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Heroes & Helpers 2025
Welcome to The Paper.’s annual Heroes & Helpers issue where we profile some of the best, most selfless workers and volunteers from a cross-section of the city’s finest community organizations, charities and nonprofits. Not only do we want to salute these fine examples of community spirit, we want to encourage our readers — while they’re…
Heroes & HElpers
Heroes & Helpers: Nancy Arenas (Sprouting Compassion)
In Albuquerque, Nancy Arenas is turning food into a force for kindness. As the founder and president of Sprouting Compassion, she leads an organization devoted to promoting healthier,…
Heroes & Helpers: Shelly Repp (New Mexico Dream Center)
For Shelly Repp, protecting the most vulnerable is more than a mission, it’s become her life mission. As the co-founder and CEO of the New Mexico Dream Center,…
Heroes & Helpers: Albino Garcia Jr. (La Plazita Institute)
In Albuquerque’s South Valley, La Plazita Institute stands as a living example of how community and culture can heal. For more than two decades, the organization has created…
Heroes & Helpers: Shannon Barnhill (APS Education Foundation)
Barnhill has held her executive director position with the APS Education Foundation for nine years, but she’s been with the foundation for eleven. She says her organization is…
Heroes & Helpers: Cynthia Serna (Revitalize San Pedro Partnership)
Cynthia Serna says she’s held her board president position since Revitalize San Pedro was incorporated as a nonprofit in the fall of 2023. But the organization itself grew…
Heroes & Helpers: Maralyn Beck (New Mexico Child First Network)
Maralyn Beck is a founder of New Mexico Child First Network, and she’s been there since day one in 2019. The network is dedicated to improving the lives…