Beth McCullough, the homeless education liaison for Adrian Public Schools and the homeless education coordinator for Lenawee County, will receive a presidential honor Thursday, the White House announced today.

McCullough will be one of 13 individuals recognized for making a significant difference in the way their communities combat homelessness among children and youth as a “Champion of Change.”

The public can watch a live video feed of the event at www.whitehouse.gov/live at 1:30 p.m. on July 12th.

As a director for the last 11 years, McCullough has crawled under porches to find homeless youth and in at least one case visited an aluminum shed to rescue a child using a blue tarp as a blanket.

“Education is the answer” is her mantra. McCullough received her bachelor of arts from Siena Heights University and her Masters in clinical psychology from The Michigan School of Professional Psychology. McCullough is a certified Montessori Teacher, a limited license psychologist, was the director of a domestic violence shelter, and worked as a psychotherapist and a college instructor for 12 years. She has presented at the National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth annual conference, the Michigan Department of Education state conference of homeless education, and a Congressional Caucus on homelessness in Washington, D.C.

McCullough and her husband Gary have been married for 21 years and have two children, Abigail and Christian.

The Champions of Change program was created as a part of President Obama’s Winning the Future initiative. Each week, a different sector is highlighted and groups of Champions, ranging from educators to entrepreneurs to community leaders, are recognized for the work they are doing to serve and strengthen their communities.

“Today’s Champions of Change have made extraordinary commitments to helping children and youth reach their full potential despite the challenges arising from the experience of homelessness,” said Barbara Poppe, executive director of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness. “The efforts of these Champions, and others like them across the country, are critical to achieving our goal of preventing and ending homelessness for families, youth and children by 2020, and ensuring that every child has a safe and stable place to call home.”