Today, the Orlando Sentinel is proud to announce our Central Floridian of the Year: Gary Cain, the long-serving CEO of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Florida, who is retiring after more than four decades dedicated to an organization he says saved his own life.
“Gary Cain’s impact on children who needed a break in life cannot be overstated,” said Julie Anderson, editor in chief of the Orlando Sentinel. “His achievement of building up the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Florida into one of the most successful in the country had to be recognized before he retired, and so we are pleased to make him this year’s Central Floridian of the Year.”
Cain was selected for the honor — first presented by the Sentinel in 1983 — among four other deserving finalists, including a nationally recognized leader in the fight against homelessness; a young educator who is using her social-media savvy to boost knowledge about Black health; a trailblazing entrepreneur who sees the economic potential in welcoming Spanish-speaking workers and the forward-thinking CEO who has grown a Seminole County charity into a beacon of hope and healing.
A lifetime of service
It’s easy to paint Cain’s leadership in numbers. Last year, the six-county Boys & Girls Clubs region he heads served more than 11,000 children. Of those, 98% completed the school year and were promoted to the next grade; 94% of high-school seniors graduated on time and 87% of those graduates have enrolled in post-secondary education or enlisted in the military. A 2013 economic-impact study estimated that access to safe, no-cost or very low-cost child care at the club allowed (no their) parents to bring home more than $90 million in additional income — and 45% of parents interviewed for that study say that access to clubs helped them keep their jobs.
One more number: 28. That’s how long Cain has served as CEO of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Florida, an extraordinary tenure that has given him a deep and wide-ranging understanding of children’s lives in all corners of his far-flung region and an innate understanding of what these children — most of them from low-income households — really need. And as he frequently reminds people, the entire journey started with one child: Himself, at the age of 11, walking into a North Florida Boys and Girls Club in desperate need of someplace to belong, where he felt safe and welcome.
It’s an extraordinary achievement — one that Joe Sullivan, CEO of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Volusia/Flagler Counties, can appreciate more than most: He was head of the Pine Hills club when Cain first took over in Central Florida — and watched him surge into a position of national prominence for his accomplishments here. “He’s a major leader. He’s made us all look good,” Sullivan said.
We also want to recognize the other finalists for this year’s honor:
Martha Are, executive director of the Homeless Services Network of Central Florida. Under her leadership, this umbrella organization brings in millions of dollars in grants from private organizations along with state and federal funding — a little-seen and often thankless task, but one that’s been essential in funding dozens of service organizations who provide meals, shelter and other aid to this area’s most vulnerable residents.
Rebecca Desir, a health educator who saw a gap between the area’s Black residents and the accurate health information they needed to get through the COVID crisis. Searching for ways to reach them, she founded the Black Health Commission and oversaw the launch of the Black Joy Festival. But it’s her social-media savvy that shines: Desir has drawn national attention for her ability to tie current events to accurate health information, in a way that’s getting noticed by some of the nation’s leading public health figures.
Sami Haiman-Marrero, who looked at Spanish-speaking residents flowing to Central Florida from Puerto Rico and outside the country and realized there was a huge untapped treasure in newcomers who could not find work, even though many of them had advanced degrees and professional skills. To help companies see that potential, she founded a consulting firm — Urbander — and has invested her seemingly boundless energy into two nonprofits as well: SOS Urbander, which offers free seminars and other activities for workers relocating to Central Florida; and Casa Culture, which provides creative space for a wide range of arts activities.
Nina Yon, a former hospitality-industry executive who left a life in exotic locales for a life of service —- first as an aid worker in Guatemala, then as head of the Sharing Center in Sanford. Under her leadership, the charity has greatly expanded the range of services it offers poverty-stricken and homeless residents; many credit her calm, businesslike approach as the key to the Sharing Center’s extraordinary growth. As a result, many more residents are getting services they need —- and the depth of the need in suburban Seminole County is being taken more seriously.
