Andrea Eliscu bridges community gap through rowing
Every year, the Orlando Sentinel asks community members to help us identify the heroes who make the biggest difference in local lives: The ones whose leadership, innovation and courage provide an inspiration to others. And from these nominees, we choose a group, those whose talents and dedication demand recognition, to honor as Central Floridian of the Year finalists. In past weeks, we have introduced you to these remarkable individuals — and soon, we’ll introduce you to our choice for Central Floridian of the Year.
Andrea Eliscu’s greatest gift is in bringing people together to accomplish a goal. It’s her superpower: She’s a connector.
If she sees a problem that needs solving, or something that will improve the Orlando community, she’ll find the right people and put them together to accomplish her goal.
That’s how she came to form the Dueling Dragons rowing club in 2011, bringing together inner-city youth and local law-enforcement officers to form a mentoring program that has led to better relations between police and the Orlando community. That legacy has made her a worthy finalist for the Sentinel’s 2024 Central Floridian of the Year award.
Eliscu, who has owned a medical-marketing firm for 40 years, has a history of helping others. A registered nurse, in the 1970s she worked volunteer shifts to help staffing issues at what is now Orlando Health, donating her paycheck to a nursing scholarship fund. Later, she teamed up with the late Harriett Lake, a legendary Central Florida philanthropist, to endow one of the first scholarships to the UCF School of Medicine in 2008.
“When I didn’t have money to give, I wanted to give back with the skills that I have,” Eliscu said. “Harriett was very influential to me. If I had what I thought was enough money and I could give it back, that’s how I wanted to make a difference at that time. She helped me to do that at UCF with the scholarship, educating students to give care.”
In the early 2010s, Eliscu’s mind was on helping downtown-area young people. She heard then-Orlando Police Chief Val Demings refer to “invisible kids,” those who were not overachievers in any one area but needed mentors to guide them in the right direction. A boat enthusiast, Eliscu once watched a group of about 20 female cancer patients paddle a 40-foot dragon boat across Orlando’s Lake Fairview. Something about the way they worked together sparked an idea.
“These ladies I saw, the only thing they had in common was that they had breast cancer,” Eliscu said. “By the time they had spent 45 minutes in a boat together, they were not women with cancer, they were teammates, lifted out of that dark place.”
Maybe, she thought, the boat could be a place where law enforcement and “invisible kids” could find common ground.
A connection, if you will.
So the never-shy Eliscu called Demings, who sent 10 officers. She contacted the City of Orlando Parks and Recreation Department, who sent 10 high-school-age youth. And she put them on the water, shoulder to shoulder, rowing together toward a common goal of understanding each other.
Today, the Dueling Dragons have four boats and a total of 48 members, including law enforcement and young people.
Each rowing “season” lasts 10 months, with practices every other week. Orlando Police officers and Orange County Sheriff’s deputies commit their time throughout the year. Contributions from individuals, businesses and municipalities keep it afloat, paying for equipment, nourishment and travel to out-of-town competitive meets, often against all-adult teams. The Dragons took home a gold and two silver medals at a meet in Sarasota last month and raced in Denver last season.
Eliscu said during the life of the program, 172 people have participated.
“Fourteen years have flown by,” Eliscu said. “I’ve had so much help. If I truly needed something, if I needed the mayor, I’d call him up and wouldn’t think twice. ‘Buddy, how can I do this?’ He’ll get me in contact with someone.”
Most importantly, team surveys have shown increased trust between the officers and students who participate. Marty McClain, a retired OPD officer who is now the general manager of the Dragons, said the police mentors can get just as much reward out of the program as the mentees.
“The officers would take a step back and see the good they were doing in these kids’ lives,” said McClain, who was a police participant in the program since 2012 before becoming a leader. “Some of them said it made them a better parent, realizing that not every kid has the same opportunities that theirs have and being able to pass that lesson along.”
McClain said Eliscu’s passion to help is contagious.
“I’ve never seen a woman so detail-oriented in my life,” McClain said. “She always has the best interests of the kids in mind, while also making the adults accountable. The way she leaves no stone unturned in getting something done affected the way I worked as a police detective.”
One student helped by the program is Chris Durant. He said he signed up for Dueling Dragons at Rosemont Recreation Center as a 12-year-old just to have fun with his friends. An admitted introvert, Durant said Eliscu immediately made him feel welcomed.
“I was still mixed on the idea of meeting all these police officers,” said Durant, now 23, who still volunteers with the program. “When I came to the lake for the first time, Miss Andrea came and introduced herself to all of us. The first thing she said to me is, ‘You look like a quiet one.’”
Durant said even after he started the program, he struggled with spending so much time around law enforcement, when he and so many in his neighborhood had learned not to trust the police. But one OPD lieutenant changed his mind.
“(The officer) really got to know me,” Durant said. “She came to birthday parties, honor roll assemblies at school, all sorts of things. She helped me believe these officers really care about us.”
The officer’s name was Debra Clayton.
Durant was in 10th grade when Clayton was shot and killed in the line of duty in 2017. Durant was devastated, but it also gave him a passion for public service, one that Eliscu cultivated. Today, Durant is an American University alumnus, a member of the Orange County Citizen Corps Council and an Orlando Parks & Recreation volunteer coach. And he’s anything but quiet. In fact, he said he wants to be mayor of Orlando one day.
“Miss Andrea saw me grow since I was 12,” Durant said. “After that event occurred, I wasn’t quite the person she once knew. But she took me under her wing. She knew what I wanted to be, and she took me on as a mentee. That would have never happened without Dueling Dragons.
“Miss Andrea is such a connector, an influencer and a champion.”
