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For Yolanda Randles, serving the residents of southwest Fresno is simply a mode to springiness backmost to the assemblage she grew up in, but besides a elemental mode to marque a tangible quality successful the lives of others. As the enforcement manager of the West Fresno Family Resource Center, she hopes to animate this exemplary of work with Fresno State students, whom she regularly offers internship opportunities to.
A trailblazer successful the societal enactment assemblage and wrong her culture, Xong Moua is dedicated to ensuring younker person entree to behavioral and intelligence wellness resources successful her relation arsenic a schoolhouse societal worker. Not lone is she committed to the younger generation, but besides the adjacent procreation of societal workers successful her dual relation arsenic a longtime societal enactment lecturer astatine Fresno State.
These are conscionable immoderate of the inspiring stories that volition beryllium shared astatine the College of Health and Human Services 14th yearly Health and Human Services Hero Awards, which volition beryllium held virtually astatine 6 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 21, via Zoom.
The Hero Awards observe 8 professionals — each Fresno State alumni — who person made a quality successful the fields of wellness and quality services done their work, work and advocacy connected behalf of individuals successful the Central Valley. Each honoree was nominated by an world department, school, halfway oregon institute wrong the college.
“Each year, our assemblage produces fantastic alumni who spell connected to service our portion and satellite arsenic helpers, changemakers and humanitarians,” said Dr. Kara Zografos, dean of the College of Health and Human Services astatine Fresno State. “Perhaps 1 of the astir peculiar attributes astir each of our heroes this twelvemonth is their continued committedness to Fresno State and our students, some arsenic alumni and professionals. Honoring them arsenic a College of Health and Human Services Hero is 1 mode to explicit our gratitude and pridefulness for their lifelong contributions to the assemblage and assemblage arsenic a whole.”
The 2024 Health and Human Services Heroes besides include:
- Brig Beatie: Teaching a people connected the past of the Olympics, portion besides experiencing the Games firsthand, is what makes Beatie basal isolated arsenic a longtime lecturer successful the Department of Kinesiology astatine Fresno State. As 1 of 13 professionals worldwide chosen to referee formation volleyball astatine the Tokyo and Paris Summer Olympic Games, helium is capable to bring his unsocial position to the classroom, portion besides inspiring lifelong learning successful some himself and his students.
- Laurel Friesen: A passionateness for nursing acquisition is what fueled the beingness and bequest of Friesen. Her 40-year nursing vocation included teaching astatine the UCSF School of Nursing and serving arsenic the archetypal manager of Kaiser Education Services, wherever she played a captious relation successful the improvement of diligent attraction acquisition provisions, placement of objective rotations for thousands of students and incorporating nursing simulation into the nursing acquisition curriculum.
- Lynne Jarman: Seeing however patients flooded life-threatening injuries is what motivates Jarman successful her relation arsenic manager of rehabilitation services astatine Community Regional Medical Center, wherever she oversees aggregate rehabilitation sites successful the region. With implicit 20 years of acquisition successful the carnal therapy field, Jarman gives backmost her clip by mentoring students successful the wellness and quality services fields and offering much-needed objective rotations.
- Nayamin Martinez: As the enforcement manager of the Central California Environmental Justice Network, Martinez has worked astatine the authorities and national level to guarantee nationalist wellness is prioritized successful decision-making connected biology matters. Her dedication to equity successful the San Joaquin Valley has resulted successful installation of aerial filters successful underserved areas and aerial prime monitors passim the Valley.
- Becky Whited: With a vocation successful parks and recreation that spanned 3 decades, Whited was liable for galore contributions that positively impacted the lives of children and families successful the Central Valley. This included making schoolhouse playgrounds and sports fields much accessible to full communities and gathering a top-rate aquatics programme that presently serves arsenic a exemplary for neighboring cities of Sanger.
- Christine Villareal (formerly Maul): She credits her son, Adam, a young antheral with autism spectrum disorder, for inspiring her nonrecreational vocation successful speech-language pathology and teaching astatine Fresno State, which she did for 27 years. Now semi-retired from teaching, Villareal is continuing her enactment arsenic an impassioned advocator for children and adults with disabilities.
The Health and Human Services Hero Awards is simply a free, online event and is unfastened to the public. Since the precise archetypal Hero Awards were held successful 2011, 133 individuals person been honored for their enactment and committedness to their respective professions.
For much information, interaction Beth Wilkinson astatine bwilkinson@csufresno.edu.