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Two of the biggest challenges facing our city are domestic violence and the decades-long struggles to improve student achievement in Fresno Unified School District.

Fortunately, we have Marjaree Mason Center CEO Nicole Linder leading the charge to educate the community about domestic violence and provide life-saving services for victims.

We are equally fortunate to have School Board Trustee Susan Wittrup sticking her neck out and fighting the Fresno Unified bureaucracy to make the necessary changes so that all students graduate prepared to succeed in the workforce or in college.

For these accomplishments, Linder and Wittrup are the GV Wire/Unfiltered Difference Makers of the Year.

In 2024, Linder and her Marjaree Mason team capped off a $21 million fundraising drive to complete renovations and open a campus in northwest Fresno. The new center will house an around-the-clock drop-in center, programs supporting domestic violence survivors, and the nonprofit’s administrative offices.

“It’s been, quite honestly, nothing short of a miracle. I’m definitely a person of faith, and I believe there’s been so much coordination to make all of this happen,” said Linder of the fundraising effort and praising her team. “The goal is to say this is a critical community investment, to say we’re not going to stand for this anymore.”

We’re not going to stand for this anymore is Wittrup’s mantra, too.

Majority of the School Board sent a message to the community that it would be business-as-usual after Fresno Unified Superintendent Bob Nelson announced his retirement. Those trustees wanted to limit the search for his successor to in-house candidates.

Seeking the best for students and realizing that more of the same wouldn’t move the needle, Wittrup rallied the community in protest. And, in the face of the responding public outcry, she flipped the board majority to require a national search for Nelson’s replacement.

In addition, interim Superintendent Misty Her — a candidate to take over the top spot — appears focused on improving literacy, attendance, and learning.

That might not seem like a big deal, but it is given that past superintendents spent more time excusing Fresno Unified’s woeful performance and cheerleading for the accomplishments of the districts’ top students than they did changing the system so that it works for those who need the most support.

For that, we can thank Wittrup, who spent her professional career as a Fresno Unified psychologist.

“We’re doing really important work now with transforming Fresno Unified,” says Wittrup. “My heart is in this work and I will continue to persist.”

Many readers will recognize some of the names on our 2024 Difference Makers list. However, we hope that many will come as a surprise because I asked the GV Wire staff to go beyond the names that regularly appear in Fresno media.

The list is by no means complete. While Fresno and the greater Valley have big challenges, we’re blessed with legions of residents who go out of their way to help others succeed and make the community sparkle.

— Bill McEwen

Stan and Carrie Zulewski: Fresno’s Unforgettable Charity Christmas Light Show

Have you heard of Fresno’s hidden gem during the holiday season? It is without a doubt the North Winchester Light Show in northwest Fresno.

Stan Zulewski and his wife, Carrie, are the creators of the 15,000 LED Christmas light show at 6047 N. Winchester Ave.

The rockin’ free lightshow has been open to the public for 17 years.

What makes this 20-minute experience unique is that people can drive up to the house, tune into a radio frequency posted in the yard, and hear the accompanying music in the comfort of their car.

The Zulewskis’ generosity extends to lifting up Fresno. There’s a donation box in the center of their yard and all the proceeds go to a local charity. The couple chooses a different nonprofit every year. This year, it’s Fresno Mission’s City Center.

The light show runs nightly until Dec. 26. Hours are dark to 10 p.m. Monday-Thursday and until 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.

To learn more about the show and its history, listen to an extended interview with Stan.

— Jahz Tello

Related Story: 24 for 24: GV Wire’s Top Images of 2024

Nick Richardson: Political Novice Shocks the Establishment

A political novice, Nick Richardson ran for an open seat to represent northeast Fresno on the city council. In the primary, he battled against a prominent attorney, a banker who served on the planning commission, and nonprofit fundraiser.

Richardson, a Marine reservist and safety consultant in his civilian life, finished a distant second — but that was enough to force a runoff against Roger Bonakdar, the attorney who represented Bitwise Industries employees owed money by the bankrupt company.

Despite being outraised 8-to-1 and not having nearly the prominent endorsement list as Bonakdar, Richardson won the election and will take his seat on the dais next month. Election watchers call this one of the biggest upsets in Fresno election history.

How did he do it? Hard work for one. Richardson established a reputation for walking, knocking, and holding decently-attended community meetings in parks. He was willing to communicate with groups that he may not politically agree with — like a pro-Palestinian group and LGBT advocates.

Filling out an LGBT’s group survey may have cost Richardson the local Republican endorsement. Nevertheless, he is set to become the new District 6 councilmember.

— David Taub

Kuma Family: Embracing One and All While Preserving Polynesian Culture

When the Kuma family came to Fresno, they wanted a way to preserve their Polynesian roots. Despite their Tongan roots, they wanted a group for all Polynesians.

And now, that has turned into an award-winning dance club with more than 300 members of all ages and backgrounds.

All the dances performed at the Polynesian Club of Fresno tell a story, says Linda Kuma, wife of the group’s founder.

In fact, the group’s performance in 2023 earned them the top prize at a worldwide competition in San Jose.

“They heard we were from Fresno and they’re trying to figure out what island was near Fresno,” Kuma said. “We had a great laugh about that.”

The group has classes for every generation. One family has four generations dancing, from a great-granddaughter to a great-grandmother. Beyond dancing, the group also has drumming and fire knife classes.

Kuma makes costumes for every dancer, representative of the different cultures within the Polynesian sphere. Samoan dress has subtle differences from that of Tahitian or Hawaiian, and vice versa.

“I love this group, and that’s probably the reason that at 75, I still am here working because I love what I’m able to do and what’s able to happen for the people in this group,” Kuma said. “Not only the children, but the adults.”

— Edward Smith

Mike Spencer: Roosevelt Fishing Club Adviser

There’s not much that will compel most teenagers to get up before the crack of dawn, but Roosevelt High teacher Mike Spencer has found the key — and it’s fishing.

Spencer, who has taught English at the southeast Fresno high school for 22 years, is the adviser for the school’s fishing club. Club members do more than fish — they volunteer for a variety of community service activities such as a Halloween trunk or treats event, clean-up opportunities with Beautify Fresno, and dropping old Christmas trees into lakes for fish habitats.

But the main fun event is fishing, and that includes tournaments at Millerton Lake and overnight camping trips at places like San Luis Reservoir. Roosevelt’s fishing club members joins with other high schoolers in the region to participate in the Big Valley High School Anglers, a high school tournament bass fishing group that operates as part of the California High School Anglers Tournament Trail and hosts sanctioned tournaments.

The core group of Roosevelt’s club is about 16 students, more juniors and seniors and more girls than boys this year, Spencer says.

The fishing outings depend on an army of adult volunteers, including boat captains who take students out onto the water.

“When I started, some people told me I was crazy, that bass fishermen would never let a kid on their boat like what I was asking for, which is basically, ‘Hey, I need two kids to be on your boat for seven hours. I don’t know how much experience they have. Would you do it?’

“Fresno Bass Club was my first call, a guy by the name of Ron Armstrong. And I’ll be honest, had he said no, it probably would have died right there. But he said yes. And he got his friends, the Fresno Bass Club guys, to be a part of it.”

Members of other area fishing groups subsequently signed on, he says.

“It’s almost humbling to be able to make one phone call and have five boats show up to take kids. But that’s sort of the beauty of what we’ve been able to do, is bring a lot of different people together, all for one purpose — to share the value of outdoor recreation with kids. The kids love it, and the adults love it. It’s been fantastic.”

Fishing is in Spencer’s blood — like his father, he’s a longtime fly fisherman (ironically, neither of them cares much for eating fish). Before his teaching career began Spencer was a guide in Alaska and Montana after he graduated from Fresno State.

Roosevelt had previously had a fishing club that had “fizzled out,” he says.

While watching ESPN coverage of college fishing that included a Fresno State team, Spencer saw coverage of high school teams and realized that Roosevelt’s team could be reborn.

It got off to a rocky start. About 80 students showed up at the first meeting. After he announced that members would have to pay a $25 fee to cover costs such as liability insurance, only a half dozen showed up for the next meeting.

“And I realized immediately that, OK, I have to figure out ways to do this that doesn’t cost money. Or if the kids don’t have it, we can supplement. That’s been one of the biggest challenges, obviously, is how it gets funded.”

The club’s community service requirement is a way for students to give back in appreciation of the support their club receives, Spencer says.

“I don’t believe that you give people things for free. Like, there has to be some skin in the game, and it’s not the kids’ fault that they don’t have money. But if they can show up to fish, they can show up to do community service. And so that’s the price that most of them pay. If you want this, then you’ll show up for these things that we’re giving back. And that’s been really, I think, one of the best parts of the club, is getting the kids out there.”

In addition to fishing at Millerton and Pine Lakes, the Roosevelt anglers get some out-of-town camping trips, including the central coast and San Luis Reservoir. Many have never set up tents or cooked on grills. But they soon get the hang of it, and they also learn from Spencer about the importance of cleaning up their campsite before they depart.

“I don’t care if we didn’t put it there. It’s coming out, because you want to leave things better than you found it. I’m a ‘see a problem, solve a problem’ kind of person. And so I try to instill that in the kids. And I think it lands, for the most part.”

The students also learn other lessons, such as the importance of expressing gratitude. After each expedition, the fishing club members write thank-you notes to their boat captains.

Their appreciation is genuine, Spencer says: “The other great thing about my kids versus a lot of other kids who have access to boats and good fishing all the time is, my kids are used to fishing from the bank when they go fishing, which means they’re used to not catching anything because that’s usually what happens when you fish from the bank. So you put them in a boat, they catch a couple of fish, they think it was a fantastic day, while everybody else is complaining that they only got a couple of fish.”

— Nancy Price

Demetrius Porter: Basketball Star Turned Mentor and Vintner

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Demetrius “Dee” Porter was making three-pointers and dishing assists for the Fresno State men’s basketball team. Now, he’s in the wine game while also mentoring Valley youth.

Porter owns Center Cork Wine, where his goal is to “bring a representation of success, resilience, courage, and prestige to the Valley” via the wine brand.

He was inspired to pursue wine while playing pro basketball in France. Fittingly, his wine line includes “Corkside,” ‘‘Pre-Game,” “Crossover,” “Tip-Off,” and “One and Done.”

It wasn’t an easy road for the Washington Union graduate. Less than 1% of the 11,000 U.S. wineries are Black owned.

In the industry “typicity” means the degree in which a wine tastes like the region where it was grown. He wants the world to know about local wine.

Profits from the business support the nonprofit Exposure Sports, which puts on basketball scrimmages, camps and clinics for local boys and girls.

“I focus on teaching high-level game skills and instilling the mindset of an elite athlete, emphasizing how hard work on the court can translate to success off the court,” said Porter.

He hosts the annual The Heart of California Basketball Classic where the best players from the Central Valley scrimmage against top talent from across the country at the Save Mart Center.

His organization has helped send 70 athletes to Division 1 schools. Four players have made it to the NBA: Jalen Green (San Joaquin Memorial, Houston Rockets), Jaime Jaquez and Keshad Johnson (Miami Heat), and AJ Johnson (Fresno native/2024 Milwaukee Bucks first-round draft pick).

He has a pipeline to the UNLV women’s program as four of them have either played, are playing, or will play for the Rebels: Meadow Roland and Macie James (SJM), Rodjane Wade (Edison), and Alexis Willis (Clovis West). Savannah Tucker from Clovis North is playing at Long Beach State.

Whether it’s sending talent to college and the pros or becoming the first local wine company to be featured in Safeway, Porter does it by “thinking outside the box, defying naysayers, and inspiring youth to believe that anything is possible.”

— Steven Sanchez

Related Story: These Local Difference Makers Went Above and Beyond in 2023

Marie Slater: 40 Years as a Fresno Chaffee Zoo Docent

Most Sunday mornings you’ll find Marie Slater hanging round the flamingo habitat at Fresno Chaffee Zoo. She loves the birds, and she also loves talking to visitors about them and other birds who live at the zoo.

And she’s been doing it for a long time. Slater has been a docent for 40 years, the zoo’s longest-serving docent. She’s also served on the zoo board, twice as president.

“My class of docents was the first one, in 1984,” she said. “They evidently had a group of docents in the early’ 70s, but they somehow disbanded. So my class was the first class after that. And it just has grown from there, obviously.”

When she first started volunteering, the zoo was mostly small enclosures and a lot of concrete, Slater recalls. “It was still a nice little zoo, but probably not attractive,” she says. ”And now it’s a wonderful place for animals.”

The passage of Measure Z by Fresno County voters, first in 2004 and then again in 2014 and 2023, has enabled the zoo inside Roeding Park to convert the concrete and small enclosures into habitats, including Sea Lion Cove, African Adventure, and Kingdoms of Asia.

Slater has a hard time when she’s asked about her favorite animals, but she confesses that the big cats and elephants — and their babies — are at the top of her list. She “inherited” the bird cart after another longtime docent passed away.

“She was always the bird person. So I sort of ventured out and thought, ‘Well, I can’t let her down. Let’s see what I can do here.’ So that’s when I started working at the bird cart.”

Slater makes sure that there will be plenty of future generations of docents by helping to run the annual docent-training class each January.

Why did she decide to become a docent 40 years ago?

“I was a retired teacher and had time. My kids no longer wanted to come to the zoo, but I wanted to come to the zoo,” she says. “I love the zoo. It’s a peaceful place. It just worked for me.”

— Nancy Price

Rodney Casillas: Guiding Youth and Fathers to Better Futures

Rodney Casillas, an Easton resident, has dedicated the past 20 years of his life to guiding at-risk youth and young adults as they navigate challenges in entering the workforce. His journey began when he was hired at Workforce Connection, located at Shaw and Marks avenues, where he discovered his true passion for helping others.

Casillas faced similar struggles during his youth, experiencing difficulties with no one to turn to for guidance. This personal connection fuels his drive to support others who find themselves in similar situations.

As a special grants supervisor, Casillas, along with his team, works to secure grants and run workshops aimed at providing essential resources to those in need. What keeps Casillas motivated is the impact he has on people’s lives, helping them achieve success.

One particular moment stands out for Casillas: During a workshop he facilitated, a couple participated and benefited from the tools and resources provided. Eighteen years later, they returned to the center with their child, specifically requesting Casillas.

“I’ve been blessed in that way to help others and to see my own participants over the years and their successes that they’ve had and the families they’ve created and how well they are doing,” Casillas said. “That’s my thanks, and I’m grateful and thankful to be connected to that.”

Last year, Casillas and his team secured a grant with a five-year lifespan, resulting in $1.1 million being distributed and impacting 397 young adults.

— Eric Martinez 

Raj Badhesha: Fresno County’s Trailblazing Judge

Judge Raj Singh Badhesha has a heavy caseload, burning through more than 100 misdemeanor cases on a day following a holiday break. For one case, he orders a petty theft suspect to write a one- page essay on why crime does not pay.

The new jurist is working his way up at the Fresno County Superior Court. Literally. His courtroom is two floors below the main entrance.

“It’s kind of cool to be in Department 1 and to be able to someday be in a different department and to literally say I worked my way up,” Badhesha joked.

Badhesha is a trailblazer as the first Sikh in the county to be named and the first turban-wearing judge ever in the state after Gov. Gavin Newsom nominated him to the bench earlier this year. The community celebrated his enrobing ceremony this past July at Fresno City Hall.

“Members of (the Sikh) community are also very happy to see somebody that looks like them on the bench. But regardless of what I look like, I try to do a good job,” Badhesha said.

“I do get a lot of smiles from people who look like me, who sometimes appear in court. They’re not always here for the best reasons. But I think that part of the benefit of having such a diverse judicial structure is that the judiciary doesn’t look like any single person,” Badhesha said.

Diversity also comes from having previously worked in the Fresno City Attorney’s Office. He believes he is the first city attorney office worker to join the bench in four decades.

“In my prior role at the city of Fresno, we were in a very fast-paced environment. And so I think from that perspective, having that experience, I definitely was able to have benefited from that, coming into a misdemeanor department,” Badhesha said.

Moving from City Hall contracts and public meetings to criminal law meant more learning and training. Badhesha said he also seeks help from fellow judges and the attorneys he interacts with.

— David Taub

Stephen Vogt: From Player to AL Manager of the Year in Two Seasons

Few gave the Cleveland Guardians and their new manager, Stephen Vogt, a chance.

ESPN ranked them the 20th best team in Spring Training. Fox Sports had them as a fourth-place team.

That didn’t matter to Visalia-native Vogt. Defying expectations, Vogt led the Guardians to a American League Central division title, and battled the Yankees for the AL pennant.

Baseball writers rewarded Vogt, naming him the AL Manager of the Year.

“I got way more excited when any one of our guys hit a home run then I ever did myself or a big play or a strikeout,” said Vogt, who starred in baseball at Central Valley Christian High School. “I think that’s the beauty of this role and this job — it’s not about you. It’s about your players and it’s about their successes.”

During an interview at a Guardians game in August, Vogt told GV Wire his local roots still run deep.

“Growing up in Visalia really gives you the perspective that you have to work hard for everything that you want. It’s a hard-working area. A lot of my friends grew up on dairy farms and going out and working the fields with them, working the cows and things like that, you just learn … the dedication of hard work,” Vogt said.

“And, to me, it’s a tough area. You have to be tough. I don’t really put my thumb on it, but I just feel like growing up where I did it really helped mold me into the competitor that I am.”

— David Taub

Brett and Deborah Bayley: Committed to Beautifying Fresno 

Brett and Deborah Bayley were new transplants to Fresno looking for ways to get to know the community while helping to make it a better place.

The Bayleys moved to Fresno from San Diego in 2017 to be closer to their son, daughter-in-law, and grandson. Their daughter later uprooted and moved north, and “we’re all right in the in the same ‘box,’ in the same block of houses here in Fresno. And it’s worked out perfectly. This will be where we spend the rest of our days,” Brett says.

Soon after moving here, the Bayleys began looking for things to do. Brett, a retired real estate broker, and Deborah, a retired teacher, were drawn to the Beautify Fresno campaign that Mayor Jerry Dyer started as a community cleanup opportunity during his first campaign for mayor in 2020.

“It was an opportunity for us to just give back. And we felt that we had the time, and we wanted to do it,” Brett says.

The first event they signed up for was a litter removal project along the San Joaquin River. Picking up litter goes to Brett and Deborah’s roots.

“We hate litter with a passion,” Brett says. “Deborah and I are in our 70s, and we go back to one of the first public relations campaigns that the country ever put on, which was ‘Don’t Be a Litter Bug’. And from our grade school years and on, our parents — both sets of parents really — drilled it in us that ‘hey, don’t be a litter bug.’ So we kind of grew up with that.”

After that event, “we kind of got kind of got the bug and said, well, this will be a great opportunity for us to do a little something to give back. We call it doing our bit, you know, just doing our bit,” he says.

They sign up often for Beautify Fresno events, which not only satisfies their desire to “do their bit” but also has introduced them to people they might not have met and neighborhoods they might not have visited otherwise.

“I started keeping a list because I wanted to remember everybody’s names, so I’d carry around a piece of paper and, you know, just jot down, ‘starting a trucking company with his brothers,’ so I could remember the names and a little bit of background, and that paper’s grown into five sheets now on either side,” Deborah says.

In addition to being steady Fresno beautifiers, the Bayleys also volunteer on Mondays to help out at the Fresno Animal Center, where they take care of behind-the-scenes chores like doing laundry and washing dishes.

Brett says he and Deborah attended an open house at the center in its early days and after taking a tour, “it’s like a little light bulb going off where we want to do what we can to help you.”

Volunteering gives them a chance to get to know the center’s staffers, most of whom are “considerably younger,” Brett says.

“We think the relationship works both ways. They get to talk to some old dogs like us who’ve been around the block once or twice. And in turn, we keep in touch with younger people and some of the issues that they’re facing. And we’ve been able to help some of them over the couple of years. We’ve been there with just some advice and counsel and, you know, in a very small way more direct assistance. And so it’s been really, really good for us.”

— Nancy Price

Ryan Indart: Keeping the Valley’s Sheep Industry Alive

There was a time when there were more than 300,000 sheep in Fresno County, says rancher Ryan Indart. A majority of the 10,000 remaining sheep belong to him, a third-generation Basque sheep rancher.

Making a living from selling lamb and wool can be difficult for many ranchers, he said. Several years of drought from 2009 to 2018 almost bankrupted him. But it was a phone call in 2018 from a solar developer that opened his eyes to a new market opportunity.

The developer needed overgrown grass cleared out on his solar development in western Fresno County, Indart said. He wanted sheep to do the work.

“My jaw dropped. That’s one of those quintessential light bulb moments and that has since been a really game changing moment for us,” Indart said.

With the dramatic growth of solar throughout the San Joaquin Valley, Indart has likewise grown a list of clientele who need the same services.

“We built our business and we went from like 2,000 acres to now we’re grazing almost 25,000 acres between two states,” Indart said.

Overgrown vegetation can be a major fire hazard, threatening solar assets worth well into the hundreds of millions of dollars. Sheep present a more environmentally friendly way to clear out brush, often getting to areas a mower can’t reach. A good sheepherder can get 85% of the vegetation in an area, Indart said.

Basque sheepherders were a critical piece of the sheep industry in the western U.S. Now, Australia and New Zealand have taken a significant portion of market share.

In addition to trade imbalances, Indart says the association of lamb meat to the tough mutton U.S. soldiers got during World War II turned them off in the years following the war.

But clearing out brushes opens new opportunities for Indart’s business, and one he says can sustain them into the future.

— Edward Smith

Lilia Chavez: Champion of Local Arts

Fresno art lovers have 9.4 million new reasons to love Lilia Gonzales-Chávez.

Long considered a leader in the Fresno art scene, Gonzales-Chávez took on a new role this year — dispensing millions of dollars in art grants. As the city of Fresno collected sales tax from Measure P — the sales tax dedicated to parks and arts — the Fresno Arts Council had the task of dispensing grant money.

Chavez, president of the Fresno Arts Council, recommended which nonprofits should receive a share of $9.4 million. At a ceremony in September, Chavez proudly dispensed awards to 112 organizations — museums, artists, instructors and more.

“We know that the arts are cathartic and just by participating in the arts we do improve our overall wellness. We know that with the arts we strengthen economic vitality,” Chavez was quoted at the ceremony by the Munro Review — a grant recipient itself.

Last year, in an interview for an article in Fresno State News, Gonzales-Chávez harkened back to the moment that the arts made a difference in her life.

She was in third grade and her teacher announced that three in her third-grade class would be in the school’s talent show. Gonzales-Chávez did a quick calculation and deduced that a classmate who took ballet lessons and another who was taking piano lessons had been chosen.

“But then the teacher said I was going to be in the talent show,” said Gonzales-Chávez. “And I didn’t know what talent I had!”

Her teacher told her that voice was her talent and she would sing “Do-Re-Mi” from the Sound of Music.

“We often don’t know what talents we have until someone points them out for us,” she said.

In 1987, Gonzales-Chávez co-founded the Latino cultural arts center, Arte Américas, and served as executive director for 10 years.

“When I looked around our community, there weren’t a lot of places for Latino children to see beautiful images of themselves. We had two major art institutions at that time:  the Fresno Metropolitan Museum and the Fresno Art Museum. But they maybe did an annual exhibition that would touch on the Mexican community in Fresno County.

“When I go to Arte Américas, I see people from all walks of life present.”

— David Taub

Helen Attarian: Blood Bank Volunteer and 15 Gallon Donor

If you’ve spent any time at the Jenny Eller Blood Donation Center on Herndon Avenue, you’ve probably bumped into Helen Attarian, a longtime volunteer and an even longer-time blood donor.

Helen, 83, has been giving up pints of her O+ blood for decades. She’s up to 122 pints, or more than 15 gallons.

As much as she’s glad to roll up her sleeve for a blood donation, she’s equally happy to roll up her sleeves and help out the blood center as a volunteer on Wednesday and Friday afternoons, and some Saturdays, and anytime there is a big blood drive at an area high school or other location.

Why does she do it? “I love people and watching over and taking care of the donors and making sure they’re well and healthy and helping them when they’re not. That’s my favorite part (of volunteering),” she says. Her duties include keeping the canteen stocked with snacks.

It’s probably no surprise that Helen is a people person — before she retired she worked in sales, selling everything from cars to eyeglass frames. She finally retired during the COVID pandemic when her job doing food demos at stores was curtailed. By then she was already spending part of her week at the blood bank as a volunteer.

Donating blood is a family thing: two of her daughters donate, and her grandson began when he turned 16 (he’s now in his late 20s and living in Georgia).

Helen says she had thought for years while donating about volunteering. It looked like fun, and she’d get to spend time doing her favorite thing — talking with and helping people. But it wasn’t until one of her daughters started a job there that Helen agreed to come along and speak with the volunteer coordinator.

Her tasks include the aforementioned canteen time, making sure that donors are doing well and getting a snack. But she takes on other tasks, such as stapling the coupon books that each donor received or helping out the marketing team with its work.

Helen’s also a kind of walking billboard for the blood center. She wears the many T-shirts that donors receive while out in the community and frequently gets recognized by donors.

“So I have that on all the time. I’m always advertising the blood bank, and when I talk to people they tell me ‘oh, I saw you at the blood bank.’ ”

— Nancy Price

Allysunn Walker: Advancing Homeownership in Southwest Fresno

Advancing historically neglected southwest Fresno is a major goal for city officials, numerous nonprofits, and many concerned citizens. Allysunn Walker, CEO of the Southwest Fresno Development Corporation pushes for responsible home ownership.

As the area gets developed with new homes and businesses, she wants residents to be a part of that growth. She and her organization do that through ongoing classes to help people understand finances, fix their credit, and in some cases, when they’re ready, helping them make the leap to homeownership.

“After two years, we’ve served over 650 people, and we’ve repaired credit for a couple hundred families. We’ve gotten housing counseling for several hundred families, and we’ve got 10 people who are new homeowners. We just closed last week,” Walker said. “It takes that volume of people. Homeownership is a long process, especially for people who’ve never done it before.”

The organization’s work is now expanding.

With help from the Westside Church of God, Southwest Development Corp. is building 12 tiny homes behind the church’s property. Those homes will go to seniors who live below the poverty line.

Walker is also negotiating with Mechanics Bank to secure financing to buy distressed homes in the area. The group can then rehabilitate those homes and sell them below market value, helping increase access to affordable housing.

A similar program in Richmond from Mechanics Bank brought 30 homes onto the market over nine years. A couple million dollars can turn over two-to-three times, Walker said.

The key to revitalization, Walker says, is slow, steady progress.

“My hope is that (the community sees) a partner in southwest Fresno, that they see someone who is committed to the mission of building community wealth and power through homeownership, through supporting entrepreneurs, through creating affordable rental housing, and through community revitalization,” Walker said.

— Edward Smith

Kelsie Igasan: Suicide Survivor to Mental Health Advocate

In 2017, Kelsie Igasan attempted suicide.  She survived and restarted her life with a newfound purpose.

Through her advocacy and speaking service, “The Butterfly Inside,” she specializes in trauma and mental health education, addiction recovery, and suicide prevention.

The mission: “There is a butterfly inside of us all waiting to emerge from the darkness trauma can leave us in. Your life is worth saving. You are worth it.”

She also uses her platform to raise awareness on youth concussions in sports, including cheerleading.

And, at Clovis Hills Church, she educates students (grades 9-12) on recovery through the power of faith. It’s a twelve-step program for those struggling with mental health, anxiety, low self-esteem, eating disorders, substance abuse, and depression.

“Being in the church, working with the youth, them being the same age I was when I struggled, in the same community, has been life changing,” said Igasan.

The wife and mother of four was a former cheerleader at Buchanan High School in the mid-2000s. The traumatic brain injuries and undiagnosed concussions she sustained in the sport kickstarted a downward spiral. Turning to drugs, becoming a juvenile delinquent, and a full addict.

After a stint in rehab and juvenile hall, she got sober, became a mother, and sought therapy. In 2017 a concussion she suffered from a minor car accident amongst other events led to a relapse. That’s when she tried to take her life.

After healing in the Trauma Facility Community Regional Medical Center, her recovery and career journey started when she was named the Ambassador for the Central Valley Concussion Consortium. As a trauma peer visitor, she conversed with patients to encourage them to pursue life.

From that point, she became one of the leading go-to advocates in the Central Valley to do speaking engagements on those subjects.

She’s shared her story on multiple media platforms even getting national attention on “Inside Edition.”

Igasan credits her faith for recovering and her pursuit to help people.

“That mentorship is the most special. When I was a teenager struggling, I didn’t have a young person in my life to help me,” said Igasan. “It was lonely for me, so it’s been a gift from God to be able to be one-on-one with an adolescent girl and provide encouragement to show they’re not alone.”

— Steven Sanchez

The Coys Put Heart and Soul Into Clovis Botanical Garden

Perry and Ree Coy have been familiar faces around the Clovis Botanical Garden for nearly 20 years and have played a large part in its present-day appearance.

Ree is a retired teacher and Perry a retired state biologist who previously worked for the Department of Fish and Game, Department of Agriculture, the Department of Health Services and Vector Control, and finally Caltrans. Anne Clemons, president of the Botanical Garden nonprofit, jokes that Perry takes on those jobs that no one else wants to do.

Perry says he’s used to it: “We have other people that are here earlier in the week and they say, ‘Uh-oh, the tree fell down.’ Great. Well, I know what I’ll be doing, tree-trimming, or I’ll have a massive irrigation leak that the contractor ran over. And then I usually make a tour of the garden when I get here (on Tuesdays).”

Working with plants is in his blood — his grandparents owned a nursery in Ventura where Perry spent a fair amount of time as a kid growing up and where he learned all about landscaping and propagation.

So his background gives him the perfect set of skills to make sure all the plants at the Botanical Garden— trees, grasses, cacti, etc. — are getting the loving care they need to stay healthy.

Clovis Botanical Garden specializes in low-water vegetation, with a variety of garden scenarios that homeowners can use as inspiration for their own gardens as well as enjoying a stroll throughout all the garden’s habitats. The plants are chosen because they will grow well in the Valley’s climates — blazing hot in summer, cold in winter.

On a recent tour, Perry points out some of the garden’s distinctions, including how the crape myrtles are not “stubbed,” as many crape myrtles are at Fresno and Clovis homes. “You won’t see many crape myrtles like this. These are all trimmed for their high wildlife value,” he says. “We’re a national wildlife-friendly garden.”

Ree is a volunteer supervisor on Thursdays, working with a crew that works as hard as they socialize. Volunteer Kitty is in charge of the cookies — her specialty is the apricot almond bar.

The couple started volunteering at the botanical garden after Ree retired as a Fresno Unified elementary school teacher.

She clutches a handful of books as she heads to the little lending library, a colorful box on a post near the site of the new visitor center that’s now under construction. That’s one of her favorite spots in the Botanical Garden.

Perry’s favorite is the Children’s Garden that the couple sponsors, with mosaic-tile hopscotch squares and other kid-friendly features like a large snail that kids can hop onto.

Getting the snail and other critters in place took some effort, Perry recalls. “My grandfather had a degree in horticulture, but he also was a Swiss engineer. And he taught me how to move stuff for landscaping. So I got to move all these little rascals in place.”

Ree says she’s gotten an education in horticulture and has passed along some key tips to her volunteers, such as, if you think it’s a weed but you’re not sure, don’t pull it up.

Ree says she’s applied that rule at home as well. “I even had a plant that grew up in my backyard. And I went and looked at it and I went, ‘I don’t know what you are. You look kind of weedy,’ but it was about this big, it was tiny. … It turned out to be a forget-me-not.”

— Nancy Price

Dora Westerlund: Helping Small Businesses and Growing the Economy

When a small business opens in the Central Valley, chances are that Dora Westerlund, president and CEO of the Fresno Area Hispanic Foundation, had a hand in it.

The organization is the most experienced small-business technical assistance provider for Hispanic and minority communities in the San Joaquin Valley. It provides one-on-one consulting, financial education workshops, and small-business financing.

Those businesses include mom-and-pop shops, restaurants, food trucks, and street vendors.

“I am passionate about fostering entrepreneurship to drive economic growth in our region, strengthening the ecosystem, and positioning the San Joaquin Valley as a beacon for small businesses across the state,” said Westerlund.

This year alone, the foundation has served over 4,000 small businesses and delivered more than 5,000 hours of one-on-one technical assistance in business planning, licenses/permits, and procurement. They also hosted 119 workshops and webinars.

FAHF also deployed over $1 million in capital to small businesses, supported 17 rural communities, and provided more than $3.1 million in grants to small businesses in Fresno County.

All this was made possible through collaborations with the city and county of Fresno, and the involvement of corporate and nonprofit partners.

They go above and beyond for their clients like facilitating ribbon cutting opening ceremonies for their businesses. One highlight: “The Night of Champions” gala at Table Mountain Casino with boxing superstar Saúl “Canelo” Álvarez as the guest speaker.

“The most rewarding part of my work is witnessing how the entrepreneurs we serve are able to provide better opportunities for their families and build generational wealth,” said Westerlund.

“Ultimately, we’re not just helping small businesses start or grow — we’re helping people achieve dreams of business ownership, create stability for their families, and give back to their communities.”

— Steven Sanchez

Ephraim Hadjis: Holocaust Survivor and Jewish Advocate

Now in his 80s, Ephraim Hadjis still fights for the issues important to the Jewish community.

Officially, Hadjis is 81. But, because his birth records were lost in World War II-torn Greece, he believes he is 84.

A Holocaust survivor and Vietnam veteran, Hadjis of Madera serves as president of Congregation Beth Jacob. When the Kerman City Council debated about calling for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas conflict, Hadjis spoke up.

Hamas held several Israeli and American hostages in Gaza, following the Oct. 7, 2023, attack. Israel responded by bombing Gaza, killing more than 45,000 Palestinians and displacing 80% of the population.

Kerman became the second Central Valley city to approve a proclamation supported by pro-Palestinian groups. Madera was the first. Several in the Jewish community, including Hadjis and Rabbi Rick Winer of Temple Beth Israel, opposed, calling the proclamation one-sided.

“I am a veteran and my main concern is Americans are being held hostage. Before we could talk about anything about a release or a peace or anything, the veterans of the Americans have to come home. That’s all. We are taught a basic training that you leave no American behind,” Hadjis said on March 13.

— David Taub

Andrew Zonneveld: His Rare Baseball Card Will Pay for College

Andrew Zonneveld found a hobby he could enjoy with his father — collecting sports cards. One particular card will help pay for his college education.

Inspired by the Olympic basketball team, eight-year-old Andrew and his father Andy Zonneveld ordered custom-made cards from Topps. One of those cards included a “1 of 1” featuring legends Stephen Curry, LeBron James and Kevin Durant.

The sports card world buzzed at the rare find for the Zonnevelds, who farm in Laton.

The $50 pack of cards yielded more than $50,000 at an auction.

What does the Zonneveld family plan to do with the proceeds? Save for college for Andrew and his siblings for one. Then buy more cards of course!

How does finding a rare sports card qualify someone to be called a difference-maker?

The Zonnevelds provide us all with a reminder that family activities provide a lifetime of good memories and lessons learned.

— David Taub