Homero Perez was born in Laredo, Texas and raised in Lawton, Oklahoma and moved back to Texas in 1986. He grew up with eight siblings, attended Lawton High School and dreamed of being rich one day.

Of course, that meant he needed an education, so he went to college at Cameron University in Lawton, and graduated with a Bachelor’s of Business Administration with a minor in Marketing.   He went on to the University of North Texas, where he continued his studies in Art, but after two years he opted to leave for management opportunities. In addition, over the years, he has had courses in Conflict Resolution, Diversity Awareness, Front-Line Supervisory Skills, Emergency Management Readiness, Effective Communication and Steven Covey’s Seven Steps to Highly Effective People.

All that training is helpful when you are running an afterschool program that enrolls 250 children from age three to 17.

Homero’s previous work with AmeriCorps also comes in handy, as he has to recruit, retain and supervise eight teachers and dozens of volunteer tutors from all walks of life.  His most recent position was working with the Corporation for National Community Service, a federal job that included designing the grant review process  to decide which programs to fund.

But he grew tired of pushing paper and wanted to work with people, so took a new position as Operations Manager for Youth Believing in Change, an after school program that helps public school children complete their homework in a safe setting. In addition to school work, the children are bussed in from their nine different schools in two different school districts, DISD and Richardson ISD, and each are provided with a hot meal before they go home.  Homero oversees every aspect of the program, from making sure the buses are in good running condition to checking the correct water-to-Pine-Sol cleaner ratio so the floors are correctly cleaned. He’s typically the first person in the door and the last to leave at the end of the day.

His hard work ethic comes from a life of training.

What few people today know is that back in 1986 he won a National Collegiate Powerlifting Competition at the 198-weight class. Training for it meant he spent hours in the gym, dead lifting up to 605 pounds. “I’ve had many surgeries since then, because that kind of weight ruins your back and knees and takes a toll on your entire body.” He still works out to keep in shape, and you’ll rarely see him sitting behind a desk.

He met his wife, Agustina Erices, while they worked to teach each-other their language in Chile where he was a Peace Corps Volunteer.

They have two sons, Homero III, 18, and Ignacio, 16. Like his father, Homero III is in college to further his education and grow up to be successful. He also helps at the family’s thrift store in Garland, pricing items and selling them on line to supplement the family’s income.

Homero considers his job more than just punching a time clock, he feels it’s an investment in our country’s future.  He believes that even if he can help just one child, that child can go on to help others. He says, “If one child--with the proper foundation--can make this community a different, more positive place, 100 children with the proper foundation can change the world.”

He says his favorite memory of YBC is “Seeing (YBC Executive Director) Pastor Gaddis Start it up 22 years ago.” That was when Vince Gaddis was a part of the Federal program, Americorps.  Homero was basically his boss back then while working with the Greater Dallas Community of Churches. Over the decades, the two men kept in touch, so when Homero wanted to get back working with children, the two were reunited.

The YBC program has grown since it’s humble beginnings in a local park. A permanent building was purchased years ago, to expand to help more than 250 children each month. Homero would love to be able to hire five more teachers to help 100 more students after school each day. In the summer, the children arrive at 8:00 a.m. and are there for a full day.

Homero believes an educated child is one that can reach new heights, and maybe even become an astronaut. After all, Homero was born in an impoverished area of Laredo, but through education and hard work as a Federal Employee, has gotten to meet and shake the hand of astronaut John Glenn, several Senators, several members of Congress, President George W. Bush and First Lady Michelle Obama. He says simply of these experiences, “It was nice.”

If he had free time he might get back into creating art, a hobby of his that’s been neglected. For now, he’ll continue to inspire young artists, and astronauts, and teachers to grow up to be all they can be.

Homero believes Youth Believing in Change is the change-agent that can promote a struggling student to the next grade, making a low-performing student into one that soars.

Youth Believing in Change (YBC) is a 501©3 non-profit after school program located on Stults Road in Lake Highlands. It is free for children ages 3 to 17. Volunteers are always welcome.

Scouts needing an Eagle Scout project are encouraged to contact YBC. Church groups and individuals are welcome to come and tutor the students from 4:30 to 5:30. Donations are also welcome. Pencils, notebook paper and boxes of tissues are always welcome.

For more information on Youth Believing in Change or to donate, see the website: www.ybcdallas.org

Or contact the office at 214-692-9242 or e-mail program director Angela Gaddis at angela@ybcdallas.org

YBC has an annual dinner, An Evening of Change, May 4, 2017 from 6:30 p.m.- 8:00 p.m. at Highland Park Presbyterian Church (Elliott Hall) — 3821 University Boulevard, Dallas, 75205. This year's keynote speaker is the new Dallas District Attorney, Faith Johnson. The public is invited to attend. For tickets or more information call 214-692-9242.

Ernest Russell Mower never thought he’d grow up to be a Catholic priest, but a funny thing happened on the way to his retirement

Born in Augusta Maine, he grew up in New England and attended Waterford High School where he played several sports. After breaking his leg in football, he began running to rehab it and discovered he enjoyed that more. He ended his high school career as a Cross Country runner and member of the track team. He went on to college and after two years wasn’t sure what to major in, so joined the Air Force.   

After seven years, he left the Air Force to become a firefighter, and finished a degree in Fire Protection Engineering. This lead him to a job in the Wichita Fire Department and a fire service career of thirty years. He was a Fire Captain in Wichita before coming to work in Plano as the Fire Marshal.

A life-long fan of the New England Patriots, “Called the ‘Boston Patriots’ back when I was living up north,” he got to meet Hall of Famer Troy Aikman on his worst day, when Aikman’s new house was on fire. “He drove up as we were putting the fire out,” Russ explains, “and he was so nice. He knew nobody was in the house, but he asked if anyone had been hurt putting out the fire, and asked me, ‘are you sure no firefighter was hurt?’ He was very concerned that the fire didn’t harm anyone.” Since that encounter, Russ has been slowly warming to the Cowboys. “I’ll cheer for them if they’re not playing my Patriots,” he says with a laugh.

After eight years, he retired as Fire Marshal to work as the Chief Building Official for six years, during the 1990’s when Plano was booming in size.  He’d met his wife, Vickie, at work, and later at a college campus where she worked and he was a student obtaining a Masters’ degree. The two became friends, married, and Russ inherited three daughters: Tina, now 45, Lisa, 43 and 38-year-old Diana. Vickie was raised Catholic, and so were the girls, so Russ felt a certain pull to convert. He and his wife also spent a lot of time volunteering in the church, working with the youth and going on mission trips, so it seemed a natural progression for him to officially join the Catholic Church.

“I was drawn to the faith by my wife and kids,” he says now, looking back. “It just felt right.” Raised Episcopalian, often joked to be “Catholic Lite,” he said the transition was a smooth one.

Life was running along smoothly for him too, as he travelled all over the world in his job as a building engineer. He even had an office at AT&T Cowboys Stadium during the two years it was being built. Mission trips with his wife and church took him to Phoenix, San Antonio, and eventually Mexico, including two mission trips he went on by himself to help the Brothers and Sisters of Charity supporting an orphanage in Nicaragua. He kept feeling a tug to help others, to do more, pray more.

Life was good for the Mower family. And then his wife died unexpectedly.

It wasn’t long before Russ began to re-evaluate his legacy. He started talking to the pastor at his church, Father Tim Church, who was a late convert to the Catholic priesthood, converting from the Episcopal priesthood. Like Russ, he’d been married and has grown children. “I asked him to please tell me it was a bad idea for me to become a priest,” Father Russ said, “And he sort of said the opposite. He told me to think about it, pray about it, and not be afraid to follow that pull I was feeling to get closer to God.”

Russ applied to be a seminarian and went to Pope St. John XXIII Seminary in Boston, a seminary for older seminarians like him who already have lived life in the secular world and are discerning whether to give up their careers earning a paycheck to gain heavenly rewards instead. “I was with other engineers and attorneys, all feeling a need to follow their desire to enter the priesthood and begin working in the church full time, not just as a volunteer.” He gave up his four-bedroom house with a swimming pool for a 10-by-12-foot dorm room, and felt like he was back in college again—which, he admits, he basically was.

During his Summers, he was sent to internships at various parishes. On his final Summer, he asked for a shorter internship so he could hike the Camino de Santiago, backpacking 480 miles over 32 days. This was his last internship before his deaconate ordination, and the time alone on the trail was spent communing in nature—and prayer. A well-known pilgrimage route for thousands, Russ found his answer along the way. Next stop: The Catholic priesthood.

Ordained on May 30, 2015 and sent to St. Elizabeth Ann Seton as Parochial Vicar, Father Russ said this first appointment was basically a “trial” year, where he, like any new employee, learns the ropes.

Fortunately, he’s a fast learner. When he met with Bishop Kelly a year later for his first Annual Evaluation, it was a good one. “I left his office and he asked my Pastor to come in next.” Very quickly, Father Russ was asked to return to Bishop Kelly’s office. “I thought—uh-oh. This can’t be good.” But it was better.

St. Elizabeth of Hungary in Oak Cliff needed a pastor. Would Father Russ consider leading the church and school? “I had no idea about what to do with a school,” he said, “so I called up my priest friend back in New England and asked him. He said, ‘A school? That’s great! Whenever you’re having a bad day, just walk on over to the first-grade classroom and sit with those kids a while. You’ll soak up their excitement and energy and will be back to work in no time.’” Father Russ took the assignment. He arrived in Oak Cliff in August. And, he couldn’t be happier.

Meeting Principal Rachel Dzurilla made the transition even easier when he discovered they had a lot in common. “She’s a former Police officer, and I’m a former firefighter,” he explains, “We are kindred spirits, trained to help others, calm in a crisis.”

Father Russ knows that being calm comes with experience, and he’s had lots more than the average new priest. Twice he’s used CPR to save someone. Once, after his shift at the fire station, he was eating breakfast in a diner when a customer appeared to be choking and fell to the floor. Russ leaped in to help and realized the man was having a heart attack, so did CPR until the paramedics came and took over. The man survived.

Another time Russ was walking in the parking lot of the old Cowboys stadium in Irving, heading into a Promise Keeper’s rally, when the man walking in front of him fell flat on his face. “I though he tripped,” Russ recalls. But it was a massive heart attack. Fortunately, right behind Russ was another CPR expert. “We both were CPR trainers, so together we worked in tandem to keep this guy alive.” The paramedics came and rushed the man off to the ER. Russ visited the man in the hospital the next day. “It was a happy ending.”

Father Russ’s happy ending is just beginning. At 65 he’s in a new career as the pastor of St. Elizabeth of Hungary Catholic Church and school. He can trace his family back to the pilgrims on the Mayflower, and will soon be surrounded by the flowers in the traditional May Crowning, the annual Marian devotion honoring the Virgin Mary as “the Queen of May.”

He hopes to stay at St. Elizabeth’s for a long time. Priests are often given six year assignments, but it can be renewed and extended for an additional six years if everyone agrees. Older pastors can ask to stay on in a parish until retirement. Father Russ likes that idea.

After all, he has a class room full of first graders he’d like to see graduate in seven years. It took him almost ten times that to find his true calling, and he plans to make the best of it. His career of saving lives has now become a career of saving souls. Ernest Russell Mower has come home.

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I —
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

--Robert Frost

St. Elizabeth of Hungary Catholic Church and School is located at 4019 South Hampton Road, Dallas, TX 75224 next door to the Walgreens on the corner of Loop 12 Ledbetter and Hampton. The school offers grades pre-k 3 through 8^th grade. For more information see the school’s website: http://saintspride.com/

Real Estate Agents are invited to a brunch and tour Wednesday, February 22^nd 8:30 to 9:30.

The public is invited to come tour the school and meet the exceptional faculty and staff. For more information contact Sandy Walkley swalkley@saintspride.com
(214) 331-5139 x21

Or Carolyn Campos, Business Manager, ccampos@saintspride.com
(214) 331-5139 x23

Judy Porter writes about local heroes and businesses. Contact her at judy-porter@sbcglobal.net

Francisco Candeladio Aguilar isn’t your typical 8^th grader. His school, St. Elizabeth of Hungary in Oak Cliff, calls their students “Saints,” and Francisco is proud to have been a student there since he was four years old. He doesn’t claim to be a saint, but he is a leader in the school, and on the soccer field.

Instead of rushing home to play video games, Francisco gets into rush hour traffic to head up to Frisco to play club soccer.

Although he lives in Grand Prairie, he’s willing to make the trip up north twice a week to MoneyGram Park to practice with his team. He plays right defender in Division 2 of the Classic league. His dedication to the game is only matched by his dedication to this classes—and his family.

He is the middle of three children. His older sister, Anacelia, is 15 and a freshman in high school, and his younger sister, Marissa, is in first grade and attends Saint Elizabeth’s with her big brother. He loves to play soccer with her and treats her with all the care and tenderness that a loving big brother can bestow.

A straight-A student, Francisco says his parents are his role models. He helps his mother, Venessa, around the house whenever he can, and may follow into the footsteps of his father, Maurice, a Judge in Dallas, because Francisco wants to help people.

“Frank is an excellent example of a typical St. Elizabeth student,” says Principal Rachel Dzurilla. “He’s hard working, motivated, and prepared for his future both academically and socially.”

He loves his science class with Mrs. Rice the most, and plans to go to college to become either a physical therapist, or an attorney to help others like his father.

His science project this year combined his love of science and soccer: he created a sensor to help referees to know when a soccer ball hit the sideline, because sometimes the human eye can miss a call in a fast-paced game.

Fast-paced might also describe Francisco’s life right now. Up at 6:00 a.m. and on the road by 7:30 to be at school by the opening bell at 8:00, then after school on the road then on the soccer field for two hours before returning to Grand Prairie by 9:00 p.m. He enjoys a challenge, and appreciates his parents helping to get him where he needs to be.

Next year he hopes that includes high school at TAG, the school for Talented and Gifted students located in downtown Dallas. Math, Science and Literature are his favorite subjects, all of which he plans to pursue both in high school and college.

“I know St. Elizabeth’s has prepared me well for the next step in my life,” he says, sounding more like an adult than the young teenager he is. “This school has excellent teachers who care about us, and they give us projects that teach us new ways of thinking.” In fact, Francisco recognizes that one thing he is good at is problem-solving. This ability and his love of science could lead him into engineering. Being able to solve problems is a skill he says, “I know that will help me throughout my life.”

His life is busy right now, and will be even better when he has more time to help others. That is his plan for the summer, to serve others when he’s not practicing or playing soccer. His down time will be spent reading, and attending an occasional movie. And of course, he has his dogs, Jack and Jasmine, to play with. And his little sister.

A teenage boy who prefers time with his family and reading over video games is rare, and Francisco feels blessed to have a life filled with good family time and good literature to enjoy.

He also knows he will miss his friends and teachers at St. Elizabeth’s after he graduates, but he won’t be far—after all, he has a little sister who’s still a “Saint”—and he will always be there for her as she grows up, being the devoted big brother he is.

St. Elizabeth of Hungary School is located at 4019 South Hampton Road, Dallas, TX 75224 next door to the Walgreens on the corner of Loop 12 Ledbetter and Hampton. The school offers grades pre-k 3 through 8^th grade. For more information see the school’s website: http://saintspride.com/

Real Estate Agents are invited to a brunch and tour Wednesday, February 22^nd 8:30 to 9:30.

The public is invited to come tour the school and meet the exceptional faculty and staff. For more information contact Sandy Walkley swalkley@saintspride.com
(214) 331-5139 x21

Or Carolyn Campos, Business Manager, ccampos@saintspride.com
(214) 331-5139 x23

Judy Porter writes about local heroes and businesses. Contact her at judy-porter@sbcglobal

Grace Nicodemus has been a teacher for 20 years.

She has worked with young children in a preschool setting in the mornings, then tutoring elementary-school-aged-children in the afternoons. In 2002 she went to work with Vince Gaddis at the Vickery Meadows after school program.

As the program and need for more tutors expanded, Ms. Nicodemus followed Mr. Gaddis and his Youth Believing in Change after school program to his new classroom building on 8574 Stults Road, off Greenville Avenue, just two blocks away from DISD’s Stults Elementary School, in Lake Highlands.

In addition to tutoring up to 24 children from 3:00 to 6:00 p.m. Monday through Thursday, “Miss Grace” --as the children call her—also comes on Saturday mornings. She picks the children up at 9 a.m. and they are bussed to the Stults Road location where she and a handful of friends from her church tutor the children. Even her neighbor comes along to help. She typically has 10 to 12 children on Saturday for two hours.

“Many of the children are new to the country,” she explains in her soft Indian accent. “The children from Nepal and Ethiopia especially need extra time to learn better English, and catch up to their grade levels.”

Miss Grace is one of eight teachers hired by the YBC program to help the children to finish their homework, learn proper English, and learn how to love one another. Vince Gaddis took the Vickery Meadow program he started and added the spiritual element, realizing that many of the children in public school don’t get to attend church on the weekends. Miss Grace was raised Baptist, and she worked in the Prestonwood Baptist early childhood daycare until the church moved to Plano. Now she concentrates her time and energy on the public-school students who come to her classroom for tutoring 12 hours a week.

The YBC program serves nine schools: five from DISD and four from the Richardson school district, but the most students come from Stults Road Elementary School, a Public school that serves grades PK-6. It has received a “Great Schools” rating of only 3 out of 10 stars, based on academic quality, which may be the result of so many students arriving unprepared for school from their war-torn countries. However, the Community rating for the school is a perfect five out of five stars—which also may be a result of the immigrant children. They, and their parents, are so grateful to be in a safe country, where food is abundant and attending school is a safe adventure, that the joy of their gratitude is palpable.

In addition to homework review and tutoring, the children all receive a nourishing meal at about 4:00, which may be the only dinner they get that evening. Two evenings a week it’s a hot meal, and the other two evenings it’s a healthy sandwich with a side of fruit, a vegetable and milk.

Miss Grace is happy to be a part of the children’s daily experience. She says the YBC team she works with is stronger than ever before. Her co-workers are all from different cultures and backgrounds, with names like Shubinski and Rastandeh and Chamu and Perez, but they are all there for the same reason: to love and educate children.

On Thursday, February 2, the faculty enjoyed a pot-luck turkey dinner at lunch, replete with mashed potatoes, stuffing, apple and cherry pies, corn on the cobb—and quinoa. Not exactly a traditional American dish, but this group of teachers from everywhere (including Canada) enjoyed every bit of the meal as they said good-bye to one staffer headed off to finish her college degree, and welcomed a new one to the fold.

Miss Grace brought the fruit medley for the meal. Like her co-workers and students, it was a mix of delightful colors, all mixed up together, better together than apart.

"Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." --Matthew 19:14

YBC is a 501©3 non-profit and is free for children ages 3 to 17. Volunteers are always welcome. Scouts needing an Eagle Scout project are encouraged to contact YBC.

For more information on Youth Believing in Change or to donate, see the website: www.ybcdallas.org

Or contact the office at 214-692-9242 after 1:00, or e-mail program director Angela Gaddis at angela@ybcdallas.org

Cancer Survivor Celebrates A Decade of Smiles and Organization at the Front Desk

“Behind every great man there’s a great woman,” was first printed in a Texas newspaper in 1946 when Meryll Frost, the ‘Most courageous athlete of 1945’ was quoted as he received his trophy. The plucky quarterback unfolded the story of how he 'came back,’ and Is quoted: “They say behind every great man there's a woman. While I'm not a great man, there's a great woman behind me.'"

Sandy Marie Walkley would shy away from this analogy, for two reasons: first, because she “backs” a fellow female, Principal Rachel Dzurello, and second, because she doesn’t see herself as anything so special.

But the people she works with knows she is.

Ten years working at St. Elizabeth of Hungary Catholic School, Sandy is considered a superhero by most.

“I don’t know how I could run this school without her,” Principal Dzurillo admits. “She’s willing to do whatever is needed, and she does it with a smile!”

“She’s incredibly bubbly,” Business Manager Carolyn Campos says, who works in the office right next to Sandy. “I helped interview her for her job years ago, and I loved her right away!”

Call her Super Sandy or Sweet Sandy, she’s amazingly organized and always ready to help parents, students, teachers and Principal Dzurillo. Sandy came to the school ten years ago, as a volunteer, working in the clinic. Her son was a 3^rd grader and she thought it would be nice to be near him during the day.

“So, I worked here that first year as a volunteer. I loved it! And then the secretary told me she was leaving at the end of the school year, and I should apply for her job.” She did, and she’s been behind the front desk ever since.  She admits she loves the job because, she says simply, “I like to help.”

An avid cyclist, she met her husband when they were just 12 years old. They became high school sweethearts, but each married someone else after graduation from South Grand Prairie High School. Neither marriage lasted more than a few years, with Sandy admitting that getting married at 17 “is just too young.” But the two got back together and have been married 32 years.

You’d never know the couple had a rough start. As they were vacationing early in

their marriage, and riding on a tandem bike, the brakes went out and they hurdled down a road, crashing as they rounded a curve at full speed. David took the brunt of the crash, and landed hard, putting him in the hospital in a coma for three weeks.  A traumatic brain injury meant he needed six months of rehab when he came out of his coma, and he’s been on long term disability since.

Sandy never left is side and says with a smile, “I have the sweetest house-husband you can imagine.”

They waited for David to recover to have children, and son Curtis arrived in 1998. He’s a freshman in Arkansas now, studying engineering.

Sandy came from a big family, so Curtis grew up with lots of aunts, uncles and cousins. The fourth child in a family of 10, Sandy explains, “Four boys and six girls, and yes, it was loud in the house—and still is at Christmas when we all get together.”

“Together” is a word that means a lot to Sandy: it describes her amazing organizational abilities, and how she likes to work: together with her Principal, business manager, faculty, parents and students.

And it describes her personal courageous come back, much like Meryll Frost.

Last August she had what she describes as “a little bout with Cancer,” and because it was caught early, she’s back to work today. Two rounds of Chemo and 28 of radiation cured her of the stage 1 Cancer, but she was out of the office from August 15 through December first. The people she loved worked together to keep the school running smoothly while she healed at home.

Looking at her smile and hearing her bubbly laugh, you’d never guess she’d been sick. And that’s just the way Super Sandy wants it. She’d rather be bubbly and efficient behind the scenes, making her Principal’s job easier, and keeping her school running smoothly.

After all, behind every great school is a great woman—or a super hero.

You can meet Sandy at the Open House on February 8, 2017. St. Elizabeth Of Hungary Catholic School at the Open House from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday, February 8, 2017. The school has classes from pre-k3 to 8th grade. The public is invited to come tour the school and meet the exceptional faculty and staff. For more information, see the school’s website www.saintspride.com

For more information contact Sandy Walkley swalkley@saintspride.com
(214) 331-5139 x21

Or Carolyn Campos, Business Manager, ccampos@saintspride.com
(214) 331-5139 x23

Judy Porter writes about local heroes and businesses. Contact her at judy-porter@sbcglobal.net