The Bethlehem Housing Authority presented its 13th Josefina A. Berrios Community Service Award to Roy Ortiz and Martha Rosario during a Jan. 28 ceremony attended by their family, BHA staff and residents, BHA commissioners, prior recipients, and members of the Berrios family.

BHA deputy director Mark Iampietro said that the Berrios Award put "focus on the givers" in the community prior to joining BHA executive director Clara Kendy in the presentation of a certificate, community service trophy and check for $100 to Ortiz and Rosario, who were accompanied by their five children, Crystal, Danel, Isaiah, Roy Jr. and Vania.

Ortiz and Rosario reside in the Lynnfield community and have become active through reactivating the Lynnfield tenant council which has introduced more recreational activities, social events and educational programs to families in that area. In addition, Ortiz was recently named to fill an unexpired term on the Bethlehem Area School District Board and he has coached in the Southside Little League.

Ortiz and Rosario moved to Bethlehem from New York City in 1999 seeking "a better life for their family." Having lost his own father at a young age, Ortiz credits a community organizer in Harlem, Hank Welch, for taking him under his wing and involving him in youth sports.

Kendy reminisced about the role that Josefina Berrios played and the example that she set when Berrios resided in what was then named South Terrace and today is Lynnfield Terrace. "She made sure that everybody kept their places clean," said Kendy about Berrios, who became the first part-time groundskeeper hired by the BHA.

The Josefina A. Berrios Community Service Award was first presented in 2001, a year after she passed away, and Ortiz and Rosario are receiving the award during the Bethlehem Housing Authority's 75th anniversary year. It is presented Jan. 28, the date of Josefina Berrios' birthday.