San Bernardino residents work to bring back city

Vicki Lee, 58, hugs Nevaeh Houston, 7, whose family is staying at a Days Inn in San Bernardino. Lee is bringing the kids backpacks, school supplies, toothbrushes, apples, raisins and boxes of Cup Noodles.

It’s nearly 9 p.m., and Vicki Lee, 58, right, is still making house calls. She is talking with Shana Houston, 33. Twins Marshaun, left, and Keshaun Houston lie on the bed. Lee works for the San Bernardino School District to make sure homeless children are in school and not being neglected or abused.

Vicki Lee, 58, is greeted by Nevaeh Houston, 7, at a Days Inn in San Bernardino where the Houston family is staying temporarily. Lee works for the San Bernardino School District to make sure homeless children are in school and not being neglected or abused.

Kathi Rainbolt, 63, takes her husband’s blood pressure at their home in San Bernardino. Before his massive stroke in 1997, Bill Rainbolt was a teacher at Cajon High School and also coached football and golf. She has been his full-time caregiver since the stroke.

Kathi Rainbolt, 63, works in her garden in San Bernardino. Her husband, Bill, had a massive stroke in 1997. She became his full-time caregiver and started gardening to ease the pain and to give him some visual stimulation.

In her garden in San Bernardino, Kathi Rainbolt, 63, places sunflower seeds in the cement foot impressions of her grandson Bailey, who had a congenital brain disorder and died in 2002 before his third birthday.

Former Marine Charles Taubman, 72, gives a thank-you hug to volunteer city code enforcement officer Carolyn Conley, 68. Taubman has lived on this San Bernardino block for nearly 40 years and has chosen to stay despite its decline.

Randolph Riley, 83, made San Bernardino his home in 1954, and he still tries to live by what his mother taught him about the importance of helping his neighbors. Riley is a volunteer city code enforcement officer three days a week.

Volunteer city code enforcement officer Randolph Riley, 83, checks a property in San Bernardino. With the city in bankruptcy, the number of paid full-time code officers dropped in just a few years from 27 to six.

Kim Carter, executive director of Time for Change Foundation, gets a hug from Pharaoh Zelaya, a client’s son, in San Bernardino. The foundation works with homeless women and children.

Michael Segura, 23, is one of the volunteers at the future San Bernardino Cultural Center. The building was in disrepair and had been designated to be brought down. But the city of San Bernardino agreed to lease it to the arts community for $1 per year.

Hubert Bryant, 53, mixes cement at the future San Bernardino Cultural Center. Volunteers are renovating the 1930s building to house the center, whose mission will be to sponsor, promote and sustain the arts.

Volunteer Simmy Grewal, 15, of San Bernardino cleans up at the future San Bernardino Cultural Center, whose mission will be to sponsor, promote and sustain the arts.

Cheryl Dumain, 73, volunteers at Santa Claus, Inc., in San Bernardino. The organization provides clothing, school supplies, toiletries and toys to low-income children.

Tyler hunt, 21, left, and Chei’Lena Jones, 20, volunteer at Santa Claus, Inc., in San Bernardino. The group provides clothing, school supplies, toiletries and toys to low-income children.

From left, Phyllis Farrell, Iluminada Kellers, Betty Sutcliffe and Bernice Gogo laugh together as they play bridge in San Bernardino. This bridge group has been together since the 1950s, through births, deaths, family sickness and more.

Bernice Gogo plays bridge with her friends in San Bernardino. This bridge group has been together since the 1950s, through births, deaths, family sickness and more.

Michael Segura, 23, looks out from his backyard in San Bernardino. A graphic artist and leader of San Bernardino Generation Now, he and his friends are trying to get teenagers and young adults to take an active role in their city.

A view of Mt. San Gorgonio, located in the San Bernardino Mountains, at sunset. It is the highest peak in Southern California.