ABE Students
Adults who choose to upgrade their education after being away from classrooms for years, definitely qualify as Hidden Heroes in my book; especially those for whom high school just didn’t fit when they were younger; those who dropped out early...

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Silvia Wende
Many years ago Susan Jeffers wrote a book called, “Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway.” Sylvia Wende’s photo could have been on the cover...

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Spencer Schachtel
Twenty two year old Spencer Schachtel wanted the world to know that there are no boundaries placed on people like him who have type 1 diabetes, so he trekked to Mount Everest base camp along with seven other young people who have the disease just to prove it.

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Shona Pickup
Shona Pickup cruised through high school playing a lot of sports and getting B’s in her academic subjects. Since she didn’t like science and didn’t need it to graduate, she never saw the inside of a lab...

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Margie Langille
After months or years or even decades of thinking about it, many of us have eventually made major life changes and found the new direction both affirming and energizing. For others, fear of change has presented a barrier they simply couldn’t overcome. Not that long ago, Margie Langille took that first step toward change, that leap of faith, and her life has been an exciting adventure ever since...

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Paddy Tillotson
Before suffering a stroke that took most of her speech and left one side paralyzed, Paddy Tillotson was a Child Protection Worker who, according to Eve Reinalz, was a workaholic caregiver who was there for everyone that came into her life; clients, family, friends, her fellow workers and more...

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Randy Hubert
Multiple Sclerosis forced Randy Huber out of the Canadian Air Force in 1997 but today, as far as physical fitness is concerned, he says he’s in better shape than he was 20 years ago...

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Surfside
This story is about a number of different Hidden Heroes. First there is the small group of anonymous recovering alcoholics who, in the early 1980s, decided to purchase a building and offer housing and support to other men who wanted to break their addiction to alcohol. They called their facility Surfside. Then there are the hundreds who have taken advantage of the 42 or 84-day supportive recovery program that has evolved there...

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Dean Duperron
Today he could have a chest full of silver spoons if he wanted; however, this week’s Hidden Hero, wasn’t born with a silver spoon in his mouth. In fact when he first went out to face the world on his own, he had no spoons of any kind,little or no food and no roof over his head. But he did have a strong role model to help him overcome those challenges...

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Mark Northup
There has been a lot of discussion in the local media this past week as to whether drug addicts have a disease or an addiction, whether they should be sentenced to long periods of time in jail or sent to a treatment centre...

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Crystal Carson
Recently I wrote a column about Crystal Carson, a woman with a learning disability who has achieved amazing successes in the past five years since she chose to live independently after her mother was killed in an automobile accident...

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Heather Williams
Do you may remember reading about Heather Williams back in 2001? She is the young entertainer who was working with Universal Studios in Japan when she was hit by a taxicab while riding her bike...

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Kathaleen Perry
There's no doubt that Kathaleen Perry is a Neighbourhood Hero but I'm having trouble just starting to write this column about her...

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Crystal Carson
Crystal Carson was born with a learning disability and a head full of dreams but other than her parents, no one else could see those dreams ever becoming a reality...

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Robin Dutton
Robin Dutton started mountain biking when he was fourteen, turned pro at nineteen, and began competing in elite triathlons a few years after that...

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Kristy Tymos
Kristy Tymos has been featured many times in this newspaper over the past months...

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Ron Plecas
Is there life after mental illness? You bet there is. Just ask Ron Plecas...

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Brenda Tom
Between the ages of seventeen and nineteen, Brenda Tom was left fully responsible for all of her brothers and sisters ranging in age from six to fourteen. Given that workload, her schoolwork began to suffer and soon she dropped out three courses short of her High School Dogwood Diploma, a shortfall that left a nagging emptiness deep in her being...

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Merv Davis
I frequently teach a business communications course for adults. As part of the program, students are required to draw a topic from a hat and speak extemporaneously on that subject...

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Carla Henderson
"Put your can'ts in a can and let's go for it!"

That's the way Carla Henderson coaches her Special Olympics and Disability Games athletes; that's also the way she lives her life...

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Charles Darrow
I came across a story about Charles Darrow this weekend, a story that highlights the importance of maintaining a positive attitude as we go through life's difficult times...

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Roberta Mitchell
Five times over the past year I've had the opportunity to teach an intensive four-week communications course at a local private college. During that time I have met a number of Neighbourhood Heroes; most of them people in their 30s, 40s and 50s who, for a variety of reasons, have decided to upgrade their education...

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Rick Lennert and Adrianne Dartnall
Over the past four years, Rick Lennert and Adrianne Dartnall have made a major difference in the lives of hundreds of people in South East Asia, all in the name of Adrianne's daughter, Danielle, who was killed by a drunk driver five years ago...

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Louise Rabu
I am pleased to be able to call Joelle Rabu, the daughter of today's Neighbourhood Heroes, a friend. So last Thursday I read with great joy that she was soon to receive the city's Excellence in the Arts Cultural Award. Then, the very next day, I read that her father had recently passed away and that her mother is battling stomach cancer...

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Joy and Keith Hunter
Have you ever experienced a period in your life when everything was going wrong and it seemed like nothing would ever go right again? Have you ever noticed that, over time, things usually work out ... and most often for the better?

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Karen Cross
When you see Karen Cross coming, not only does her smile light up the room, but it also sets the whole building aglow. She is an inspiration machine!

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Marie Harel
It's a joy to see Marie Harel, the principal of Uplands Park School, walking down the hall greeting children, parents and teachers. It's easy to see she loves her job and that she's good at it ... really good at it...

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Ray Kittle
Ray Kittle was diagnosed with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia on May 31, 2001 but kept it a secret from everyone except his wife, Bet, for the next three years. He didn't want people to worry...

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Jerry Craigie
Last Saturday a Celebration of Life ceremony was held for Jerry Craigie, a definite Neighbourhood Hero...

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Phil Nealy
Last week I wrote about Phil Nealy who, as a result of a diving accident when he was 23, became a quadriplegic with only limited use of his arms, a quadriplegic who, in his words, "skipped learned helplessness"...

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Phil Nealy
We all know that we should get the most out of every second of every day, because we never know what might happen in the next moment. Not so many of us know that no matter what kind of terrible thing we might suffer, it will invariably lead us in new but exciting directions if we manage to keep a positive mind set...

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Colleen O'Connor
By the time she was in Grade 4, Colleen O'Connor's family thought she had started down the road towards becoming a bully but then her grandmother stepped in and her path changed...

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Sherenna Knapp
A few months ago I started teaching a communications course part time. Today's Neighbourhood Hero is one of my students. This is her story in her own words.

Cheri Rost
I constantly surprised that very few readers have nominated teachers who have made a difference in their life but I am shocked that, until now, no one has nominated their mother.

Adam Hall was the first and here's what he wrote about his mom...

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Susan Houchen & Jenny Bentley
When Susan Houchen found herself pregnant at sixteen, she promised herself that when her kids were grown, she would complete her education. It's been a challenging journey...

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Casey Gallagher
Robin Littleford, a teacher at G. F. Strong Rehabilitation Centre in Vancouver, says she has never experienced anything like the progress Casey Gallagher has made over the past nine months...

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George and Ruth Cook
Last week people at Tillicum Haus Native Friendship Centre invited me to attend a personal empowerment workshop called THUYALSHUNUM, Preparing For Your Life...

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Kathaleen Perry
There's no doubt that Kathaleen Perry is a Neighbourhood Hero but I'm having trouble just starting to write this column about her...

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Kevin Hicks
When the dust settled after the accident, the passenger’s side of the car was literally wrapped around a tree but miraculously the passenger, a seventeen-year-old drumming sensation, survived. He was severely brain injured and in a coma but he survived...

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Coincidences Find Neighbourhood Heroes
A series of coincidences led me to the Port Theatre last Friday night to enjoy the best show I have seen since the theatre opened...

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Joy Hunter
Have you ever gone through a period in your life when everything was going wrong and it seemed like nothing would ever go right again? Have you ever noticed that over time things usually change...and most often for the better...

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Heather Williams
Do you may remember reading about Heather Williams back in 2001? She is the young entertainer who was working with Universal Studios in Japan when she was hit by a taxicab while riding her bike...

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Joe ("Baby Joe") Wilson
Today's column is a story about overcoming great odds. It's also a love story...

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Steve Littley
Twenty years ago Steve Littley was a sixteen-year-old high school drop out. Today he is an extraordinary student who will soon have both a masters' degree in anthropology from SFU and a law degree from UBC...

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Moya Beedie
Few parents react with joy when they learn that their teenage daughter is pregnant but Moya Beedie who had her first child at fifteen wants all parents and others to know that teenage pregnancy can lead to a positive outcome...and her parents agree -- They were the ones that nominated her as this week's Neighbourhood Hero...

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Candace Robertson
Recently, Bob Esliger, one of the teachers at VAST, an alternative school here in Nanaimo, nominated one of his students as a Neighbourhood Hero. VAST is a school that offers a second chance to teenagers who have dropped out of school,l especially teenage moms...

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Chris Moutray
Four years ago, Laura Howe, an Education Assistant, met Chris Moutray, a Grade 8 student whose face was hidden under a hood and whose eyes were "empty"...

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Karren Fraser
Early in January Kerren Fraser had at least four different goals when she started training to run in this spring's Victoria 10K race and she reached every one of them. However, in retrospect, they were minor achievements compared to the unexpected gift she received...

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Paul and Jo
British Columbia is a hikers paradise and the Mid-Island region is among the best of the best. Unfortunately, many of us don't take advantage of the fabulous opportunities we have because we've told ourselves we're too old … or we're just too far out of shape … or we have too many health problems … or ….

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Sheila Giesbrecht
Today's column could be about 1.2 million people in 162 countries around the world -- Rotarians who in May of 1988 made a commitment to eradicate polio from the planet and they expect to meet their goal by 2005...

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Janell Karst and Linda Karst/Labbee
Janell Karst, a 21 year-old Tourism Management student has nominated her aunt, Linda Karst/Labbee, as today's Neighbourhood Hero and, in turn, I want to nominate her...

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Dan Wardrope
"I've been called a lot of names over the years," twenty-five year old Dan Wardrop says, "but I've only been beaten up once..."

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"Robert"
Big boys should cry.
That's the message today's Neighbourhood Hero has been delivering to high school students over the past few months.

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Ruth Vallis
Ruth Vallis is an extraordinary physiotherapist. "She's so happy and cheerful she makes pain fun," says one of her patients, "and being blind doesn't slow her down a bit..."

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Lindy Edgett
I saw a top ten list of fears recently, fear of death was number seven, fear of public speaking was number one. Lindy Edgett is committed to helping people overcome that number one fear...

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Sally Norris
Ashley Robertson, a 14 year-old student at Wellington Secondary School, wrote today's column. A talented poet, singer and writer, Ashley reviewed our Neighbourhood Heroes WebQuest program designed for students and then interviewed and wrote this column about Sally Norris, today's Neighbourhood Hero. I've never seen anyone do a better job on a first effort of this nature.

Here is Ashley's column:
When I first saw Sally Norris, the First Nations Elder in Residence at Dover Bay Secondary School, she was literally glowing...

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Brian Mehaffey
Do you think things getting better at City Hall? One of Nanaimo's leading developers thinks they are. Three years ago, he would have been part of a small minority...

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Peggy Lake
Don't mess with Peggy Lake. She's a woman on a mission. Peggy is committed to empowering people who are living in poverty -- people like her. She is also committed to empowering people who are living with mental illness -- people like her...

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Mike MacCoy
Mike MacCoy was taken from an alcoholic home at the age of ten and spent the next five years in a variety of Ontario foster homes...

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Karen Clevette
Today's Neighbourhood Hero graduated from Nanaimo District Secondary School last spring with a 4.0 grade point average. As well as earning a place on the Principal's List, she was also chosen as class valedictorian and won the Personal Achievement and Peer Helper Awards. While winning all of these honours, 43 year-old Karen Clevette also worked full-time as one of the school's janitors.

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Constance Hansey
More than 40 percent of adult Canadians have difficulty with reading, writing and using numbers. Constance Hansey is one of that 40 percent but she's doing something to change that … big time...

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Marica Benvin
In early June of 1991, Marica Benvin left her home in Croatia for a one-month vacation to visit a friend in British Columbia. Two days after her arrival, she met the man she would marry that same Aug

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