The Talent To Entertain Helps Chinatown Community
Dec 21, 2005 5:19 pm US/Pacific
In the 1930’s and 40’s, there was a nightclub in San Francisco’s Chinatown where Asian-American singers and dancers became world famous for their performances. Those performers inspired Cynthia Yee to get out there and dance. She was just a child when she first saw Asian-American dancers performing in lavish stage productions. She knew right away that that was what she wanted to do. Read more ...

Saving The Lives Of Heart Attack Victims
Dec 14, 2005 4:49 pm US/Pacific
If someone has a heart attack, would you know what to do? One North Bay man has made it his mission to prepare people for that emergency. "I went to work, felt normal, got to the Y, got on an exercise bike. I just felt I couldn't get in rhythm. I woke up in Kaiser," recalls Alan Posin -- he was having a heart attack. Read more ...

Making Life On The Streets A Little Warmer
Dec 7, 2005 4:27 pm US/Pacific
The holidays are a whole lot warmer this year because of the work of one North Bay man. Eleven years ago, Bill Hamm offered his gloves to a person in the street, and his gesture of good will didn’t end there. For one day in December, Bill and his team of volunteers canvas city streets to give away gift packs to the homeless, and brighten their lives along the way. Read more ...

Overcoming Injuries To Help Others Enjoy Life
Nov 30, 2005 5:53 pm US/Pacific
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. Read more ...

Helping Inmates Find Hope, And Their Potential
Nov 23, 2005 5:14 pm US/Pacific
John Kelly has been helping facilitate a weekly discussion group of inmates for several years. They start with a reading from bible, and they begin a conversation that can continue for years. “We facilitate people taking a deeper and deeper look at themselves, what caused them to get there, what the potentials are for them changing,” Kelly says. Read more ...

Turning Retirement Into A Full Time Job
Nov 16, 2005 4:11 pm US/Pacific
George and Ruth Chippendale retired 15 years ago, but you would never know it by looking at their calendar. The Palo Alto couple has never been busier. "I was doing quite a bit when I was working, but I'm still busier now that I've retired," George says. Both set a hectic pace, all in the name of helping their neighbors. George mans the emergency help line for St. Vincent De Paul’s in East Palo Alto. Read more ...

Turning East Bay Streets Into Urban Relief
Nov 9, 2005 5:04 pm US/Pacific
The “tree lady” is a modern day version of Johnny Appleseed. Kemba Shakur wants to plant trees as a means of transforming parts of urban Oakland and Richmond. She hopes to change hot and dusty concrete streets into living landscapes. Kemba and the young people she trains have planted more than 12,000 saplings through the “Urban Re-Leaf Program" she started in 1999. Read more ...

Teaching Life Lessons On East Bay Trails
Nov 2, 2005 3:54 pm US/Pacific
Former math teacher Matt Fritzinger didn't always get a big response from teaching algebra. But when students try his mountain biking program, they can’t get enough. "You definitely push yourself,” says rider Andy Goessling. “You get really fit, really fast. It's just a whole lot of fun!" The fun is what draws kids into a program that also teaches them critical life lessons. Read more ...

Aiding Safe Studies In San Francisco's Bayview
Oct 26, 2005 3:45 pm US/Pacific
Dan Vojir has been on disability for the last four years. But he won’t let his personal struggles keep him from helping make life a little better for his neighbors. Dan lives in a tough neighborhood. His four-block stretch of Third St. in San Francisco's Bayview District is home to six liquor stores. There have been five shootings in the area this year. The sound of sirens is all too common. Read more ...

Making Music For Mental Health
Oct 19, 2005 3:59 pm US/Pacific
The Napa Valley is known as a place for great parties. It’s the perfect setting for a benefit to fund mental health. Every September, one Napa Vineyard comes alive with the sound of music. Major performers like Roberta Flack lend their voices to help a worthy cause. The concert was part of the annual music festival for mental health that has been put on for the past 11 years. "We have a family member who became ill with schizophrenia, and we were seeking an answer to how to cure that disease," says Shari Staglin, a founder of the event. Read more ...

Peninsula Nun Reaches Out To Romanian Orphans
Oct 12, 2005 5:31 pm US/Pacific
After a career spent caring for others as a nurse and nun, a Peninsula woman left the Bay Area to change the world and help needy children in Romania. After hearing a report on the CBS Evening News, Sister Mary Rose Christy headed thousands of miles from home in an effort to improve orphanage conditions. She quickly learned that most of the children she encountered weren’t orphans at all. Read more ...

Creative Petaluma Fundraiser Helps Needy Parents
Oct 5, 2005 7:53 pm US/Pacific
Arnie Cohen has been teaching special education for the past 31 years. But the 55-year-old is best known for throwing the fundraiser that is billed as the biggest party in Petaluma. The bash goes to benefit a charity he started 18 years ago. The Carousel Fund helps families of critically ill children make ends meet. Read more ...

North Bay Woman Keeps Culture Alive
Sep 28, 2005 5:59 pm US/Pacific
You might never have heard her name, but Sylvia Thalman has made a significant and lasting contribution to California history. Thousands of years ago, Marin and Sonoma Counties were home to a tribe of Native Americans known as the Coast Miwoks. Their numbers dwindled in the 19th and 20th centuries, until most thought that they had disappeared. Sylvia Thalman found them. Read more ...

Shining A Literary Light On Juvenile Justice
Sep 22, 2005 1:18 pm US/Pacific
"I won't let these bars get in the way of expanding my mind and wisdom -- learn what you can and don't let this be the loco get the best of you." All is quiet outside the maximum security unit at the Alameda County Juvenile Hall. Inside, it's another matter. There, you'll find voices waiting to be heard. There you'll find David Inocencio, who helps young inmates discover the therapeutic power of writing. Read more ...

Daly City Man Devotes Himself To San Mateo County
Sep 14, 2005 9:47 pm US/Pacific
Making sure kids have enough of what they need is what drives Al Teglia. Al’s been heading up the Children’s Fund of San Mateo for five years, raising money, collecting items for needy families, and helping solve problems for people struggling to make ends meet. We caught up with him while he was collecting supplies to go to the children of migrant farm workers in Half Moon Bay. Read more ...

Richmond Woman Brings Attention To A Toxic Threat
Sep 7, 2005 4:11 pm US/Pacific
Just a couple of years after the popular movie Erin Brockovich, another California crusader is getting attention for standing up for her community. For years, Sherry Padgett shunned the limelight while working as an accountant. Recently though, Padgett has become a public figure for her work on 85 acres of the Richmond waterfront. Read more ...

Oakley Couple Cares For Troubled Parents
Aug 31, 2005 4:13 pm US/Pacific
Every couple of weeks, Jim and Janet Frazier put together snack bags for parents of children in the hospital. Both have jobs, but the gift of nourishment is their labor of love. “You are not thinking about eating or drinking, you are not thinking about your basic needs whatsoever,” Janet says. “You have one thing on your mind, and that is on your child.” Read more ...

East Bay Woman Nurtures Newborns
Aug 24, 2005 4:14 pm US/Pacific
An East Bay woman now counts more than 90 young people among her children and grandchildren. For the past 40 years, Carol Donald has taken care of foster babies -- children she has hugged, kissed, and encouraged at the most vulnerable time in their lives. Read more ...

Doctor Brings Free Medical Care To Sonoma's Needy
Aug 17, 2005 2:38 pm US/Pacific
At few medical clinics will you find a food bank inside. But at the Jewish Community Free Clinic in the Sonoma County town of Cotati, patients sometimes need more nourishment than needles. And that's not all that makes it different. "This is actually the very first free clinic that's been established by the Jewish community in the entire country in the last hundred years," said co-founder Dr. Robin Lowitz. Read more ...

Using Senior Wisdom To Keep Teens Out Of Trouble
Aug 10, 2005 4:28 pm US/Pacific
Every week, retired sales executives, former teachers, and onetime therapists all leave their homes in Rossmoor for a 40-mile journey. “It's absolutely fantastic,” Jack Bell says. “I’ve been doing it for 6 years. I'm one of the juniors in the crowd!” Bell is one of a group of seniors that makes the journey to the Orin Allen Youth Rehabilitation Center in Byron California. Read more ...

Helping Homeless Women Change Their Lives
Aug 3, 2005 3:59 pm US/Pacific
Most homeless shelters shut their doors during the day, sometimes leaving a lot of vulnerable people out on the street. In the late 1980s, Linda Lazzareschi found her Berkeley community overwhelmed by a crisis of homelessness, so she and some friends went to work, organizing a program to provide daytime support for women and children without a place to stay. Read more ...

Bayview Woman Brings Comfort To Violence Victims
Jul 27, 2005 4:29 pm US/Pacific
A San Francisco woman’s community spirit is helping heal a neighborhood torn by violence. Lynn Westry has made it her personal mission to comfort those in mourning, and she has found plenty of need for those services in her own backyard. Read more ...

Feeding The Sick For 20 Years
Jul 20, 2005 3:35 pm US/Pacific
Midday in the kitchens of Project Open Hand, 100 volunteers are preparing and packaging healthy, well-balanced meals to deliver to the homebound and critically ill in San Francisco and Alameda County. Read more ...

Using Horses To Help Kids Walk And Talk
Jul 13, 2005 1:51 pm US/Pacific
DJ Dilley was born with cerebral palsy that kept him from walking and talking. "We had been told that if he didn't start walking by the time he was five, his bones were not developing," says DJ's mother Lois Dilley. Read more ...

Lawyer Advocates For Domestic Violence Survivors
Jul 6, 2005 4:06 pm US/Pacific
Olivia Wang is a lawyer and a social activist who at the young age of 28 has already had some impressive victories. Read more ...

Challenging Kids on Summer Adventures
Jun 23, 2005 3:57 pm US/Pacific
At first impression, Linda Mornell is not your warm-fuzzy counselor. But her straightforward approach is why she's credited with changing teenagers' lives. Read more ...

Helping Children in San Francisco and Africa
Jun 15, 2005 5:41 pm US/Pacific
San Francisco pediatrician Jake Sinclair seems perfectly at home with the children of a tiny village outside of Nairobi, Kenya. Read more ...

North Bay Man Starts Camp for Kids with Cancer
Jun 6, 2005 9:12 pm US/Pacific
John Bell made a promise to a friend dying of cancer. “I told him I was going to do something special in his name,” says John. Read more ...

SF Doctor Reaches Out to Homeless
Jun 1, 2005 4:13 pm US/Pacific
A homeless encampment is not your average doctor's office, but Dr. Dan Wlodarczyk is not your average doctor. Read more ...

Source of Support for Richmond Girls
May 25, 2005 2:37 pm US/Pacific
For recent U.C. Berkeley graduate April Brown, one source of steady support over the years has come from Gayla Edgerly. Read more ...

Opening Doors for Autistic Children
May 17, 2005 2:35 pm US/Pacific
Irma Velasquez noticed fairly early on that there was something different about her son. Read more ...

Giving Hope to Homeless Teen Mothers
May 10, 2005 2:01 pm US/Pacific
Lorraine Hargrave knows the troubles that can go along with being a teen mom. Read more ...

Woman Answers Prayers of Napa Neighbors
May 3, 2005 12:18 pm US/Pacific
In September of 2000, an early morning earthquake shook Napa County, and buried five-year-old Nathan Shank under 300 pounds of brick from the collapsed chimney of his home. Read more ...

SF Woman Shows Nature's Beauty to City Youth
Apr 26, 2005 11:34 am US/Pacific
Life in San Francisco is often chaotic. But in the heart of this hurried city there is a place for quiet, where you can find children at play and wildlife at home. Read more ...

Youth Worker Overcomes Troubled Past
2005/04/20 18:45:00 GMT-4
From as far back as she can remember, Shanell Williams has had big, big dreams. Now she helps other kids get a chance at theirs. Read more ...

South Bay Teacher Steps Up for Special Need Students
2005/04/12 14:48:00 GMT-4
For the past seven years, Dr. Gina Henry has focused on helping students with special needs. Her personal approach to teaching is helping once-troubled students succeed. Read more ...

Cancer Sufferer Eases the Pain of Others
Apr 5, 2005 2:02 pm US/Pacific
JW Knapen knows what it takes to fight cancer. The disease effects his brain and spine, and his treatment has often separated the 16-year-old from his brother and sisters. Read more ...

Richmond Coach Reaches Out to Kids
2005/03/29 15:25:00 US/Eastern
Over the past 15 years, William Fletcher has guided about 10,000 kids in basketball, soccer, flag football and other games. Coach’s kids treat him like a member of the family. He pays attention to their entire lives, even taking money from his own pocket to buy them food. Read more ...

Marin High School Student Feeds Hungry Families
2005/03/16 14:56:00 US/Eastern
Kimball Kaufman can't even drive yet, but with the help of his family he's a driving force in the community. Kimball has been feeding hungry families in Marin for four years -- a simple act that has touched hundreds of people Kimball may never know. Read more ...

Menlo Park Man Helps Feed the Hungry
2005/03/10 15:01:00 US/Eastern
For being the guiding spirit that makes St. Anthony’s Padua dining room such a neat place, this week’s Bay Area Jefferson Award goes to Maximiliano Torres. Read more ...

East Bay Woman Gives a Voice to Children in Need
2005/03/03 16:36:00 US/Eastern
For traveling to the world’s darkest places, lending her voice to children in need, this week’s Jefferson Award goes to Angela Mason. Read more ...

Nun Teaches the Basics to Peninsula Immigrants
2005/02/23 14:53:00 US/Eastern
From inside a tiny apartment in East Palo Alto, Sister Trinitas Hernandez is holding class. Her students are mothers, housekeepers, restaurant workers -- immigrants trying to make a better life for themselves and their families. According to Sister T, that first step is learning English. Read more ...