Nov 28, 2022
You’ve probably driven by it countless times, a Spanish-style building shaded by trees along J Street between 52nd and 53rd streets. You’ve even stopped there at the traffic light on Rodeo Way.
An ornately painted sign identifies the building as A.W. McClaskey Adult Center. It was once El Dorado Elementary School. Today it houses various classes, several focused on adults with developmental disabilities.
When seismic regulations were ordered in the 1970s, the site was deemed too expensive to retrofit for kids but perfect for adults. In 1978, the building was repurposed as the A. Warren McClaskey Adult Center, named for a former Sacramento City Unified adult education director.
“Before legislation desecrated adult education, we used to have 10 apportionment areas,” says Susan Lytle Gilmore, principal at McClaskey since 1992.
Nov 28, 2022
Maia Evrigenis could not have known her battle with adolescent cancer would be universal, but that’s what happened when her fictional memoir “Neon Jane” was published by Koehler Books this past May.
“As a cancer survivor, I felt like I was living in a different body,” says the Arden Arcade resident, who was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia at age 13. “Other people didn’t have bodies that made cancer cells. I felt weird and alone about being different, and that’s the part of the book people tell me they relate to the most. It’s given me the sense that my extremely personal experience is actually very universal.”
Nov 28, 2022
The downy-feathered bird was almost lifeless, alone in the grass with no mom in sight. A small nest rested in the branches of a crepe myrtle a few feet away.
He was younger than a fledging, who would have hopped and fluttered in an attempt to fly. With no protection, the chick would not survive a roaming cat or the afternoon heat.
I returned the youngster to his nest. After an hour of waiting and watching, no mom or dad returning to the scene, I placed the chick in a box and drove to Sacramento’s Wildlife Care Association.
Nov 28, 2022
As CEO of To The Bay and Back Gourmet Cheesecakes, Lambert Davis sleeps and breathes cheesecake. He eats his product too, but only “in moderation.”
“Lemon is my favorite,” Davis says. “You have to taste it to believe it.”
For more than 20 years, Davis has headed up one of Sacramento’s tastiest enterprises, a family-owned company with more than 70 cheesecake flavors. The name comes from Bodega Bay, the family’s favorite vacation site.
Nov 28, 2022
Stacey Johnson has lived with bipolar disorder for close to 30 years. She self-medicated until she received a diagnosis. After recovery and years of working in substance-abuse treatment, she hopes to help others with her life coaching business, Come As You Are, which focuses on substance abuse and mental health recovery.
“I believe that addiction and mental illness are gifts when they’re transformed,” Johnson says. “We experience life in a very different way than the average person. I truly believe it’s a calling. We’re resilient people who’ve overcome a lot. To me, there’s a real strength in that.”
Oct 28, 2022
Talking about mental health is Nefertiti Khemet Goudjayi’s mission.
As a licensed clinical social worker, mental health therapist and member of the Stop Stigma Sacramento Speakers Bureau, Khemet Goudjayi wants to normalize conversations about mental health.
“I joined the speakers bureau because I was looking for something to do with my time that also gives back in a more personal way,” the North Sacramento resident says. “As a therapist, you’re there to support people, but you’re removed. You provide expertise, but not your own experience. This volunteer space allows me to use my lived experience to help and support people.”
