Meet Courtney Miranda, 23-year-old Event Coordinator/Manager of Business Development and Field Hockey Coach.

Courtney has been involved with sports her entire life and during her time at New Bedford High School fell in love with field hockey. It was the impact that her coaches, Coach Rezendes and Kieltyka, had on her that taught her perseverance and and consistency.

After graduating and attending Umass Amherst, Courtney had, for the first time in her life, been in a place where she wasn’t playing sports competitively. This is what pushed her to come back, after receiving her bachelor’s degree in Communication, to come back to NBHS and coach the field hockey team she once played on.

Fresh out of college and looking to start her career, she got introduced to a group of gentlemen who were in need of an Event Coordinator and Manager of Business Development for the restaurant they were planning on opening. After meeting with them and seeing the space of the soon-to-be Greasy Luck Brewery, she knew this is where she wanted to be.

As someone who has grown up in New Bedford her entire life and spending tons of time in the downtown area, Courtney felt it would be an amazing place to work. Hoping to assist the brewery in becoming a staple in the modern renaissance that is taking place in the cities growing community, she envisions a place where artist, musician’s, and anyone chasing their dream can get their start.

_________________________________________________________Faces of New Bedford is a project by Colton Simmons. If you are interested in booking a shoot or getting prints from the series email all inquiries to colton@coltonsimmons.com

Follow Colton on Instagram: https://instagram.com/simmonscolton

Meet Manuela Rosa, 39-year-old Program Director at the LifeWork Project.

Manuela moved to the United States at the age of 14 from Cape Verde. She grew up in housing projects with a single mother who worked hard to make a way for her in this country. She graduated from New Bedford High School and after time at BCC and UMass Dartmouth, she received her Bachelors Degree in Sociology with a concentration in Social Work.

Manuela soon began working for the state with the adult population. She assisted them in getting employment and providing stability for their families. With the encouragement of her mentor, Maria Grace, she ended up leaving her employment with the state and helping running the 3-year pilot program through the Women’s Fund of Southeastern, MA, the LifeWork Project.

With the LifeWork Project, Manuela helps students who are newly enrolled at Bristol Community College who are single mothers or heads of house hold. Having grown up in similar environments she enjoys that the program’s focus is to create self sufficiency in the women’s life and she couldn’t see herself doing anything else for work. Since coming to New Bedford from Cape Verde she has felt that there is no other place she could call home and want to give back to than here.

“Sometimes people just need a little help in order for them to recognize their potential.”

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Faces of New Bedford is a project by Colton Simmons. If you are interested in booking a shoot or getting prints from the series email all inquiries to colton@coltonsimmons.com

Follow Colton on Instagram: https://instagram.com/simmonscolton

Meet David Costa, 34-year old Chiropractor and DOT Certified Medical Examiner.

As a lifelong native of New Bedford, he has watched his family, both immigrants from Portugal, worked hard to provide a good life for him and his brother. His father had is humble start in a factory he worked in for 13 years, until getting laid off due to production moving out of the country. It was then he took a gamble and started a lobster bait company with David’s grandfather.

It was this sample of hard work that motivated David to attend Quinnipiac University in Connecticut, where he received his Bachelors degree and then went on to receive his Doctorate in Chiropractic at the University of Bridgeport. Being mentored by his Godfather, Dr. Antonio DaCunha, he was quickly drawn to the chiropractic profession due to his want to help people.

In his 8 years practicing, he has had two offices, one in downtown New Bedford and one in Wareham. During that time, he has become certified by the state of Massachusetts as a DOT Medical Examiner, which makes him one of a few people who can actually approve CDL Drivers, heavy machinery personel, just to name a few, fit for service.

He enjoys being able to help people who are in major pain and seeing their progress as they get better. He is also happy to be moving to a new location on Mt. Pleasant street, where he will have more room to fully service all of his patients. David also loves the time he gets to spend when he isn’t helping others, with his wife and three kids.

“Hard work always pays off, if you work hard and treat people right good will come to you.”

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Faces of New Bedford is a project by Colton Simmons. If you are interested in booking a shoot or getting prints from the series email all inquiries to colton@coltonsimmons.com

Follow Colton on Instagram: https://instagram.com/simmonscolton

Meet Nicholas Walecka, 34 year-old Freelance Journalist, Photographer, Teacher. Nick spent a short while at UMass Dartmouth after graduating from high school, majoring in Business.

Not sure that the field of study was for him, he dropped out and started working for his families’ trucking business. During that time Nick got to see the country, but still felt like that wasn’t what he wanted to spend the rest of his life doing.

He returned home and after receiving his associates degree, returned to UMass where he eventually found a passion for writing, realizing he always did better with papers than he had taking tests. Graduating with a degree in Creative Writing, he started writing for the Advocate, a weekly paper run by the Standard Times focused on Acushnet and Fairhaven. There he gained immense knowledge of journalism and confidence in his writing, which opened doors for him to work with news outlets such as the Wareham Week, Dartmouth Week, The New Bedford Guide, and the Standard Times.

After a few years of working between these publications, he craved another career change and began substitute teaching in the New Bedford Public system. Nicholas was excited to fill in for a teacher who was promoted from her position at Trinity Middle school, an alternative school for children in New Bedford. After a year of substituting in that position, he was hired on full-time and is excited to inspire this kids.

Aside from his career as a teacher, he works with the HOPE Collaborative, a program organized by the New Bedford Police Department and City, where he tutors inner city kids. He is so thankful to be able to be apart of the community in New Bedford because it was the same community that has been able to push him and encourage him in everything he does.

“New Bedford has such a welcoming and supporting community, especially in the downtown area. You don’t see businesses competing but helping each other out”

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Faces of New Bedford is a project by Colton Simmons. If you are interested in booking a shoot or getting prints from the series email all inquiries to colton@coltonsimmons.com

Follow Colton on Instagram: https://instagram.com/simmonscolton

Meet John Thomas, 48 year-old owner and director of Thomas Consultants which manages and oversees multiple recovery homes in New Bedford and Fall River, conducts interventions, and provides recovery coaching.

John grew up in a great home with a single mother. As an only child, he spent a lot of time out of the house with friends. Diagnosed with ADHD at an early age, John was prescribed with Ritalin and quickly learned that he could abuse the medication. He would act out and seek attention, attempting to fill the void of not having his father around. When he didn’t want to deal with being reprimanded for his actions, he would double his dose of Ritalin to enter a drug induced state.

As he got older his drug abuse progressed – he went from smoking to drinking and from drinking to harder drugs like cocaine and opiates. He managed to control this abuse while finishing his degree at Mount Ida in Boston where he received his Associates Degree in Funeral Service and Embalming. At that time, he was living in Brockton and working at funeral home in Dorchester during the day and going out and partying all night.

This lifestyle lasted for a while until he and his future wife decided they needed to move back to New Bedford. They bought a house and tried to act like everything was fine. John and his wife knew that his addiction had gotten much worse, which caused him to move out.

Bouncing around and being homeless brought him to a very low place in life, so low that John thought about killing himself. At that point he was living in a family friend’s room. He looked up and saw the reading of Footsteps, that was always hanging in his grandmothers house, and at that point fell to his knees and surrendered his life.

It was a long road to recovery, but after a few years John had the opportunity open a recovery home with a partner. Eventually taking over the home, John has made it his life’s passion to help those who are in similar positions he once found himself. Now reunited with his wife, he has 4 recovery homes called Recovery Commons where he strives to help those struggling with drug addiction.

Faces of New Bedford is a project by Colton Simmons. If you are interested in booking a shoot or getting prints from the series email all inquiries to colton@coltonsimmons.com

Follow Colton on Instagram: https://instagram.com/simmonscolton

(Photo by Josh Souza) Meet Michael Rocha, 41 year-old Cardiologist. Michael grew up in New Bedford and graduated from NBHS in 1993.

He finished his undergrad in chemistry at UMass Dartmouth and it was during this time he realized that he wanted to go into healthcare, as he had a passion for helping people. He began his Doctor of Medicine at UMass Medical School and during his residency/fellowship at Tufts Medical Center, he specialized in Cardiology.

He knew that he wanted to come back to New Bedford and give back to the community that he grew up in, so upon completion Michael moved back and became a cardiologist with Hawthorn Medical Associates. He takes pride in helping patients, not just through prescriptions for medications, but by prescribing lifestyle changes, knowing most heart disease can be prevented by diet, exercise, avoiding smoking and stress reduction.

This also goes hand in hand with another initiative that Michael is involved with, like New Bedford Wellness Initiative. In 2014, New Bedford was dubbed as the least healthy in Massachusetts for people age over 65 and he couldn’t sit back and let that continue. Working together with other physicians and local groups he helped start New Bedford Well, which started with a walk around Buttonwood park that raised awareness for the health issues. Now they hold a Sunday wellness program at the Boys and Girls Club focused on diet, exercise and stress reduction along with a pop-up farmers market.

“People have to realize that they are their own best physicians. They have to get beyond just the pills and procedures and realize that they have the power to change within themselves.”

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Faces of New Bedford is a project by Colton Simmons. If you are interested in booking a shoot or getting prints from the series email all inquiries to colton@coltonsimmons.com

Follow Colton on Instagram: https://instagram.com/simmonscolton

Meet Milagros Sanchez, 28 year-old Outreach manager and student.

Milagros was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic and relocated to Uptown Manhattan with her family in hopes of a better life. They all lived separately in different households until her family could get a job to afford an apartment for all of them. During her high school years, she got involved with the wrong crowd and ended up pregnant with her twin daughters and dropped out of high school.

For the next several years, Milagros found herself stuck, moving from abusive relationship to abusive relationship. In 2012, she had decided that enough was enough and in the middle of the night during one of the worst situations she had been placed in, she packed all of her and her daughter’s things in trash bags and fled to New Bedford.

A case worker had suggested the city to her, as there were tons of opportunities for her to get her life on track there. She had even been able to transfer to the CVS here and continue in her position as a pharmacy tech. Shortly after though, due to the fact that she didn’t have at least her G.E.D. and couldn’t take the Massachusetts Pharmacy Technician certification test, she was without a job.

She knew she had no other option but to go back to school and get her G.E.D. Milagros didn’t just stop there, she continued to pursue education at BCC, knowing that she wanted to educate and raise awareness for domestic violence. She quickly found herself involved in many school activities and part of the Commonwealth Honors Program, all while juggling jobs and raising her two children.

This past spring Milagros graduated and is now attending Simmons College in Boston pursuing a Bachelors Degree in Social Work. She also is the South Coast Energy Challenge Community Outreach Manager for the Marion Institute, where she provides the community with resources to save money with their electricity and helps families who are less fortunate get plugged into programs like PACE.

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Faces of New Bedford is a project by Colton Simmons. If you are interested in booking a shoot or getting prints from the series email all inquiries to colton@coltonsimmons.com

Follow Colton on Instagram: https://instagram.com/simmonscolton

Meet Cedric Josey, 36-year-old Musician and teacher.

Cedric grew up in Brockton and moved to New Bedford when he began to attend the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, where he studied English, Drama/Film alongside a minor in African Studies. Having being involved in music since his early years of singing in the choir at his family’s church, it was no surprise that he joined several bands during his time in college.

It was not long after his short stint in a few bands that he found himself living alone in an apartment in New Bedford, face to face with his first guitar. He loved song writing and was determined to learn guitar, so that in the chance things didn’t work with a band, he could still make and play the music he loved. Remembering the trouble he had with neighbors learning saxophone as a child, he took up finger picking in order to keep from making loud music.

Cedric had graduated from college and started working with the youth in the area through substitute teaching positions and with the Trustees of Reservations. He felt it was important to be an African American male mentor in these youth’s lives because it showed them another path was available to them than what society or their peers might lead them to believe.

He has also had the opportunity to work with local agencies like Destination New Bedford, where in collaboration with Ben Gilbarg, he wrote and produced a song “Being in New Bedford.” This song was used to as a promotion piece for the different things that our city has to offer. Between local gigs and his interactions with the kids at the schools he teaches at Cedric sees so much potential for our city to grow into the great place it once was.

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Faces of New Bedford is a project by Colton Simmons. If you are interested in booking a shoot or getting prints from the series email all inquiries to colton@coltonsimmons.com

Follow Colton on Instagram: https://instagram.com/simmonscolton

Meet Linée Mello-Frost, 27-year-old Registered Nurse, Dance Instructor, and Head Field Hockey Coach for the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. (Photo by Josh Souza)

For as long as Linée could remember she’d been active in dancing. She went to Center Stage Dance Studio for the majority of her dance career and was a member of the Competition Team. During her sixth grade year she started playing field hockey at Friends Academy and immediately fell in love.

She continued to play field hockey, ran track and danced throughout her high school years at NBHS. Upon graduation, she had several scholarship offers from Division One schools to play field hockey and to run track. Being so connected with her family and community, she decided to stay local and play and run for UMass Dartmouth. She had always wanted to help others so it was fitting that she also enrolled in their Nursing program. During this time, Linée continued to teach dance at the school she had once learned everything she knows.

After her last year at UMass, Linée decided to stay on as the assistant coach of the women’s field hockey team while balancing her new career as a nurse at Tobey hospital. A few years later, Linée took on the role as Head Coach of the team, which she has done for the past 2 years. She loves that in all aspects of her life, whether at the University, at the hospital, or at the dance school, she is able to help others move forward in their lives toward a goal. Helping someone that is recovering from an intense surgery, working for the win on the field or nailing their dance routine flawlessly, truly gives Linée joy.

“Be the type of person you want to meet. In the end we only regret the chances we didn’t take.”

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Faces of New Bedford is a project by Colton Simmons. If you are interested in booking a shoot or getting prints from the series email all inquiries to colton@coltonsimmons.com

Follow Colton on Instagram: https://instagram.com/simmonscolton

Meet Shelley Cardoos, 36-year-old Artist, Business Owner, and Executive Director of EforAll (Entrepreneur for All). Shelley located to New Bedford while attending the University of Massachusetts – Dartmouth in 1998, where she obtained a Bachelors Degree in Sculpture. Upon graduation, she started working at AHEAD as a color picker and eventually became the manager of the creative department.

During the 12 years she spent there, she pursued her passions in her free time, playing and singing in several bands and helping Elissa Paquette start CRAFT-O-RAMA. CRAFT-O-RAMA began as a seasonal holiday pop-up shop. For the past few years the shop has opened just after Thanksgiving and remained open until Christmas.

She has enjoyed providing an outlet for local artists and crafters a place to sell their work and understand that there is a market to make money with their talents. Shelley is excited to be opening the Craft-O-Rama as a full-time store front on Purchase street in downtown New Bedford.

After 12 years with AHEAD, she left to become the Executive Director of the Southcoast expansion of the Lowell/Lawrence based organization, EforALL. EforALL is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to accelerating economic and social impact through entrepreneurship in mid-sized cities. With the organization, she has worked in collaboration with her colleagues to help locals with a passion for entrepreneurship make strides toward their dreams of owning their own businesses.

“This community has so many rich cultures and a variety of knowledge and the more we see people work together, the more growth we will see in our community.”

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Faces of New Bedford is a project by Colton Simmons. If you are interested in booking a shoot or getting prints from the series email all inquiries to colton@coltonsimmons.com

Follow Colton on Instagram: https://instagram.com/simmonscolton