Share the Spirit 2018 stories of help and hope.
Woman who got help at Civicorps to turn her life around now wants to help others
(Photo Anda Chu/Bay Area News Group) Tyneisha Crooks’ late father didn’t want his children “stuck on stupid,” she said. It was his way of telling her and her 10 siblings that to get anywhere in life they needed an education ...
Singalongs and iPod playlists, music has calming effect on nursing-home residents
(Photo Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group) It was the third Monday of the month, so residents of Legacy Nursing and Rehab sang along with classics such as “She’ll Be Coming Around the Mountain” and “Take Me Out to the ...
Richmond center boosts budding businesses
(Photo Anda Chu/Bay Area News Group) When Rebecca and Noel Shabazian in late July first opened the doors of their Albany salon, Raven & Rose, they were both excited — and nervous. “It was like starting a new job and moving ...
Found on Concord Salvation Army doorstep day after Christmas, homeless man gets sober, turns life around
(Photo Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group) On a cold, near-freezing morning the day after Christmas last year, Mike O’Reilly walked toward the Salvation Army pantry and found a man passed out in a sleeping bag under the building’s covered walkway ...
Oakland nonprofit making life easier for foster youth
(Photo Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group) When she was a foster youth, four walls could not contain Lexi. She made a habit of running away from group homes and ending up in juvenile hall. Once released, she was back at ...
From client to board president, a Tri-Valley Haven success story
(Photo: Doug Duran/Bay Area News Group) When Andrea Brooks decided to get away from her abusive husband 23 years ago, she picked up the phone and dialed the operator. “Out of desperation, I picked up the phone and dialed zero, ...
Oakland agency helps immigrant rebuild life after elder abuse
(Photo: Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group) Jagdish Chawla seemed like he had accomplished the American dream. The Indian immigrant had launched a successful chain of East Bay pizza parlors, become a U.S. citizen, and built his dream house high up ...
Specially trained pups making huge differences in the lives of diabetics
(Photo Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group) For most of her childhood and early adult life, Chrystal O’Malley feared the night. O’Malley, now 34, was 3 years old when she was diagnosed with Type I diabetes, Even controlling the disease with ...
Former homeless vets help others through Berkeley Food and Housing Project
(Photo Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group) Alex Thorson can relate to those in need, he was once in their shoes BERKELEY — Alex Thorson can often be found at homeless encampments under overpasses, in abandoned buildings and public parks in ...
Mother and teen, survivors of traumatic burn injuries, heal by helping others
(Photo Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group) It’s often said that being burned is the most painful injury a human can endure. Elisa Lozano and Kai Levenson-Cupp can attest to that. When Lozano was 7, she was in a car that ...
