From one man taking care of his wife with dementia to protesters on street corners demanding Palo Altans care about immigrant children in detention centers, Palo Alto Weekly visual journalists captured a community fiercely trying to better the circumstances with which they were presented in 2019.

In February, James Wang, a Stanford mechanical engineering student, and Connie Liu, a former Nueva School teacher, mentored East Palo Alto Academy students through an after-school engineering program. The teenagers were building a proximity sensor to help Abigayil Tamara, a mobility-impaired local resident.

In late June, residents living in RVs along El Camino Real opened up to Weekly journalists about their situations. Some families couldn't afford local rent and are in campers to make ends meet. For others, their RV is a home away from home: They work in the area throughout the week and return to their permanent residences in other parts of the state on the weekends.

In November, staff of local land-management and fire agencies spoke of their concerns about the heightened risk of wildfires in the Santa Cruz Mountains and their urgent efforts to diminish the dangers.

We've chosen these moments and others so that you can revisit the fighting spirit of those living and working in the Palo Alto area.

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