It is an understatement that our society does not deal realistically with death. Initially a trained birthing nurse, JENNIFER PARKS came to SB where she has lovingly created meaningful programs for those who might have died without anyone to mourn or celebrate their lives.
Category Archives: SB Local Heroes 2017
DENNIS APEL | Living Their Truth
| Dennis and his wife Tensie have devoted their adult lives to serve others (Catholic Worker Movement in Guadalupe, CA) and to protesting against US military expenditures (VAFB) while failing to provide adequate education, housing, health care, food security, transportation, etc. for the working poor. |
KRISTIANNE CLIFFORD | “I am not my past mistakes”
Kristianne made some bad choices at age 26 and spent the next 18 years paying for them in a California prison. She was paroled in 2012 after achieving many academic and leadership successes. Kristianne currently studies at Antioch University SB and directs Freedom To Choose, which offers a lifeline for those incarcerated in US prisons and jails (over 2.2 million in the USA).
MAGDA BARNES “WHO AM I TO JUDGE?”
MAGDA BARNES, a young energetic activist who while serving meals to the homeless at Pershing Park, asked two simple (but elegant) questions (How do the homeless clean their clothes? How would I function without clean clothes?) After investigation, she identified an unmet need and implemented the program, Laundry Love Santa Barbara.
JOAN FAIRFIELD, “Bloom Where You Are Planted”
JOAN grew up in a small Michigan town as the only girl in her age group (and, of course, the toughest of them all). For the last 40 years she has been a caring empathetic wife, mother, social service activist and effective (and much beloved) Victim Witness Advocate in the SB Co. District Attorney’s Office.
JASON EMRICH, “He’s Always Doing More Than His Job”
Some people are born to a calling in life. JASON started with a part-time job and stayed for the next 20 at a local hardware store where customers are made to feel special.