10 People Who Make Orlando a Better Place
Teachers, doctors, leaders, a caregiver and a nurse
Central Florida is full of amazing people who do great things. But some stars shine extra brightly. That’s why, each year, readers help me put together a list of “10 People Who Make Orlando a Better Place to Live.”
We’re talking about those who help others, keep us healthy, educate our minds and nourish our souls. The goal has always been to shine a spotlight on those who don’t normally seek it. Not the well-known CEOs and politicians, but those who are in the trenches, making differences every day — the mentors, helpers and trailblazers.
This year I received nominations for more than 100 people, so whittling down the list is always challenging. With a pandemic afoot, I thought we’d put extra emphasis in 2020 on those who help in health care. The list includes teachers, doctors, nonprof
it leaders, an Alzheimer’s caregiver, two altruistic entertainers and a nurse. So let’s get started.
Nancy Pfaff, nurse with Matthew’s Hope Ministries
As one nominator said: “Nurses are often the forgotten and unheralded front-line workers.” And Pfaff ’s front lines are on the streets and in the woods of west Orange County, helping the homeless and destitute. As the director of the charity’s medical services, Pfaff does everything from dress raw wounds to find detox programs for those in need. “Nancy is often the one to also get our terminally ill, dying homeless friends into hospice so their last days can be spent with a bit more dignity rather than dying in the alley or woods,” said Matthew’s Hope CEO Scott Billue. Pfaff got as many nominations as anyone this year. One of her many fans called her “the most selfless person I have ever seen.” Craig Russell and Kate Demory, high school teachers and founders of Army of Angels.
Some teachers do a lot for their students. Few, though, bail teens out of jail. This married couple (the first of two tag-team entries on this list) inspired many people last year when the story got out about the lengths they’ve gone to help struggling students They’ve furnished apartments, served meals, provided rides to interviews and even posted bail. But then the two Winter Park High School teachers did even more, turning their personal passion into a nonprofit with their “army” of volunteers helping provide meals to as many as 50 families a day during the pandemic.
Drs. Wang “Steve” Cheung and Raymond Franklin, doctors at Orlando Health.
Two months ago, when much of America was struggling to access COVID-19 tests, these two doctors whipped up one of their own. It wasn’t quite that simple. As the Sentinel reported last month, the two men basically “hunkered down in a lab and barely came out until they’d developed a coronavirus test that provides results within hours.” Yes, results within hours — while many hospitals were still forced to wait a week before they could even make an accurate diagnosis. The healthcare system would later call the duo’s pioneering test a “game-changer” for all of Central Florida.
Beth McKee, musician and founder of Swamp Sistas La La Foundation
McKee has earned a loyal following with her special Southern blend of blues music. But she’s earned extra admiration for her efforts to fight hunger and promote other female musicians. McKee regularly works to help others through music, including just last weekend when her annual La La event (a virtual affair this year) raised $20,000 for the Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida. One nominator called her a “local treasure, devoted to supporting women in the arts while helping our community.”
Karen Willis, director of the Early Leaning Coalition of Orange County
If you want to talk about unsung heroes, let’s talk about preschool teachers. They’re critical to the development of young minds and lives; yet many earn less than pizza-delivery guys. Fortunately, they have a strong and vocal champion in Willis, who advocates fearlessly on behalf of about 750 early-care providers in the region. One of those who nominated her said: “She has raised the issue that child-care workers are frontline, first responders. She has a big job and big heart.”
Jennifer Marcial Ocasio, senior content editor of El Sentinel
Community journalists are also some of society’s most under-valued workers these days. They work long hours, covering the nittygritty, street-level issues that would often get overlooked. And they rarely get much thanks for it. Marcial Ocasio works as hard as anyone, often late into the night, to provide news to and about the region’s Latino community. Her team is small but mighty. And this year, she agreed to also serve as a member of the Orlando Sentinel’s editorial board to add
needed, fresh perspective there.
Deborah Beidel, psychologist and director of UCF RESTORES
Beidel has put Orlando on the map when it comes to cutting-edge treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder — particularly for first responders and military members. Beidel’s team uses virtual reality and even powerful smells (mimicking explosives, for instance, or burning rubber) to recreate some of the traumatic experiences that first triggered patients’ trauma, so they can try to work through it. This team’s nationally recognized research and therapies are pioneering, notably effective and changing lives.
Dave Joswick, executive director of New Hope for Kids
A child who loses a parent or sibling experiences a special kind of grief — one that’s hard for most people to comprehend. Joswick has dedicated his life to helping these tiny, tortured
souls. New Hope provides counseling for kids, support groups for parents and a place where families with shared experiences can travel grief journeys together. To hear a little boy open up about what it was like to lose his mother, is heart-breaking. To see him start to come to terms with that loss can be miraculous. Very few cities in America have a place like New Hope.
Edith Gendron, chief of operations at the Alzheimer’s & Dementia Resource Center
Alzheimer’s and dementia are cruel diseases. But they’re cruelest to the loved ones of those afflicted. Gendron has dedicated her career to helping caregivers through support groups, counseling sessions and educational programs that she creates and runs. One nominator said: “She makes an intentional connection with each and every caregiver she encounters because she gets it and has a compulsion to help.” Another said: “She felt my pain, knew it from her own personal experiences and shed a tear, too. Since that day, she hasn’t left my side.”
Jeff Revels, artistic director for the Orlando Repertory Theatre
Revels’ role as the leader of one of Florida’s premier family-friendly theaters would be reason enough for him to be on this list. The Rep not only provides high-quality entertainment to families; it gives thousands of children the opportunity to find their own voice and also provides special sensory-friendly performances for children with special needs. But Revels and his wife, Karen, also founded another nonprofit, called Conway Cares, that provides food to hundreds of food-insecure families each week. Put it together, and Revels nurtures minds when he’s on the clock and nourishes bodies when he isn’t.