The Lord’s Place CEO honored with inaugural Cara Malave Legacy Award

Christine Frederick, chief executive officer of The Lord’s Place, accepting the first-ever Cara Malave Legacy Award. [Photo by the FLITE Center]

Christine Frederick, chief executive officer of The Lord’s Place, received the first-ever Cara Malave Legacy Award during the FLITE Center’s 8th Annual Heroes Luncheon on April 17. The award—established this year to honor champions of youth transition—recognizes individuals whose leadership, compassion and impact mirror those of the late Cara Malave.

“This year we launched an award in Cara Malave’s honor, the Cara Malave Legacy Award,” said FLITE Center CEO Kristina DaSilva. “It is meant to be awarded to someone who holds the same spirit of leadership, compassion and impact Cara had during her time serving our youth.”

Cristina Lucier, Christine Frederick, Calvin Philips, Molly Franzone and Brett Larsen at the FLITE CENTER'S 8th Annual Heroes Luncheon on April 17. [Photo by the FLITE Center]

Malave served the FLITE Center for eight years as director of programs and chief program officer before her sudden passing in August 2025. Colleagues remember her as someone “who would give the shirt off her back for anyone…with a smile and laugh that would light up an entire room,” and whose life’s work was devoted to uplifting young people.

Frederick’s own career has been defined by a similar blend of service and advocacy. Since joining The Lord’s Place as CEO last May, she has led the nonprofit on its mission to break the cycle of homelessness for people in Palm Beach County. Prior to that role, Frederick served as FLITE Center CEO from 2017 to 2025.

Christina Malave, Christine Frederick, Hilary Malave. [Photo by the FLITE Center]

At the FLITE Center, Frederick steered the agency’s Transitional Independent Living System of Care, growing its annual budget from under $600,000 to more than $10 million, expanding headquarters from 3,000 to 16,000 square feet, increasing staff from eight to more than 60 employees, and extending services across 12 Florida counties.

Accepting the award, Frederick paid tribute to her friend and mentor. “None of this was ever mine alone,” she said. “It was built on collective love and sacrifice—and on the back of someone extraordinary: Cara Malave. She was my right hand, my partner in every sense of the word, and truly one of the most giving human beings I have ever known.”

Malave and Frederick co-founded the Heroes Luncheon to spotlight those who work behind the scenes and to demonstrate “the power and impact of the whole,” Frederick said. Other honorees at this year’s event included the Broward Sheriff’s Office, Mark and Tiffany Dhooge, Ladies Fish Off, Mavericks Host Committee, Joel Smith—and Cara Malave herself, recognized posthumously.

For more than 45 years, The Lord’s Place has provided housing, job training and reentry services to Palm Beach County’s most vulnerable. Its Fortin Family Campus and scattered-site apartments shelter some 300 individuals each night. More information is available at thelordsplace.org.