Photo by Derek Redd Dr. William Mercer, right, has been honored by the American Public Health Association with its Excellence In Public Health award.

WHEELING — Dr. William Mercer said it was in 2005 — when he first started to become interested in the plight of the homeless — that he attended a meeting of the American Public Health Association in Philadelphia.

In between sessions, he took out his camera and headed into downtown Philadelphia with the intent of photographing homeless people living in the community.

“I found this guy around a manhole with steam coming up,” Mercer said. “I took his picture, and in those days the camera made a big click. He jumped up and ran over and hit me.

“It was then that I knew I needed to learn more about homelessness.”

Seventeen years later, the APHA will honor Mercer at its upcoming meeting with one of its 12 annual awards for “Excellence In Public Health.” The honors will be presented Nov. 8 in Boston.

Mercer will receive the “Milton and Ruth Roemer Award For Creative Public Health Work,” which goes to a health care professional implementing creative health care programs that can be replicated in other communities.

Mercer is being lauded for his “Joe Too Cool To Smoke” anti-smoking program in local schools; his efforts to enact a smoking ban in Ohio County while serving as the county’s health officer; and as the founder of Project Hope, a medical van service traveling to homeless shelters and encampments to provide needed care.

Mercer said he was nominated by two people for the award. The first was Ohio County Health Department Administrator Howard Gamble.

The second was Jean Schulz, the widow of Peanuts creator Charles Schulz. Jean Schulz and Mercer had established a working relationship through Mercer’s “Joe Too Cool To Smoke Program.”

Among those also providing letters of support for Mercer were U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-West Virginia; former U.S. Surgeon General Richard Carmona; and former director of the Centers for Disease Control Dr. Thomas Freiden. Freiden once came to Wheeling to help Mercer promote the Joe Too Cool To Smoke program to children during an event at WesBanco Arena.

Locally, representatives from the Soup Kitchen of Greater Wheeling, Wheeling Health Right, Wheeling Park High School were among those sending letters for Mercer.

“It’s all kind of humbling,” Mercer said. “These people were all involved (in providing public health programs) just as much as I was. I think we all have made a difference in the lives of kids.”