2021 Hometown Heroes

The Decatur City Commission gave out 13 individual Hometown Hero awards at the December DBA virtual Holiday party. The recipients were Nikie Barfield, Fred Bradley, Syreeta Campbell, Mai Cavalli, Paula Collins, Francisco Da Silva, Joe Davich, Irm Diorio, David Lewicki, Georgina Peacock, Maria Pinkelton, Diane Stubbs, and Jane Wilkov. 

Nikie Barfield
Nominated by Shirley Baylis

Nikie owns TROV Design & Nikie Barfield Design and has been a great contribution to the downtown business district. She does a beautiful job with the planter boxes at her storefront and the storefronts of 2 neighboring businesses. In the spring of 2021, she asked about sprucing up the E. Court Square entry and turnaround with plants and flowers. She offered to do the planting and watering and simply wanted our permission so she could get to work making things attractive for the visitor experience in our city. The DDA partnered with her to purchase the plants and flowers and gather volunteers to help. Nikie provided a list of plants and flowers that would grow best and be able to handle people walking on them. Together we planted the flowers and Nikie agreed to water them as needed even adding more plants to the bed to give it a fuller look. Her insight and help made the downtown beautiful for the spring and summer and many of the businesses have now followed her lead with storefront planter boxes. Nikie offered a solution to a problem instead of just complaining and it created a beautiful partnership.
 

Fred Bradley
Nominated by Sherry Jackman, Angie Macon and Marty Wood

For the past several years Fred Bradley has been a valuable asset to the Decatur Visitors Center and the Decatur Arts Alliance. His dedication and dependability in the volunteer work he does is greatly appreciated. In addition, he finds time to volunteer at Winship Cancer Center and East Lake Golf Club and other volunteer opportunities in our community. Fred holds a Ph.D. in the field of Counselor Education and he was inducted into the Hall of Fame in the Kansas Counseling Association. After retirement, Fred moved to Decatur to live near his daughter’s family. We are grateful that he became involved in volunteering through Volunteer Decatur. His relentless cheerfulness, positive attitude and willingness to always pitch in make him a valuable member of our volunteer team.

Syreeta Campbell & David Lewicki
Nominated by Linda Harris and Renae Madison

Syreeta and David applied and were appointed to the inaugural Better Together Advisory Board and both came with strong community volunteer credentials. Syreeta and David jumped in to co-chair the sub-committee that created a Welcoming Business Award to reward and publicly recognize leadership actions that create a welcoming and inclusive business environment. With input from the entire board, they created the purpose of the award and established the criteria for the award. They worked to get the word out to the community, solicited nominations, visited all of businesses nominated, and brought the information to the board for a vote. The first awards were given in 2019. The pandemic has caused the process to be virtual in 2020 and 2021. Both are invaluable to our community, serving behind the scenes and creating lasting legacies related to Decatur’s ongoing support of being a welcoming, just and inclusive city.
 

Mai Cavalli
Nominated by Michelle Kuperman

Mai works tirelessly to help our community and her family. Weekly she goes to Clairmont Oaks to read or talk with different residents. She gets to know them, makes them feel loved and important and helps them in any way she can. She works at the First Baptist Church of Decatur weekly to give out clothes, MARTA passes and food & Gift cards for the homeless in need. She has taken on at least 6 different homeless individuals or families helping them find apartments, furniture, schools and food until they are safe with a roof over their heads. She takes needy individuals to doctor appointments or the emergency room. She packs sack lunches to be distributed weekly at the Decatur library. She volunteers with A Season of Giving and gives tirelessly to countless organizations and is always there when someone needs her. She is an active volunteer for Volunteer Decatur and pre-pandemic worked almost every event. While volunteering almost daily, she also helps her daughter when she is needed to care for her grandsons. She cares deeply for all human beings and is an inspiration to us all.

Paula Collins
Nominated by Beth Byrnes, Erin Braden and Gail Rothman

Paula is one who is first to volunteer whenever anyone needs help in making our city a better place. She was the architect of the Decatur Education Foundation which has greatly helped our school children, especially during the pandemic. She headed up a sub-committee for the Affordable Housing Task Force which will result in more affordable living opportunities for our police, teachers and others in our community. And recently, she was a part of a committee tasked with compiling and submitting a new Senior School Tax Exemption since the current one ends at the end of 2021. She worked tirelessly on that and developed an informative and easy to understand presentation that enlightened all in our city about the benefits of making it so seniors can age in place. By doing so, all of us benefit from the experiences and knowledge the seniors share with us and continues to make Decatur a more diverse place to live.

Francisco Da Silva
Nominated by Capoeira Maculele Decatur

Mestre Fran works in Decatur to preserve, develop and share the martial art of capoeira with integrity and to use capoeira to ingnite positive change in individuals and in the community. Capoeira Maculele Decatur was founded by Francisco Da Silva and has served the Decatur community for over ten years providing free arts education programs, performances in festivals, community organizations, schools and year-round classes in martial arts, dance, Portuguese and music. His outstanding achievements make him an inspirational leader, an important role model and he continues to provide a safe and affirming environment for adults, youth and families to learn and grow.
 

Joe Davich
Nominated by Matilda (Tillie) Young

Joe has served as the Executive Director of the Georgia Center for the Book since 2013. The hub of the Center is the Decatur branch of the DeKalb public library system, where Joe and his staff coordinate a wide variety of exhibits, readings and other events designed to promote literacy and its enjoyment for all ages. Joe and his team participate in and promote the annual Decatur Book Festival which draws authors, booksellers and the community as well as boosting business for restaurants and shops. Joe facilitates the annual Book As Art, a hands-on curated international exhibit of innovative handmade limited-edition works. Recently Joe and his team have risen to the challenges of the pandemic by providing on-line readings and a socially distanced reception on the library parking deck. Joe is always available and eager to jump in to help in any way he can including using his warm humor to enliven events.

Irm Diorio
Nominated by Lew Lefton

Irm has served the Decatur community as the executive director of Decatur Makers since April, 2016. Under her leadership, our community makerspace has grown its impact both at the individual level and by bringing regional and national recognition to Decatur. Decatur Makers is Decatur’s inclusive community makerspace. The maker community began forming in 2012 and initially operated with 100% volunteer effort. Irm stepped in as the first part-time paid employee and she has led the organization to: create local jobs with 3 full time staff; become a vibrant and successful community resource growing to a peak of 420 members in early 2020; build over 500 student desks which were distributed free to kids during the height of the pandemic; engage with teachers and students to develop STEAM workshops, training and opportunities for hands-on projects and much more. She led the charge to grow and diversify the Decatur Makers Board and establish a long term strategic plan which includes a focus on community outreach and DEI. None of this would have happened without her thoughtful and impactful leadership and Decatur is a better place thanks to her efforts.

Georgina Peacock & Jane Wilkov
Nominated by Mollie Marrah and Rebecca Kolesky

In 2021 Jane Wilkov had the foresight to request early on that her practice, DeKalb Pediatrics, be a vaccine distribution center. She worked with the DeKalb Health Department and the CDC to lobby for vaccines to be delivered to private pediatricians. Once awarded the status, Jane and Georgina worked to set up a day offering vaccines to anyone wanting one, not just families within the practice. Georgina worked with City Schools of Decatur to coordinate the effort, arranging volunteers, school nurses and transportation for anyone who needed it. I served as a volunteer and can attest to the process being highly organized and efficient. As a result, they vaccinated thousands of Decatur teens and their families in April and then several thousand more in May when the vaccine was approved for kids 12 and older. They are working now to plan ahead vaccine approval in the 5-11 year old age group. At one point DeKalb Pediatric Center had given more COVID-19 vaccines than any other private clinic in the state of Georgia.  

Maria Pinkelton
Nominated by Lee Ann Harvey

Maria has been a member of the Lifelong Community Advisory Board for almost six years and currently serves as the chair. She is a born leader who is ready to tackle any problem. She makes thoughtful suggestions and is able to steer a conversation to make sure that everyone’s voice is heard. Maria epitomizes compassion. It is apparent with both the work she has done with the Board but also in her job at the Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities. She is a champion for Decatur’s senior citizens, people with disabilities and diverse populations. She has a background in communication and thoughtfully assesses every situation to look for the best outcome and is available to help in any way. She served on the Affordable Housing Task Force and recently helped facilitate Affordable Housing discussions with community members. She serves on the board of the Decatur Education Foundation and the Diversity and Inclusion committee for the Talley Street Upper Elementary School.

Diane Stubbs
Nominated by Cliff Richards

Diane has served both her church and Decatur Cooperative Ministry by serving as a lead volunteer at Hagar’s House for over 20 years. For the past 5 years, Diane has organized, raised funds, shopped and distributed Thanksgiving baskets for low-income families in Decatur and DeKalb County. She organizes volunteers in Decatur to shop, raise funds and prepare meals for the homeless in Atlanta and for many years has organized volunteers to visit shut-ins all around Decatur. Diane’s motto is “I’d rather wear out than rust out...therefore I will keep serving the community as long as possible.” She is loyal, dedicated, compassionate and a true community leader. I feel she is an example for how we care for our neighbors in need.