Lynnfield's Sophor Chhour Named 2020 Commonwealth Heroine

LYNNFIELD, MA — Lynnfield's Sophor Chhour was named a 2020 Commonwealth Heroine. Chhour has worked at the Lynn Community Health Center for over 25 years as a licensed mental health counselor and runs the Rainbow Adult Day Health Care Bayon Center in Lynn.

The annual Commonwealth Heroines celebration recognizes women from across the state who "perform unheralded acts daily that make our homes, neighborhoods, cities and towns better places to live." State legislators are responsible for recommending women within their districts for the honor.

Chhour owns the Lynn Primary Care Center, which provides primary medical care and behavioral services to local Cambodian community members. As a Cambodian refugee who escaped the Khmer Rouge in the late 1970s, Chhour came to the U.S. in 1981.

"Drawing strength from the trauma she experienced as a survivor of the Killing Fields, she was inspired to pursue mental health counseling as a career and in 1997, she graduated from Cambridge College with a Masters in counseling," the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women, which gives out the honor, wrote, "Teaching, training, and giving back to her patients is her greatest passion."

Click here for the full list of Commonwealth Heroines.