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Wildlife Conservation Center volunteer wins $60K

At 50, A New Life continues to serve region

BY ALEX GALLAGHER Progress Staff Writer

The Southwest Wildlife Conservation Center has had a lot to celebrate recently as one of its volunteers was awarded $60,000 by Cox Conserves Heroes for her efforts in conservation.

Diane Vaszily has been involved in conservation ever since she was 16 and has devoted over a decade to aiding the Southwest Wildlife Conservation Center (SWCC) in its educational efforts.

Vaszily has had a love of nature and the outdoors for as long as she can remember.

“As a kid, like every kid, I was intrigued by every animal that peered behind a branch,” she said. “I am a questioning type of person and I was crazy into science growing up.”

Over 40 years ago, Vaszily left her native Pennsylvania to venture to a state with a wider range of wildlife.

“Wildlife became more important when I left Pennsylvania and went to Florida in 1970,” she said. “In Florida, you’re around wildlife that is of concern to people. I saw immediately that people in south Florida – like in Arizona – had come from somewhere else and did not understand the environment where the animals roll in it. I re-dedicated and redirected myself to that effort immediately.”

While living in Florida, Vaszily was inspired by conservationist and activist Marjory Stoneman Douglas, whom she eventually met.

“It was my desire to meet her, talk with her and see how I could carry on what she was doing, which I did,” Vaszily said. “In Florida, I became an environmental educator as well as a science educator and I would take people into the Everglades to show them how important it was, let them experience it and learn how to keep it the way it is.” Ever since finding her calling, Vaszily has centered her life around a single goal: “Everything I’ve done is inform people that these animals have their place in a particular environment and how we can continue to allow it to have its place and share it.”

Diane Vaszily has been involved in conservation sicne she was 16 and was honored for her work with Southwest Wildlife Conservation Center. (David Minton/Progress Staff Photographer)

seeWILDLIFE page 26

BY TOM SCANLON Progress Contributor

It was 1971.

In football, the Cardinals season was off to a promising start – in St. Louis. The team wouldn’t move to Arizona for another 16 years.

In baseball, Jason Giambi and Hall of Famers Pedro Martinez and Ivan Rodriguez were born, but the Arizona Diamondbacks wouldn’t be for another 17 years.

Other than being a Cactus League hub for a few months, Mesa – like most of the East Valley – was best known for its miles and miles of orange groves and dairy farms, with smells ranging from sweet to offensive, depending on the neighborhood.

But, with more people drifting out of the City of Phoenix, U.S. Census figures announced in 1971 that Mesa’s population had nearly doubled over the previous decade.

Though its modest 66,049 population was a long way from the explosive post2000 growth that would make it home to over a half-million, Mesa was growing from a farm town to a small city.

And with urban growth came urban problems: people struggling to pay rent, victims of domestic violence, drug abuse, broken families.

Enter an agency that took its name from second chances: A New Leaf.

Mike Hughes has come to be the face of the social services provider that now employs hundreds and provides assistance to thousands throughout the East Valley and

A New Leaf is celebrating a half century of providing social services. Mike Hughes has been CEO of the nonprofit for more than 40 of its 50 years. (David Minton/Progress

Vaszily eventually retired from education in Florida and with her husband moved to Cave Creek in 2010.

Not long after retiring, she began to feel the old itch flare back up and wanted to find a way to get back into informing people about animals.

“When I retired, I was looking for something else meaningful to do,” said Vaszily.

It was while taking her granddaughter on a field trip to the Southwest Wildlife Conservation Center in Scottsdale that she found her new home.

“I found this place when my granddaughter came here on a school tour. I came along and I never left.” she recalled.

Vaszily felt there was a need for an educational department and she decided to head up the effort.

“I joined immediately and at the time SWCC did not have an education department,” she said. Her first step was to begin devising formal and educational tours that would teach guests a thing or two about the animals saved by SWCC.

Vaszily had two goals for the tours; to pinpoint why a particular animal is at the sanctuary and why it cannot be released and to educate the public about how to spot these animals while not disturbing them.

“We educators are seeing this as an opportunity to share with people the right way to live with wildlife,” she said. “If we show them what happens when we don’t live properly with wildlife, maybe that sinks in better.”

One of the most common problems that the sanctuary deals with involves people who are unable to identify animals but take them in as pets.

“Most of our cats were brought in because people thought they were house cats and they didn’t know what to look for,” she said. “If we could educate people about how to deal with wildlife, these animals would not need to be habituated.”

While some of the animals spend the rest of their lives at the 10-acre sanctuary, Vaszily reported that 80 percent of the animals that come to the sanctuary can be released. That keeps her motivated to come work at the sanctuary.

“The thrill is that we give animals that were down and out and would have died a chance to live while aiding people in knowing that they played a role in it too,” she said.

“We all have a special place in our hearts for a cute little furry animal, but mine goes beyond that. I believe that these animals have as much that we have and there is enough for all of us but we have to do it sustainably.”

Vaszily also stands behind the center’s mission.

“This is what I believe in. There is a conservation ethic here,” she said. “We also do it for the right reasons in that we’re not in it for money or advertisement. We’re just in it to save the animals.”

Even though her focus is to aid in the conservation of wildlife, she admits it was a treat to attract some funding for the center.

“It was an honor that blew me away,” said Vaszily. “I was nominated around late May and I kind of forgot about it.”

It was not until Vaszily’s birthday a few months later that she found out she had won the western division of Cox Conserves Heroes and a $10,000 prize. She was ecstatic about that.

Then, on Oct. 18, Vaszily was boarding a plane to attend a family gathering when she received the call that she had won the grand prize of $50,000.

“I wanted to scream but I knew if I did TSA would come running,” she said with a laugh. “To be able to turn a personal honor into something meaningful for an organization I care about just blew me away.” As Vaszily sat on her flight, all she could do was reflect on all the hours of her life she had committed to the conservation of wildlife.

“I sat on the plane and thought about how I had spent the past 60-years in conservation education, environmental education and science education and maybe it had really paid off,” she said.

Upon her return from her vacation, Vaszily was excited to learn that she got the say in what the money was used toward.

“I asked if we could concentrate this amount on expanding our education efforts so we can educate the next generation on what it means to be a steward for wildlife and what it means to live sustainably with wildlife,” she said. “We’re already looking into techniques and plans that we have for expanding our educational efforts.”

In the meantime, Vaszily is grateful to Cox Conserves Heroes and plans to spread the word about the organization.

“I had never heard of Cox Conserves Heroes but I will spread the word from now on,” she said.

Information: Southwestwildlife.org

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But he wasn’t there for A New Leaf’s first day in 1971.

“Oh, no! I was just a year out of high school,” the Long Island native said with a laugh, a touch of a New York accent still audible after all these years.

By the early 1970s he went west to study education at ASU. “My first couple years after graduation, I was a school teacher at Mesa Public Schools in special population, working with troubled kids,” Hughes said.

He loved the work and the city, settling here to raise a family.

Then, in 1978, A New Leaf’s board of directors made Hughes an offer he couldn’t refuse.

It wasn’t just, “Come work for us.”

It was, “Come and be our leader.”

He took the challenge. And he stuck.

For more than four decades of its 50year run, A New Leaf’s chief executive officer has been Mike Hughes. This is a rarity in any field, let alone social services, where low-level workers and high-end managers alike hopscotch from agency to agency.

When A New Leaf came calling, the offer certainly got Hughes’ attention.

“I thought it was an extension of what I was doing with kids working at Mesa Schools, helping troubled teen-aged kids. A New Leaf had treatment facilities,” Hughes recalled.

“I was offered a great opportunity. But I struggled on it. I loved my job at Mesa Public Schools.”

The clincher was what A New Leaf’s board of directors promised: You can help us get bigger and better.

They were good to the promise, Hughes said.

“I’ve loved the career,” he said. “I love the board of directors. They’ve always allowed the agency to grow. We’ve been able to grow over the years to where we are today.”

Indeed, A New Leaf has mirrored Mesa’s explosive growth over a half-century.

After 50 years, A New Leaf is nearly a $50 million operation.

The agency’s operating budget is now around $45 million, with 500 employees.

“We’ve grown remarkably over all these years,” Hughes said.

And it’s not just a Mesa/East Valley thing, anymore.

“We have programs throughout metropolitan Phoenix,” Hughes said from his Mesa office.

Indeed, A New Leaf sponsors the likes of Glendale’s Faith House, a shelter for domestic violence victims, Riverboat, a sprawling facility in Surprise, where bingo nights raise funds for the nonprofit’s operations.

Even so, A New Leaf’s history and soul are intertwined with Mesa, where it operates homeless and domestic violence shelters.

A New Leaf often works closely with the city, with programs such as assistance for language- and/or computer-challenged populations, who need help applying for rent and utility assistance funds offered by the city.

As Mesa Vice Mayor Jenn Duff put it, “For 50 years, A New Leaf has been a beacon of hope in our community for so many individuals and families to overcome challenges, and in many cases, crises in their lives. It has evolved over the years with so many programs to offer help and hope to those who need it.”

“Since 1971, A New Leaf has provided assistance to those most in need in our community, helping families, children, and adults overcome the challenges they face,” the nonprofit states on its website.

“These challenges are often unexpected, and can be devastating. Whether it be the loss of a job, a medical crisis, domestic violence, homelessness, or another heartbreaking crisis, A New Leaf is here to help households recover and thrive.”

In the last year, according to its website, A New Leaf provided shelter to 2,247 people.

In addition to shelters, A New Leaf provides “comprehensive services to support individuals and families experiencing homelessness become self-reliant and find safe, stable housing.”

Another 7,776 people received “health and wellness” help from A New Leaf, including treatment for addictions and mental health problems.

The COVID-19 pandemic created a surge of people desperate for help; to keep its own staff working, A New Leaf received $4.7 million in Paycheck Protection Plan federal assistance.

The leader of 500 or so receiving A New Leaf paychecks remains Mike Hughes, who has no plans to slow down.

“I’m the longest-standing employee – I’m still ticking!” he said with a big laugh.

“It’s a great challenge,” he continued, Experience a Holistic Approach to Memory Care

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with a shift in tone. “I’m very fortunate. You know people who say they hate what they do? I love my job.

“I always wanted to work helping people.”

Even so, it’s a tough job: Trying to use limited resources to help a seemingly endless number of people needing food, treatment and shelter.

Hughes said he leaves his work at the office, with a positive focus when he walks in his home.

“I know this sounds silly, but I have always been able to do my job and work hard and at the end of day feel good about what I have accomplished rather than feeling bad about what I haven’t. I think that’s been my mantra,” Hughes said.

He still lives in Mesa. “It’s a great city, great community,” he said. “My kids were all raised here and I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.”

Asked about A New Leaf’s plans for 2022, the agency’s leader replied, “Right now we’re really concentrating on how we can become not necessarily bigger, but better. We’re anchoring down on the services we provide.”

Chief among the services is helping people find and maintain stable housing; “It’s such a need,” Hughes said.

Again, he shifts to the positive, the good A New Leaf has done in 50 years.

“It’s a great agency,” Hughes said. “We help a lot of people.

“We helped more than 30,000 people last year.”

Duff, who represents the downtown area, most urban of Mesa’s neighborhoods, added a comment on A New Leaf that echoes on Thanksgiving week:

“All of us in Mesa should be thankful they are in our community.”

A New Leaf’s services

La Mesita After School Program

Offers free child care for students K-8 after school and during the summer.

Phoenix Day

Educates children 6 weeks to 5 years of age from primarily low-income, single parent households.

Autumn House

Domestic violence shelter providing security and shelter to women, children and men fl eeing abuse.

DV Court Advocacy

Provides survivors of domestic violence with the tools needed to secure court protection.

DV Safe Temporary Overfl ow Program

Provides short-term emergency placement to domestic violence victims when shelters are full.

Faith House

Provides shelter for women and children escaping domestic violence, sex crimes and homelessness.

MesaCAN

Provides low-income households with utility assistance, fi nancial literacy and college savings.

Economic Development

Provides business loans, place-making and educational support for small business owners.

Workforce Services

Provides individuals with employment resources, training, mentoring and interview preparation.

Veterans Business Outreach Center

Provides entrepreneurial resources to transitioning service members, veterans and spouses.

Sexual Violence Survivor Advocacy and Support

Offers services for teens and adults that have survived sexual violence.

Financial Wellness

Assists individuals with learning how to have a healthy relationship with money.

Dorothy B. Mitchell Counseling Center

Offers counseling, case management, medication management and support services.

East Valley After School Program

Engages children in activities to promote progress for behavioral goals in the East Valley.

La Mesita Family Care

Offers community-based behavioral health and medical services for children and adults.

East Valley Men’s Center

Provides shelter to homeless men and helps them achieve long-term housing stability.

La Mesita Community

Family shelter and affordable housing that provides diverse services to help homeless families.

Rapid Rehousing

Provides rental assistance and case management to individuals and families in shelters or who are homeless.

A New Leaf is at 868 East University Drive, Mesa. Information: call 480-969-4024 or turnanewleaf.org.