Janice Colomb, clinical systems analyst for NorthBay Healthcare, and her husband, David, have been involved with Mark’s Learning Center in Vacaville, an organization for developmentally disabled adults, for more than 20 years. The center operates two group homes, Mustard Seed House and Hope House, as well as a retail store called Yellow Brick Road. The Colombs befriended the organization’s founder, Anne Francis, 26 years ago, when the Colombs were running a restaurant on Merchant Street in Vacaville, just doors away from Yellow Brick Road.

“Anne used our commercial kitchen to make salsas and other food items to sell in the store,” Janice explains. “Some of her clients needed jobs so we hired them to wash dishes at the restaurant.”

Over the years, the Colombs’ involvement increased to include volunteering to fix broken fences or vans, to repairing leaking roofs, and even to organizing field trips, crab feeds and golf tournament fund-raisers. David now serves on the organization’s board of directors, while Janice says “I’m a worker bee at some of their events.

“NorthBay’s corporate mission of ‘Compassionate Care, Close to Home’ is so true in a situation like this.”

“We can see so many have needs, and if we can better their lives, we better ours, as well.”