In many ways, Sarah Snead’s commitment to older adults has shaped nearly every chapter of her life.
The immediate past chair of the Lucy Corr Foundation, Snead spent more than three decades serving Chesterfield County seniors as a social services provider. But beyond professional duty, care for seniors has been integral to her personal life: She was the primary caregiver for her mother and now does the same for her husband. Yet she still makes time to serve on the boards of three organizations serving seniors in the greater Richmond area.
In April, Hanover County recognized that dedication with its Spirit of Wisdom Award, presented at the county’s Spirit of Volunteerism celebration.
Honoring hundreds of hours of service
The Spirit of Wisdom Award honors a Hanover County individual aged 60 or older whose service strengthens the lives of older adults, caregivers and people with disabilities across the region.
The scale of Sarah’s contributions, as recognized by the county, is striking. In 2025 alone, she gave 210 volunteer hours to The Span Center, the greater Richmond region’s Area Agency on Aging, where she has chaired the Board of Directors for four years. She helped the organization provide over 14,000 home-delivered meals and nearly 6,600 hours of care through Adult Day Support and In-Home services, among other provisions.
Sarah was nominated by staff at The Span Center; Lucy Corr CEO Mike Cunningham wrote a letter of support for the nomination. She was chosen to receive the award by a selection committee of community business leaders from a field of nominees.
The recognition surprised Sarah, who measured her own contributions against those of the many volunteers she works alongside. “It meant the world to me that the people I work with see some value in what I’m doing,” she said. “To be honest, I just feel like I’m doing what anybody would do.”
A career, then a calling
Sarah’s career in public service began as an adult protective services worker. She went on to lead the Chesterfield/Colonial Heights Department of Social Services for 15 years before spending a decade as Chesterfield County’s deputy county administrator for human services. In that role, she oversaw all human services departments and served as the county’s liaison to the Health Center Commission for the County of Chesterfield, which governs Lucy Corr.
Not long into her working relationship with Lucy Corr, Sarah’s connection to the community became personal. Nearly 15 years ago, her mother moved in with her in Ashland and began attending Lucy Corr’s Adult Day Center five days a week, a routine she continued until the week she passed away. When her mother broke a hip, she spent several months in rehabilitation at Lucy Corr as well.
Sarah credits the Adult Day Center with enabling her to sustain both her career and her role as a caregiver while giving her mother a rich daily life of socialization and activity. “The care she got in that room meant that she got to live a really good life,” Sarah said. “I have a multifaceted love for Lucy Corr, but nothing trumps that personal aspect.”
Today, Sarah is a full-time caregiver for her husband, who faces cognitive impairment. It is a role she is careful to frame on his terms: “I partner with him in his care, as I prefer to say; he still loves to think that he’s independent.” That ongoing experience continues to drive her advocacy for older adults and the people who care for them.
“It has allowed me to retire successfully”
Since retiring in 2020, Sarah has remained deeply engaged with organizations serving seniors. In addition to her work with The Span Center, she currently sits on the Health Center Commission of Chesterfield County as one of seven commissioners governing Lucy Corr. She also chairs the Board of Directors for the Perkinson Center for the Arts and Education in Chester, which has programs for all ages.
For Sarah, volunteerism has been essential to navigating life after a long career. “To go from 30-plus years of being extremely active in my career to being inactive, I think would have been disastrous for me personally,” she said. “Instead, I got involved in three different organizations and stayed active, felt needed and felt valued. It has allowed me to retire successfully.”
As several of her board terms wind down, Sarah is already considering where to direct her energy next. But her connection to Lucy Corr’s founding mission — and the woman behind it — remains a fixed point. “I have a real heart for Miss Lucy herself as a person, as well as her legacy,” she said. “I want to see everything she stood for continue.”
