Fatima Soares of Half Moon Bay has been working for the non-profit, Coastside Hope since 1977, first as a social worker and then as Executive Director for the past seven years. She helps provide critical services, food, and a safety net to low income members of the Coastside community and is passionately dedicated to her clients. In her free time, she volunteers at other Coastside non-profits including the RotaCare Free Clinic, the Seton Coastside Advisory Council, the Coastside Health Committee, and a local senior center, to name a few. This tri-lingual community leader who came to the U.S. as a young girl from Portugal has dedicated herself to a life of service and continually strives to “give back”. She has been recognized by AAUW of Half Moon Bay as a 1988 Woman of Excellence, and was honored with a 2006 proclamation from the City of Half Moon Bay for her role in the community. In 2005, Ms. Soares was awarded a Plaque of Appreciation by the Seton Coastside Advisory Board for 18 years of service and in 2013 the Rotary Foundation of Rotary International named her as a Paul Harris Fellow in appreciation of tangible and significant assistance given for the furtherance of better understanding and friendly relations among the peoples of the world. She is referred to as “one of the Coastside’s greatest assets who achieves her work with grace, humor, dedication and love.”
