Nonprofit founder honored with Hometown Hero award
Tess Reasor (second from right) was presented with the Hometown Hero award and a check for $1,000 for her nonprofit, 208 Recovery North, by TDS Fiber on Thursday.
HAILEY HILL/Press
COEUR d’ALENE — Tess Reasor wears many hats.
She serves as a mobile crisis responder for Benchmark Human Services, is the Region 1 representative on the Idaho State Behavioral Health Planning Council, and founded 208 Recovery North, a nonprofit dedicated to helping those in recovery from substance abuse and behavioral health disorders.
Now, Reasor can add the title of Hometown Hero to that list, as she was presented with the award and a check for $1,000 toward 208 Recovery North from TDS Fiber on Thursday.
The award came as a complete surprise to Reasor.
“I didn’t get an email or phone call, so I wasn’t expecting it,” Reasor said with a laugh.
Hometown Heroes are selected through community input, and Reasor received an overwhelming number of nominations, said TDS associate manager of field marketing Sandy Hendrix.
“The response of this community had me dumbfounded,” Hendrix said. “Tess’s name kept coming up again and again.”
Reasor founded 208 Recovery North in 2022 and has been in long-term recovery herself for almost eight years.
Reasor said that without help from the community and her team at 208 Recovery, the work she does would not be possible.
“That ‘unity’ in community is so important to me,” Reasor said. “I couldn’t do (this) without the other people in the community.”
Reasor added that the donation from TDS will help the nonprofit reach countless people in need of support.
“It’s an honor,” Reasor said. “We sometimes forget that the work we do is impactful.”