After the death of her husband in 1998, Carol Stirnaman needed something to occupy her time.
Always a pet lover, the Sacramento-born resident considered volunteering at a local animal shelter. “I was looking for some type of volunteer work and I wanted it to be with animals,” she says. “I had cats and dogs all my life. I’m one of those people who just falls in love with animals.”
Dolly Rizzo, Los Angeles-born and a Sacramento resident for 20 years, danced on TV’s “Soul Train” in 1983–84. “It was a party, a long one, since we filmed all weekend long,” she says.
In ways big and small, that experience of rehearsal and live filming prepared her to create Soul Strength Dance, a dynamic class she teaches at the Sacramento Central branch of the YMCA. Rizzo has taught up to three classes a week, while working as an administrative coordinator at the YMCA’s Midtown site.
As a board member for the last four years of the HOPE Counseling Center, Margaux Helm has helped the nonprofit offer a variety of professional counseling services for families, couples and individuals using a flexible-fee structure.
HOPE quite literally makes “hope” accessible.
Anyone who ever called James Brown the hardest working person in show business never met Sacramento native Becca Isler.
Ten times a week, the C.K. McClatchy High School graduate performs at Wynn Las Vegas as an acrobatic dancer in Le Rêve – The Dream. Staged in an “aqua theater-in-the-round,” the show is so physically demanding that every cast member must become SCUBA-certified.
Looking as sharp as a Wall Street banker, Kenn Altine hurries into the Sacramento SPCA administration building, three staff members trailing behind him as they listen intently to their boss. A crisp white shirt with French cuffs, traditional cufflinks and an expertly knotted tie are the daily norm for Altine, who joined the SSPCA as chief executive director in 2016.
“I always wear a shirt and tie. Every day,” says Altine, who previously worked as an editor and executive in journalism for 30 years, including stints in San Antonio, Reno, San Francisco and Houston, before moving into the animal-welfare world. “When you live and work in Houston, there is a dress code. In the middle of summer, you wear a long-sleeve shirt and you never go outside without a jacket. It’s becomes natural,” Altine explains.
