2025 True Heroes: Matthew DeGumbia
IN THE SHADOW of El Morro National Monument, where soft Zuni sandstone cliffs rise against the New Mexico sky, a small hub of mutual aid quietly sustains a community of aging artists and homesteaders…
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Category: True Heroes
2025 True Heroes: Violet Lucero
THE CEDAR BEAMS of Violet Lucero’s loom stretch across a room that should be too small to hold it. Tools handmade by her father and bundles of wool yarn rest nearby. At the heart of this world of…
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2025 True Heroes: Marci Dickerson
THE BASES ARE LOADED, the sun is shining, and the batter stands at the plate. Parents wearing team jerseys sit on the edges of their seats. Kids laugh and squeal as they scurry to get the ball, little…
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2025 True Heroes: Shel Neymark
EVERY DAY IS DIFFERENT at the front desk of the Embudo Valley Library and Community Center, in Dixon. Volunteers like Shel Neymark help the local mayordomo book the community room for an acequia…
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2025 True Heroes: Analyss Benally
ONE OF ANALYSS BENALLY’S most memorable basketball moments didn’t happen during a game. In fact, the Shiprock native didn’t even have a ball in her hands. Benally, who plays professionally in Europe…
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2025 True Heroes: Richard Sanchez
RICHARD SANCHEZ always looks on the bright side. “He can see a pile of poop on the sidewalk and see the good in it,” says Cissy Diaz, who runs the Habitat for Humanity ReStore in Hobbs and counts…
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2025 True Heroes: Roger Montoya
THERE’S MAGIC IN motion at Moving Arts Española, where at-risk kids are harnessing the healing power of art. Each year, in a building bursting with bright colors, beautiful masks, sculptures, and…
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2025 True Heroes: Caroline Pecos-Duarte
CAROLINE PECOS-DUARTE found her way to medical school, but the road was not an easy one. There’s the expense, the intense coursework, and then there’s the fact that there are incredibly few doctors in…
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2025 True Heroes
RAYNA DINEEN The former school principal and teacher launched a nonprofit to tackle the state’s literacy problem head-on. PATRICIA MORALES-CANO A lifelong resident of Silver City found new…
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2025 True Heroes: Rayna Dineen
AS DEMAND FOR READING QUEST’S free tutoring services tripled last year, Rayna Dineen faced a problem—several problems, actually. The nonprofit’s wait list expanded, new schools wanted in, and existing…
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