2020 will forever be the year of COVID-19 – and wildfires, police shootings, school over Zoom. So much heartbreak. But all year long, there were people who stepped up, made sacrifices and kept going. As we ring in a new year, we revisit some of our favorite stories about the people who inspired us in 2020.
‘Haven’t Hugged My Mom in a Month’: Kids of Health Care Workers Feel the Strain
In April, when we first found ourselves in the grip of the pandemic, we knew it was taking a big toll on health care workers and wondered how it was impacting their families. Host Sasha Khokha brought us a story about a pair of teen siblings from Clovis, near Fresno. Their mom works as an ER nurse at Highland Hospital in Oakland. She sleeps in a trailer when she’s in the Bay Area, but when she gets a day off, she makes the three-hour drive home to see her kids. With the coronavirus, those visits got tougher.
‘In Solidarity, People!’: Activist With Autism Works to Ensure Nobody in Community Left Behind
In May, we brought you a show about how the pandemic was making it tough for a lot of Californians with disabilities. Our intern Ariella Markowitz brought us a story about a man named Héctor Ramírez. He’s autistic and a disability rights activist in Los Angeles. His daily routine was really important to him, but the pandemic disrupted all that. So he figured out a way to create a new routine that also helped his neighbors.
'I’m Fighting for My Home': On Being a Radical Teenage Activist in a Time of Unrest
Another big story of 2020 was the way so many Californians mobilized for racial justice. Last summer, we brought you the story of 17-year-old Simone Jacques. She organized a Black Lives Matter demonstration in San Francisco that drew some 10,000 people back in June. The San Francisco Commission on the Status of Women later passed a resolution expressing deep appreciation for her work as a youth activist.
With a Braille Printing Press in His Garage, This Sonoma Teacher Goes the Extra Mile
Teachers have been working miracles during the pandemic. Trying to keep kids connected and engaged over a tiny screen. That’s hard enough, but it’s harder when working with kids who are especially vulnerable to isolation or can’t access some technology. Last spring, KQED’s Julia McEvoy brought us the story of an educator in Sonoma County who works with kids who are visually impaired. He was figuring out some creative workarounds.
For Napa Volunteer Firefighters, Victory, Devastation, and a Marriage Proposal
2020 was also an unprecedented year for wildfires. California just kept burning, even during a pandemic. And many of those bravely fighting fires were inmates, or volunteers. More than two-thirds of the nation’s firefighters hold down day jobs and respond to emergencies in their local communities. Last fall, as fires were breaking out across the state, KQED science reporter Lesley McClurg brought us the story of two courageous volunteers in Napa County.