Monday, January 10, 2005
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

NEWSMAKERS: Spirit Dove Foundation honors Las Vegan with award

Charmaine Lee Paliotta volunteers her time to many organizations

When Charmaine Lee Paliotta receives a phone call from someone in crisis, it doesn't matter what she's doing, she drops everything in order to help.

For her efforts, Paliotta received the inaugural Woman of Spirit award from the Spirit Dove Foundation in November.

"I remember when I was in an abusive relationship, and I didn't have any support," she said. "I hated that feeling. So I drop everything when I get a call."

Paliotta, 52, was given the award for her volunteer work with the YMCA, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department and as a spiritual coach for the Spirit Dove Foundation.

Spiritual coaches at Spirit Dove offer families compassion, support, and ideas on how to start a new business, reduce stress, become financially secure, improve family relationships and meet goals. Though the basis is spiritual, Spirit Dove is not affiliated with any one religion, but instead believes that people can improve themselves by focusing on the mind, body and spirit.

"Most of my experience comes from personal experience, though I have had domestic violence training at (the police department). I also have four years of training at a personal growth company called PSI," said Paliotta, who works as an assistant at Light Worker, a company that focuses on spiritual empowerment.

Born in Haleiwa, Hawaii, Paliotta has been a Las Vegas resident for 33 years. She uses her upbringing in her work, promoting the "aloha spirit" to families, and teens, especially, in need.

"When you're in Hawaii, giving a lei is a symbol of peace and love. When you get a lei, you also get a hug," Paliotta said. "I always try to just give them a hug, even though many of them don't know what to do when they get one."

Paliotta also works with the Trauma Intervention Program, helping people through a traumatic experience such as a sudden death in the family.

"I recently worked with a family whose father had died unexpectedly. The son had to take care of the business and was suddenly responsible for the family," Paliotta said. "I worked with them with exercises and donated a lot of time coaching them, trying to get them through the loss."

Paliotta's coaching runs the gamut from counseling grown men with anger management issues to assisting teens with drug dependency problems. She said one of the most surprising things is the people who are younger than 28 and who don't know what support is.

"It really saddens me to see the kids out there who are partying and really just craving for guidance," she said. "It's amazing to see them just accept the environment and be OK with it."

Paliotta has no plans on slowing down and hopes to aid more families in the future.

If you know of a worthy candidate for the Newsmakers column, mail information to: Monique Frigard, Las Vegas Review-Journal, P.O. Box 70, Las Vegas, NV 89125-0070, send faxes to 383-4676.