San Francisco (CBS 5)  -- Mark Majano is developmentally challenged, and needs assistance with his day to day duties. Mark loves his job at a San Francisco grocery store, but he wouldn’t be able to do it so well without help from Jody Martin.

Jody makes sure that Mark gets to work on time, cashes his check, gives him an allowance, and helps him with shopping. But Mark is just one of the nearly 30 people with disabilities that Jody has helped get through life.

"These people are just like you and I, but they need a tiny bit of help to start,” Martin says. Initiative is always lacking because of fears. I take away their fears and allow the process to happen."

Rosie Barros is another person who relies on Jody Martin. He takes her to pick up prescriptions, pay bills, and even visit her brother. Jody doesn’t drive, so he spends a lot of time walking and riding public transportation through the streets of San Francisco. He can criss-cross the city several times a day to help others.

Back in March of 1995, the streets of San Francisco almost claimed Jody\'s life. He was peddling his bicycle to work when he had an accident at the intersection of Haight and Steiner streets.

“I collapsed both my lungs, stopped my heart for a brief time, and crashed my head," Jody recalls.

Jody doesn’t remember exactly what hit him, but he was in a coma for nearly a month. Afterwards, he was partially paralyzed, and went through months of rehabilitation to get back on his feet. He still feels the effects of the accident.

"Everything moves, but it\'s not in sync with my right hand,” Jody says. “You know, when you do something with your right hand and it matches your left? I don\'t match too well."

He also lost his sense of taste and smell, and can’t balance well enough to ride a bike anymore. That’s why Jody understands so well what life is like for others with disabilities, and why he works so hard to bring joy into their lives. That effort includes an annual gambling trip in Reno for his group.

“If I had the magic wand, I\'d take everyone\'s disability and negate it, but since that magic wand is not quite with us, I\'d rather have more helpers," Jody says.

But Jody’s not waiting for those volunteers. He’s doing the work himself.

For making life safer and more enjoyable for a group of very special people, this week’s Jefferson Award in the Bay Area goes to Jody Martin.

By Barbara Rodgers