Meet the People Making a Difference in the Victor Valley

Kenny Sousa

You don’t have to scour Victor Valley to find examples of warm, welcoming individuals who love giving back to their community. In fact, this region is full of locals who prioritize helping their neighbors. 

Stronger Together 

Sharon Green: Empowering the Community Through the Victor Valley Family Resource Center

Sharon Green became a Pentecostal pastor in 2006, but she quickly realized that preaching from the pulpit wasn’t all that her community needed. 

“I felt called. I heard the Lord say that we needed a resource center to deal with the needs of this community.” 

Green opened the Victor Valley Family Resource Center, of which she is the CEO, in 2009 with the mission to help empower unhoused and at-risk people. The center offers transitional housing, workforce-readiness training, educational assistance, substance abuse prevention and intervention, life skills, mortgage, utility and food assistance, and assistance with reentry after incarceration. 

“We found that as we increased services and made sure people were stabilized, we saw people coming off drugs, getting jobs and moving into their own housing,” she says. 

Since she started the Victor Valley Family Resource Center, it has provided 12,500 nights of shelter and 37,000 meals. Plus, it has had more than 100 adults graduate from its programming and has partnered with 12 local community programs. 

“We have an amazing staff who is dedicated to really changing lives. We take it seriously that we are meeting their needs and reducing homelessness, increasing employment success and stabilizing their lives,” she says. “I love the work that I do, and I believe when we are moving into meeting the needs of the community, we help people see what the love of God really looks like. We become stronger together.” 

Passion and Purpose 

Dharini Dobbins: Advocating for Inclusivity and Accessibility

Born and raised in Sri Lanka, Dharini Dobbins attended an all-girls private school. While her activities included running track, playing badminton and doing ballet, her volunteerism started early. She often brought food to the orphanage run by Mother Teresa. 

Dobbins came to the U.S. at 23, married and started a family. However, a glaucoma diagnosis left her legally blind at age 26; her son was just 8 months old. She had another son a year later, followed by a third when she was 38. 

Dobbins had complete vision loss by age 30. Instead of letting it defeat her, it spurred her into community activism. 

“You have to be out there to show people that having a disability, especially vision loss, shouldn’t stop you from living your life,” she says. 

Dobbins is Victor Valley’s go-to representative when it comes to helping the blind, but she’s involved in numerous regional organizations. She’s the president of the California Council of the Blind High Desert Chapter, former president of the Spring Valley Lake Lions Club, treasurer of the Victor Valley’s Regional Council on Aging and vice president of the Victor Valley Community Services Council’s board of directors. Plus, she spearheaded local food drives for the food insecure. 

“You have to have a passion and a purpose. You just have to keep going,” she says “You can’t give up.” 

Rock’n Our Disabilities 

Dana Hernandez: Creating Opportunities for People with Disabilities

As the mother of a 26-year-old son with ADHD and autism and a 25-year-old daughter who has severe autism and intellectual disabilities, Dana Hernandez knows firsthand how challenging it is for parents and families of people with disabilities to find outlets for their social and recreational interests. 

“Rock’n Our Disabilities came about because I didn’t have a life outside of my home,” she says. 

Hernandez started the nonprofit in 2018, partnering with the Hesperia Recreation and Park District, which provides space for Rock’n Our Disabilities programming. 

Activities include Lego therapy, art therapy, life skills classes, crafts, parent support groups and numerous community events, like the Superhero 5K. 

Hernandez relocated to the Victor Valley in 2010. She worked as the event and resources development coordinator for a local chamber. The role that inadvertently prepared her to launch Rock’n Our Disabilities. 

“I hosted a little Easter egg hunt for special needs kids, and when I saw how big of a deal it was, I thought, ‘We need more here,’ and it turned into this,” she says. 

Today, the nonprofit offers programming for people ages 6 through seniors. It also provides service to more than 500 families in the Victor Valley and beyond. 

“We have been welcomed with open arms from the school district, the police department and the cities in the Victor Valley,” she says. “We have great relationships with our partners. They love what we do.”