Faces of New Bedford

Meet Sarah Medeiros, 28-year-old Special Education teacher. Growing up Sarah was always around kids, as her mother owned an in-home daycare. This pushed her to take a class in high school, which focused on working with younger children with disabilities, as she had the childcare experience. She graduated from high …

Meet Heather Brito, 38-year-old Licensed Mental Health Counselor, Sand Play Practitioner and owner of HSW Counseling. Growing up, people always thought she was happy go luck and on the outside she had it all, doing great in school and sports through college. But a series of bad decisions that had …

Meet Brian Dube, 43-year-old Pastor and Chaplain in charge of Spiritual Life at Teen Challenge Brockton. Brian grew up in a healthy environment, with a family that loved and supported him. He, however, felt like he never quite fit in or connected with other kids. After transferring from a private …

Meet Susana Viera, 42-year-old Nurse Practitioner and Co-Founder of Susana Viera Multiple Sclerosis Foundation. Susana and her family migrated to New Bedford from São Miguel, Açores, Portugal when she was 18 months old. After graduating New Bedford High School, she decided to go to UMass Dartmouth, in hopes of attending …

Meet Cristina Pereira, 51-year-old REALTOR®. Cristina was born in South Africa, to two migrants of Portugal. They then moved to Mozambique where the family started to build their lives. It was during that time that there was a revolution with the government, becoming refugees back to Portugal, with just the …

Meet Connie Rocha-Mimoso, 50-year-old Director of Community Health Services at Seven Hills. Connie moved to New Bedford from Portugal in 1981, at the age of 14, with her parents and 4 siblings. Her family always instilled the value of helping others, from her grandfather taking in homeless people in Portugal …

Meet Brandon Oliver, 29-year-old delivery driver and founder of 508 Sneakerheads. Brandon grew up in the 90s, watching Michael Jordan play in his prime. During this time, the Jordan sneakers were growing in immense popularity and if Michael wore it, you wanted to have them. It was then, where Brandon’s …

Meet Brandon Roderick, 27-year-old Chef and owner of the The Baker. Most of Brandon’s life, he knew he wanted to grow up and become a doctor. In high school, he worked in restaurants, with his first job being at Divino’s in downtown New Bedford. His dream of becoming a doctor …

Meet Gloria Williams, 71-year-old Director of PACE YouthBuild. Gloria was born and raised in Springfield, Massachusetts. After time in college and some years working as a Math teacher, Gloria relocated to New Bedford to take a position working in the field of Human development. After some time working in that …

Meet Jose Rego, 45-year-old Chef and Restaurant Owner. Jose grew up in a Portuguese family where cooking was central to their lifestyle. Their Sundays consisted of large feasts, where Joe learned so much about cooking. As Joe got older and eventually graduated from high school, he became a pipefitter in …