Advocate of the Year: Frank Prowant

The Advocate of the Year award was created to honor an individual whose outstanding advocacy has significantly advanced the treatment and services for Iowans living with brain injury.  

This year’s recipient is Deputy Chief Frank Prowant with the Ankeny City Fire Department. Chief Prowant has been an active advocate and supporter of On With Life for many years.  He has not only recognized the special nature of On With Life’s population, but also encourages others to understand who the organization serves as well. Chief Prowant serves an active role in On With Life’s large tabletop and in-person fire drills, and his proactive approach to safety and evacuation planning has made On With Life a better place.

Several times throughout the pandemic, Chief Prowant contacted On With Life to simply check in, see how everyone was doing and if anything was needed. His team was called to the inpatient facility during that time for a medical emergency and reported back that the On With Life nurses handled the situation wonderfully as it took awhile for the EMS team to dress in the appropriate PPE before entering the building. Chief Prowant proudly passed on all this information to On With Life staff with praise!

Chief Prowant is a strong advocate for On With Life and its mission, and is happy to share more about the organization whenever it comes up in conversation. On With Life is safer and better prepared for disaster and emergencies because of him!

Volunteer of the Year: Art Wittmack

The Volunteer of the Year award was created to recognize steadfast commitment and dedication to the On With Life mission.

This year’s recipient, Art Wittmack, has a long history of supporting On With Life. His work, while behind the scenes, has been critical to the success of On With Life. Most recently Art has helped guide the organization through a comprehensive design and construction planning process to the extent of vetting design firms and contractors for the Giant Strides expansion project. His expertise and respect for On With Life’s mission has shone throughout this process. His work was substantial not only in terms of time, but also through providing an overarching guide through a process with which he has limited experience. Art recognizes On With Life’s mission as one that brings value to the community and his commitment to seeing On With Life through the expansion project is inspiring.  

Art exhibited the utmost professionalism through his interactions with contractors and designers. He is respected by all he interacts with due to his confidence, knowledge, respect and kindness. Art always commits to 100% to any project he is involved in and has been a blessing to On With Life.