Underground Good

Underground Good is an Opinion column that offers a window into the inspirations, habits and mindsets of ordinary people whose actions are changing our community for the better . . . in hopes of inspiring more good.

Learn more about the series here.

Underground Good: Patrick Moriarty

Sharon Brisolara ● Opinion ● May 8, 2023

“People with severe limitations and obstacles in their lives, with hardships and pain, have as much to teach and to give the world as people with signs of success. In some ways, the people who persevere in those kinds of circumstances teach us the most important things about, love, perseverance, and courage. There are no prerequisites to being a loving person.”

Underground Good: Monique Welin

Sharon Brisolara ● Opinion ● March 17, 2023

“At the heart of why I do what I do is my mom. She was 14 when she had me and she got no services. She tried to ask for help, but she was underserved and later got arrested for stealing food. She was put in a juvenile detention center and then she had me. I would say for the first 10 years of my life, we slept on couches. I remember falling asleep in my mom’s VW Bug and counting all the little holes in the fabric of the roof, just like I was counting sheep. I was cold, I was hungry, and it was hard on my mother to hear her children cry.”

Underground Good: Clayton Seabourn

Sharon Brisolara ● Opinion ● March 1, 2023

I love people. I even love the people that don’t love me back—the haters, the folks that would rather we were all dead, to be honest. They’re human beings, too, and I hold no malice against them. I think they’re just misinformed and misdirected. People are afraid of what they don’t understand.”

Possibilities: Looking Beyond our Ideas of ‘Good’

Sharon Brisolara ● Opinion ● February 15, 2023

We’re committed to shining a light on GOOD in Shasta County. But how will we define what’s good? Brisolara responds to a reader question with the framework by which she’ll be evaluating diverse community actions as she interviews those doing Underground Good.

Opinion: Shining A Light On Shasta County’s “Underground Good”

Sharon Brisolara ● Opinion ● January 22, 2023

Local program evaluator, educator, writer, and resilience & equity coach Sharon Brisolara introduces a new monthly column focused on providing a window into the mindsets and worldviews of the unseen, ordinary people who are doing good in Shasta County.