West Sacramento, Calif. — Rural Community Assistance Corporation (RCAC) is pleased to announce that Isabel Solorio has been selected to receive RCAC’s Yoneo Ono Outstanding Rural Volunteer Award.
The award was established in honor of Yoneo Ono, one of RCAC’s founders. RCAC’s board presented the initial award to Ono when he retired from its board in 1984 and in recognition of his lifelong commitment to rural development. The award, given every two years, honors rural residents who have volunteered to make significant and sustainable contributions to their community (within RCAC’s service area). Solorio, who resides in Lanare, Fresno County, is a dedicated leader with the all-volunteer organization Community United in Lanare (CUL). She helped co-found CUL in 2009 when the community was unable to pay for an arsenic treatment facility.
CUL has since fought for clean drinking water, safe pedestrian walkways, improved transit service, access to public wastewater service and waste clean-up in the area. Solorio also worked to secure U.S. Department of Agriculture funds to provide a community food bank in Lanare, and she coordinates volunteers to distribute the food to the community several times per month.
In addition, Solorio serves on the Fresno County Citizens Advisory Council. She was recently appointed to the Rural Communities Advisory Committee for the North Fork Kings Ground Water Sustainability Agency.
“She does not back down on issues that she knows need to be resolved,” wrote Jessi Snyder, community development manager with Self-Help Enterprises in Visalia, Calif. “Isabel acknowledges the stigmas that surround her community, but she chooses to look to the future and envision how great her community can become.”
RCAC will present the award to Solorio during a ceremony on Nov. 8 at 6 pm at the Lanare Community Center, 20620 S. Grantland Avenue, Riverdale.
Founded in 1978, RCAC provides training, technical and financial resources and advocacy so rural communities can achieve their goals and visions. RCAC serves rural communities in 13 western states and the Pacific islands. RCAC provides a broad range of community and economic development services and lending to support local efforts. About RCAC
Contact:
Julia Helmreich
Director, Communications, Development & Events
(916) 447-9832 ext. 1008
jhelmreich@rcac.org
