin and the city honored Strowder – known around City Hall simply as Q – with the Mayor’s Award of Excellence to highlight National Development Disabilities Awareness Month.

The goal is to raise awareness about the inclusion of people with disabilities in all facets of community life, said Clayton Muhammad, Aurora’s chief communications officer, and its equity and inclusion officer.

He said it is also to raise awareness of “the barriers that they may face in terms of employment and quality of life in general.”

Boatright said “Q” is the epitome of working through a disability.

“I can think of no better representative to be honored today,” she said.

“We appreciate you being such a good person,” Irvin said. “And making our day better.”

slord@tribpub.com