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True Angels represent the best of Los Angeles, bringing our community together through their tireless commitment to making ours a safer, more beautiful, and more just city. Use this page to nominate someone to be recognized as a True Angel and read about past True Angels.
Ruben Hernandez is LA's newest True Angel.
Ruben founded UDLA (Unification of Disabled Latin Americans) in 1974 to serve physically challenged individuals. UDLA’s main goal is its dedication and commitment to improving the quality of life of these individuals and assist them to recover their self-esteem in order to become productive members of our society.
Ruben came to the USA at age 20, three years later tragedy struck his life and changed it forever. This tragic event became a blessing to him and others. He lost his sight due to a gun shot to the head which led him to found the organization. UDLA has been extremely instrumental in the rehabilitation of hundreds of disabled individuals and their families. When he founded UDLA, he was unaware that he was going to be the first recipient of its services and programs.
Read Ruben's full story below.
MARGARITA "MAGO" AMADOR
Margarita Amador is currently the Secretary of the Boyle Heights Neighborhood Council. She has served on this board for over 2 years and was recently re-elected to serve for an additional 4 years.
As Co-Chair to the Hollenbeck Community Police Advisory Board, Margarita is responsible for coordinating the annual National Night Out Event, celebrating partnerships between the community and law enforcement, held every year in early August. This year’s event attracted over 1,000 area residents.
She is also the Chair of the Pico Aliso Safe Passage program, working in partnership with service providers in the Pico Aliso community, LAPD and the Senior Lead Officer to address issues related to criminal activity and to find alternative ways to keep the children safe.
In her role as President of Santa Teresita’s Parent Teacher Organization’s, Margarita has implemented El Dia de los Ninos and Dr. Seuss’s Read Across America. These events help promote cultural preservation and literacy.
Margarita is the Girl Scout leader to the Pico Aliso Girl Scout Troop 1745. The Troop was formed as part of HUD’s MOU with the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles (HACLA) to promote the Girl Scouts in public housing developments.
She was nominated Council District 14 Pioneer Women of the Year in 2009 and Outstanding Volunteer by the Girl Scouts of Greater Los Angeles in 2001. Her involvement in serving the Boyle Heights community is demonstrated by the many attributes that she has received. Margarita has very strong community relationships which allow her to accomplish all of the goals she sets forth.
RUBEN HERNANDEZ
Ruben founded UDLA (Unification of Disabled Latin Americans) in 1974 to serve physically challenged individuals. UDLA’s main goal is its dedication and commitment to improving the quality of life of these individuals and assist them to recover their self-esteem in order to become productive members of our society.
Ruben came to the USA at age 20, three years later tragedy struck his life and changed it forever. This tragic event became a blessing to him and others. He lost his sight due to a gun shot to the head which led him to found the organization. UDLA has been extremely instrumental in the rehabilitation of hundreds of disabled individuals and their families. When he founded UDLA, he was unaware that he was going to be the first recipient of its services and programs.
Ruben feels that he is who he is thanks to the opportunities that UDLA has given him to grow as a human being. His blindness forced him to utilize his entire potential and taught him everything he knows about the world of the disabled and the things he needs to change in order to help. His blindness encouraged him to go back to school to achieve an education and to prepare himself for the future. He is a great advocate for the disabled.
The doors of UDLA are always open to anyone that would like to become a volunteer, member or that needs personal services. For 36 years they have provided free services for the disabled and their families and organized events that benefit the whole community.
SUSAN MCKENNA
Susan McKenna was born in Australia. Trained as a chef, she worked for many years as a food stylist for the film and television Industry. In 1989, she and her friend purchased a liquor store in the community of San Pedro with a vision to transform it into a community store. Susan appropriately named the new business "The Corner Store" because it no longer focused on selling cheap liquor to construction workers who worked nearby, but rather, it became a convenient gathering place for community members to meet. If you visit The Corner Store today, you may see several children sitting at one of the tables, sipping their favorite drinks and being tutored. At another table, you may find two friends drinking their favorite iced blended mochachino, after buying a few household items that were on sale. The Corner Store profoundly changed the feel and make up of the community. What once was a liquor store that the community shunned is now a haven for joyful conversation and a safe place for children to go.
After a few years, Susan sold The Corner Store and started a new business called The Nosh Cafe. It soon became another favorite place for local San Pedrans. Susan hired mostly young people from the community that desperately needed jobs. One young lady recently dropped out of college because her parents couldn't afford the tuition. Susan hired her so she could help her family with the bills. Stories like this moved Susan to continue running community-based businesses. In her own words: "I wanted to create a place where people would meet and share their lives. People want to come here to talk."
Susan continues to look for other business opportunities, especially those that are considered a nuisance in the neighborhood. She said: "I am looking at another liquor store which is an eye sore, but the owner is asking for too much money." As Susan continues her campaign to create more healthy community-based businesses, she hopes more will open, especially in the toughest neighborhoods in Los Angeles.
ROBINA SUWOL
Robina Suwol (www.calisafe.org), Founder & Executive Director of California Safe Schools, a children's environmental health non-profit, achieved national prominence by spearheading the Los Angeles Unified Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Policy, the most stringent pesticide policy in the nation for K-12 public schools-the first to embrace the "Precautionary Principle" and "Right to Know" and then the passage of California's Healthy Schools Act. Today the LA Unified IPM policy serves as an international model for school districts and communities.
On October 6, 2005, Governor Schwarzenegger signed AB 405 (Montanez) sponsored by Robina and California Safe Schools. The bill bans experimental pesticides, whose health effects are unknown, from California k-12 public schools.
Suwol's extensive efforts with CSS include school siting, and preventing all toxic exposure in or near school sites. She serves on several national boards of directors of Environmental Justice and Health organizations, and has won a number of prestigious awards for her activist work, which have been highlighted in many prominent publications and radio and TV programs.
JOSE GARCIA
Jose Garcia is a community activist in the Watts neighborhood. His group, Amigos de Colores/Familia Garcia, seeks to engage and educate parents about their children’s schools and promote community involvement in the education of youth throughout the Watts Community.
He was instrumental in the outreach campaign at Carver and Markham Middle Schools, which are part of the Partnership for Los Angeles Schools (PLAS). In July, PLAS launched its Summer of Engagement Campaign, a door-to-door and phone-banking effort aimed at engaging over 4,000 Partnership families in South Los Angeles and Watts. The campaign sought to help introduce families to the Partnership, give them tips about supporting student learning at home and help launch the Partnership’s new family engagement programs.
Mr. Garcia and his parent group campaigned not just in Watts but committed to helping with the Carver area as well. As a result of their support the PLAS was able to outreach to over 2000 homes this summer. They have recently assisted in the LAUSD Recovery Day at John C. Fremont High School providing community outreach to rescue student drop outs, hoping they register back into school.
ANTONIO BERNABE
In 1990, Antonio Bernabe came to Los Angeles in search of a better life for himself and his family. It was during this time that he joined the North Hollywood Day Labor program in hopes of finding work. Working as a day labor, he felt and observed the alienation more than often experienced by immigrant families. He knew then that he wanted to change this.
In 1991, he began working as a coordinator for the North Hollywood Day Labor Center with the desire to help place day laborers in better jobs, safer work environments, and create a social integration process for immigrants and refugees. One of the first integration activities and outings Antonio helped organize for the day laborers was Operation Sparkle, an LAPD program to help beautify streets and alleys.
In 1997, Antonio became a community organizer with the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA). His work at the organization shifted from working the Day Labor program to focusing on the advancement of human and civil rights of immigrants and refugees through “Education, Organizing and Advocacy”.
Over the past 6 years, Antonio has been working with low income families in the San Fernando Valley on an integration and community development project that will help open channels of communication among low income families and local government. Efforts include: working with local, state and federal officials to change policies that affect poor and immigrant communities, connecting low-income and immigrant families with local services, and increasing political participation and voter turn-out in these communities.
DEDE AUDET
In 1934, DeDe Audet graduated from Llewellyn Grammar in Portland, Oregon. Times have changed greatly since DeDe attended that school in the nineteen-thirties and forties. In the second grade, she began learning how to conduct herself at public events: courtesy and parliamentary procedure. In the eighth grade she was taught compound interest.
DeDe attended several high schools; she is a graduate of Venice High and attended several universities but never graduated. During this time, the world was at war and, with a high aptitude in the sciences as well as some skill in photography, she became an industrial photographer in the making of instruction manuals for the Navy, the Army and the Air Force. Later, she was promoted by her bosses and began writing instructions for stuff from ninety-five ton tanks to radars. While at Hughes Aircraft, General George gave her a certificate in Electronics.
As the war in Vietnam faded, her husband, Earle Audet, talked her into applying for the license to become an Enrolled Agent to the Treasury Department. After passing the three day exam, she opened an office in Venice. In the late sixties and seventies DeDe served in the Venice Town Council. Retiring in 1984, Earle and DeDe moved to Spain for a couple of years. Following that, they traveled and studied until Earle passed away in December 2002. Since then DeDe has been and will remain an advocate for Neighborhood Councils in Los Angeles.
NEGEST (NIKKI) LEGESSE
Negest (Nikki) Legesse was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. After graduating from high school Nikki moved to Buffalo, New York, to attend college. Soon after completing her Bachelor Degree from Canisius College, she decided to leave cold and snowy Buffalo for a sunnier and warmer place. Nikki moved to Los Angeles where she completed law school and discovered her deep passion for helping others realize their dreams. Ever since, she has helped countless people acquire small businesses and has offered her knowledge and experience to ensure their success.
In 2003 she founded the Ethiopian American Chamber of Commerce serving over 100 businesses, helped organize the Little Ethiopia Business Association and created the International Unity Parade. Nikki is the president and board member of Ethiopian American Youth Development, an organization dedicated to the development of Ethiopian Youth in Los Angeles as well as in Ethiopia. This organization also works with several orphanages in Ethiopia where children have lost their parents to the Aids epidemic. Additionally, Nikki is committed to helping homeless youth in South Los Angeles where she provides housing to those in need.
Nikki continuous her work as an Ambassador of the Ethiopian community promoting its culture, history and language and contributing to the Los Angeles Community at large. She recently opened the Little Ethiopia Cultural and Resource Center where she will provide services for seniors, children and youth.
RASHEEDA GARNER
Rasheeda Garner is in her 2nd year as Vice President of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., Tau Tau Omega Chapter and President of the chapter's 501(c)(3) charity, the Twenty Pearls Heritage Foundation. She is the foundation's very first President.
Rasheeda volunteers countless hours each year to ensure that deserving students receive scholarships as they transition into 4-year colleges and universities.
Rasheeda and her chapter members from Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. along with the Pasadena chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., spearheaded a Christmas toy drive that benefited the Heart Transplant Department of the UCLA Children's Hospital.
Rasheeda supports a variety of charities and causes, including the Revlon Run/Walk for Women and taking students in Hill Harper's Manifest Your Destiny program to the American I Am: The African American Imprint exhibit, to name a few.
Rasheeda always overextends herself for others and never hesitates to provide a helping hand to those in need. For her dutiful service, she received a Leadership Award from the sorority in April 2010 and was selected to become a member of another service organization, The Links, Inc., in May 2010, a very commendable achievement.
Rasheeda Garner is a proud resident of South L.A.
MARIA "LOU" CALANCHÉ
Maria “Lou” Calanché was raised in the Ramona Gardens community of Boyle Heights a neighborhood troubled with gangs and drugs, and limited access to critical educational and recreational resources and activities. As a product of LAUSD she successfully navigated the system becoming the first person in her family to attend college. Lou attended Loyola Marymount University graduating with a degree in Political Science. She completed a Masters Degree in Public Administration, and is a Doctoral Candidate at the University of Southern California, School of Policy Planning and Development.
Lou has dedicated a vast amount of her personal time to volunteer activities and community boards. In her role as the civilian chairperson of the LAPD Hollenbeck Division Community Police Advisory Board, she was instrumental in advocating for the creation and implementation of basic car meetings where police officers working in a community would have an opportunity to meet with community members in order to develop positive community policing. She received the unsung hero award from Madres del Este de Los Angeles Santa Isabel (MELASI), was named Honorary Deputy Fire Chief by the Los Angeles Fire Department and Volunteer of Year for LAPD Hollenbeck Division, recognized as Woman of the Year for Boyle Heights in 2005 by Assemblymember Jackie Goldberg and was recently honored as Woman of the Year 2010 for the 45th Assembly District by Assemblymember Kevin de Leon.
For the last five years Lou has been dedicated to improving the quality of life of children and families living in the Ramona Gardens community. In late 2007, Lou spearheaded the community planning process that led to the development of Legacy LA, a non-profit organization focused on the renovation of the 1950’s Hazard Park Armory into a facility for youth. Today, as Executive Director of Legacy LA, Lou is leading the campaign to raise 10 million dollars to transform the weathered armory building into a state-of-the-art facility for youth that will provide a center for cultural programs, recreational and academic opportunities connecting youth with educators, local artists and nature advocates through education and outreach programs, providing safe after-school recreational activities.
Lou currently lives in the Montecito Heights community of Los Angeles with her dogs “Noble” and “Honor”.
LINDA UNDERWOOD
Linda Underwood operates the Los Angeles Fire Department's CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) website at
http://www.cert-la.com/.
In 1999, she conceived the website as a way for the public to find out about CERT, the free LAFD-created program designed to help you protect yourself, your family, your neighbors and your neighborhood in an emergency situation.
She has been the sole guardian of the largest CERT website in the country from 2002 until recently, when CERT member Susan Lustig joined her to redesign the site, including a foreign language translator, CERT videos and an index of emergency preparedness materials in several foreign languages, especially useful for the many diverse communities in Los Angeles.
Linda is also a member of the Emergency Survival Program's Coordinating Council.
CATHERINE WALKER
Born in Geneva, Alabama as the 8th child of 16 brothers and sisters, Ms. Catherine Walker was always taught the importance of family, community and sharing. She went to Alabama State Teachers College on a scholarship playing basketball in 1950. In 1966 Mrs. Walker moved to California and when her husband, Mr. Curly Walker, returned from the Vietnam War, they moved to the Harbor Gateway with their only son. Immediately she got involved in community activism and neighborhood support groups before there were Neighborhood Councils. She joined TriStone Missionary Baptist Church under the leadership of Rev. Quinton T. Oden. From feeding the poor, helping neighbors in need, to attending every imaginable community meeting, Mrs. Walker manages to do the impossible every day. “I never thought I was better than anyone else, I just thought someone had to do the work because it’s so much work to be done. Like Jesus once said, we are all to become fishers of men and women…and I hope my actions will inspire others one day.”
-Mrs. Catherine Walker.
LORETTA DITLOW
Brentwood community activist and conservationist, Loretta Ditlow has a long list of accomplishments to her name. She had a successful career as a teacher and registered dietitian. Even in her late 80s, Loretta is still working hard to champion the many worthy causes she believes in.
She is Past President of the Brentwood Hills Homeowners Association and Pacific Palisades Historical Society as well as Past Vice President of the Brentwood Community Federation. Loretta has served on the Brentwood Community Council (BCC) since its inception over a decade ago, participating on numerous committees. She created the BCC’s Brentwood Youth Citizen Award a decade ago to honor deserving young leaders. She has chaired the Brentwood Youth Citizen Award Committee every year since then. This award has become a Brentwood institution and has motivated young people in the community to take the initiative in leading dynamic community service projects. Currently, she is President of Kappa Omicron Nu, an honorary society that funds scholarships for college students every year. Loretta is also Past President and current Senior Vice President of the Gabrielino/Tongva Springs Foundation. For the past twelve years she has worked hard to preserve these sacred springs and protect the legacy of these Native Americans. She is currently working to build a cultural center for them.
Loretta has also worked tirelessly in the interests of protecting open space. She helped save 295 acres of the Santa Monica Mountains located at the Westridge Trail Head. Notably, she was the recipient of the Woman of the Year Award in 2001 for Sheila Kuehl’s Senate District. Loretta continues to be a beacon of light in the community and exemplifies the words “True Angel”.
NORMA GALLEGOS
Since moving to Sylmar in 1988, Norma was employed by the LA County - Olive View Medical Center working in Admissions. She became a member of St. Didacus Catholic Church and began by volunteering with the youth ministry as a chaperone and then as a Confirmation teacher for teens. Starting in 1995, she began volunteering with a local food pantry headed by Living Hope Community Church in San Fernando. In 2000, she was invited to establish the St. Didacus Food Ministry in partnership with MEND. Currently, the pantry feeds over 125 families, every two weeks with donations from various individuals and local businesses.
Beginning in 2008, Norma has been supporting the Sylmar Girl’s Softball Club. She sponsors girls that are not able to afford the league fees, donates water and snacks and attends practices and games. As a result of her volunteerism she was named 2009 Volunteer of the Year at Sylmar Recreation Center. In 2009, LA County Supervisor, Zev Yaroslavsky appointed Norma to the LA County Commission for Women. The Commission is an advisory body to the Board of Supervisors, and seeks to promote and ensure equal rights and opportunities for all women.
Norma currently works for the State of California Employment Development Department as a Marketing Specialist Through the EDD, she joined the International Association of Workforce Professionals, a service organization. Her chapter is very involved in community service, fundraising and raising awareness for several causes including the LAUSD Homeless Students, LA County Foster Kids, March of Dimes, the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Light the Night Walk and the American Heart Association.
Whether she is sorting food, registering clients, counseling youth, being an advocate of women’s issues, helping seniors or feeding the needy, she strives to serve the community.
WILLA MOORE
Willa Moore has been a community activist in Watts dating back to the 1950’s and witnessed the Watts riots. In the last fifty years she has been involved with the building of the Charles Mingus Youth Center, healthcare at MLK, the building of the Maxine Waters Employment Preparation Center and maintenance of the Rainbow Bridge (she was on the Metro community board for Watts).
She is currently a member of the Watts/Willowbrook Chamber of Commerce, and serves on the Southeast LAPD CPAB and the Watts Towers Campus Task Force Committee. No task is too great for her and she will not take no for an answer when it comes to improving the quality of life in the Watts community.
PATRICA CHEBAC-REZA
Patricia Chebac-Reza is the director of the Fuego Tech Rangers, a program she founded in 2004 that prepares young men and women who have had troubled pasts enter the Angeles National Forest Service through proper preparation, self-esteem building, and life-skills training. With the support of the Los Angeles Conservation Corps, Fuego Tech Rangers are a recognizable force that often assists the Angeles National Forest Services and other local Fire Departments with brush clearance, emergency preparedness and fire abatement emergencies. The Fuego Tech Rangers recently partnered with the Girls Today Women Tomorrow, Mentoring Program, a gender-specific organization, and together will expand opportunities for young women to enter fire-fighting careers.
Patricia Chebac-Reza has also been recognized for her commitment and dedication for the communities in the Los Angeles area particularly in Boyle Heights. Her involvement and volunteerism with the New Image Emergency Homeless Shelter since 2004 has provided her an opportunity to manage a shelter operation for more than 500 homeless individuals per year.
BRUCE SAITO
Bruce Saito has a long history of outstanding service to Los Angeles and California. He worked with the California Conservation Corps in the late-1970s and, was part of the original team to start the LA Conservation Corps. He has served as the agency's Executive Director since 1995 and is responsible for providing strategic direction for the organization.
He is the current president of the California Association of Local Conservation Corps, the organization that represents the 11 certified conservation corps in the state. He has also served as President of the National Association of Service and Conservation Corps (now The Corps Network) and currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Los Angeles Community Gardening Council and the LA Neighborhood Land Trust.
In 2005, Governor Schwarzenegger appointed Bruce to the California Board of Forestry. He has been honored for his service by the City and County of Los Angeles, the State of California and the federal government, and has been honored with a National Philanthropy Day Outstanding Professional Award.
SAL MARTINEZ
Sal serves as Vice Chair of the Boyle Heights Neighborhood Council, Chair of the Hollenbeck Community Police Advisory Board, active parent advocate at Stevenson Middle School and Roosevelt HS and supporter of the Partnership for Los Angeles Schools.
He is also an active member of Victory Outreach and a Police Reserve Officer. Sal understands the importance of community involvement and the self-sacrifice that comes with that position.
MARY LOUISE REEVES
Mary Louise has been a City Hall Docent since 1977 as part of “Las Angelinas” docent program. As a docent, she volunteers a couple times a week to provide City Hall tours to Angelenos and tourists alike. She is currently the Lead Docent and often times comes is several times a week to do tours when other Docents are not available.
Through the City Hall tours, Mary Louise is able to paint of picture of this iconic building from yesteryear to today.
FRED GONG aka “Grandpa Fred”
Fred Gong is an active volunteer at the Chinatown Library where he is a “Grandparents and Books” volunteer reading to children. Since 1977, Grandpa Fred has volunteered at the English Conversation Center at the Chinatown Library helping adults learn English.
Fred Gong is a World War II veteran who received the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal with 3 Oak Leaf Clusters. Active in the Chinatown community, Grandpa Fred also volunteers with the Chinatown Public Safety Association and the Chinese Americans Citizens Alliance.
LINDA ABRAMS
As a Board Member of the Valley Interfaith Council, and in her role as the Co-Chair of the VIC Spirit of the Valley Awards Dinners for two years, Linda has raised several hundred thousands of dollars to feed the hungry in the San Fernando Valley and to provide care for the elderly at the VIC Regional Seniors Centers.
Linda has become a key organizer to educate Neighborhood Councils citywide on how to use the new Neighborhood Purposes Grant system to work more effectively with non-profit organizations in Los Angeles in order to feed the hungry and to restock food pantries in their local areas. By holding volunteer workshops and conferences at the NC Congresses and at the Mayor's Budget Day events, Linda has shown how important it is for Angelenos at every level to look out for those in need and less fortunate than ourselves through a life of volunteerism and service.
TERESA DAHL
Teresa Dahl most recently worked at CNN as an Assignment Editor and Field Producer. During her years at CNN Los Angeles, Teresa helped shape the network’s coverage of major news events. For the past five years, Teresa been a stay-at-home mother with two young children and a community activist. She has organized support for public schools and has worked within her local schools to inspire students and their families to engage in community service.
Teresa is an advocate for garden learning in schools, and believes strongly in the value of hands-on, garden-based learning. She volunteers weekly teaching science in the garden she helped build at Carthay Center Elementary and is a co-founder of the Los Angeles Green Schoolyard Alliance.
JOE CONNOLLY
Since the civil unrest of 1992, Joe has been consumed by volunteer work. He has spent over 30,000 hours, and who knows how much money developing an anti-graffiti, anti-gang program in the mid city area that has saved our city millions to date. His program has been the featured in over 500 media stories and his appearance in the critically acclaimed documentary, "Infamy" in 2005 established him as the definitive anti-graffiti expert in America. He has inspired countless citizens to safely address the graffiti in their communities.
His volunteer efforts include the American Red Cross, City of Hope, Cedars Sinai, the LAPD, the Jewish Federation & the Westside JCC. In 2000 Joe received the CalTrans Adopt-A-Highway Volunteer of the Year honor.
CECILIA MORENO
Cecilia has been active in the Harbor for years and currently works for the Port of Los Angeles. This has not limited her community involvement as she presently serves as an active Board Member and Officer of the Wilmington Chamber of Commerce; the Board of the Banning's Landing; and the Board of the Wilmington YMCA. She is an active and integral part of each of these organizations.
In 2001, Cecilia started the Spanish Community Police Advisory Board where she remains active. She established this board to improve the relationship between the LAPD Harbor Division and Spanish speaking community.
BILL VANDENBERG
Bill, Dean of Students at Crenshaw High, is a big part in the school’s garden revitalization project which is part of the City’s Good Food Network. Many community leaders in South LA have been witness to his dedication and passion to respecting the environment and through the school’s Eco Club, he has empowered the youth in the development of their social consciousness.
The Eco Club offers his students an opportunity to take students -- regardless of grade point average or discipline issues -- on weekly hikes, community service outings and annual backpacking trips to Yosemite National Park. The Eco Club has given some students the opportunity to see the ocean and the mountains -- many for the first time.