Cristina Maldonado, a veterinarian at Monterey Animal Clinic in Stuart, lives her dream job by caring for dogs and cats and doing everything to keep them healthy. The daughter of Dr. Carlos Maldonado, a well-known general surgeon in Stuart, she remembers wanting to work in animal medicine since she was 4 years old.

Between shaping custom surfboards and riding huge waves on six continents, Charles Williams has had a profound impact on the Treasure Coast surfing community.

Born into a routine life, Jonah Martinez was 10 when his father sold his business in Illinois and commissioned a sailboat to be built in Taiwan. But after a typhoon hit the boatyard, his father had to improvise.

Today’s Hometown Hero is Hope Woodhouse, past president of the John’s Island Community Service League, which both donated more than $1 million to 40 nonprofits in and, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, then raised an additional $250,000 for the United Way of Indian County’s COVID-19 Response Fund.