True Florida Stories
Since her classroom already had plenty of furniture, she asked if any of the students needed it. To her surprise, many hands shot up.Â
Louise realized something: Maybe these students and their families have needs that we have no idea about, she thought. The Gainesville High School ESOL Closet was born … Continue readingHow The ESOL Closet helps Gainesville feel more like home
On Fridays, D. Williams Mortuary Services is a meeting ground for mourners. Though the air is melancholy, it is a beautiful sunny afternoon at the funeral home. Cars slowly pull into the dirt path just off 13th Street, its neatly gardened exterior a waiting area for friends and family to congregate and share memories … Continue readingThe last responder
As researchers from the Clearwater Marine Aquarium watch attentively through the camera’s point of view, a large, gray being swims inches below the water, her back skimming the salty air … Continue readingThe Atlantic sojourner
Joe Pimentel could be the most protected man in the world. At the Florida Rottweiler Rescue Ranch, Pimentel spends his days caring for more than 100 large dogs in the beating sun and the suffocating Gainesville humidity. Working through piles of floating dog hair, pools of slobber and a smell only a dog rescue could produce, Pimentel wouldn’t have it any other way … Continue readingBig Dogs and a Bigger Mission
Even though the weather was hot and the land swampy, promoters advertised Florida as a paradise on Earth, and oranges were the ambrosia … Continue readingValencia’s Last StandÂ