Grace Resendez McCaffery
Strength beneath the surface
By Magi Thomley Williams / Photos by Kate Treick Photography
With a gentle smile and a calm presence, Grace Resendez McCaffery embodies the kind of quiet resilience that inspires those around her. As the owner of Latino Media Gulf Coast, publisher of La Costa Latina newspaper and founder of the Hispanic Resource Center of Northwest Florida, McCaffery embodies the dual powers of inner strength and deep compassion. Entrenched in state and local activities, McCaffery serves as a Community Health Northwest Florida board member, Gallery Night Pensacola board member, United Way of Escambia County board member and Community Enterprise Investments, Inc. board member, to name a few. She recently received the CivicCon Transparency in Government Award.
McCaffery’s mission began with a simple but profound goal: “helping our Spanish-speaking community have information so that they can make safe and healthy decisions for themselves and their families.” Her work quickly expanded beyond journalism, evolving into a lifeline for those seeking resources and assistance. “People naturally ask more questions and look for resources and assistance,” she explained, “so it’s always been an additional service.”
Her serene exterior belies the strength forged through personal tragedy. Originally from El Paso, Texas and Chihuahua, Mexico, McCaffery moved to Pensacola in 1993 with her husband and young son. Within a year, her husband was killed in a car accident, leaving her a young widow and single mother. “I moved away from home for the first time, all of 23 years old, became a mother and lost my husband, all in one year; it was quite an experience. But, as they say, what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger,” she affirmed.
McCaffery’s progress through grief was long, but it became the foundation for her strength. She recalled, “Getting past the grief took a few years but then allowed me to focus on my education or career, and that just kind of put me in a position to look around me and be able to help others who have similar experiences.” She reflected on the importance of self-discovery: “I just kind of learned that I was a lot smarter than I was raised to believe that I was and I could do a lot more than I was raised to believe that I could.”
Her empathy extends to the broader community, especially in times of crisis. McCaffery has been an outspoken advocate for immigrants, urging compassion and understanding this way: “It is very important, obviously, that we start with having some kind of compassion, because if you don’t have compassion, you don’t care about learning more about another individual.” She emphasized the need to understand, without judgement, the complexities of immigration, the complexities of a mixed family, with some family members that are undocumented, some that are naturalized or visa holders and some that are American citizens, understanding what that means when separating families.
McCaffery’s tenacity is not just personal, it’s communal. She has helped cultivate a sense of family among Pensacola’s Latino community, which includes people from 21 different countries. “We’ve managed to be pretty harmonious with all of our nationalities, proud to say, but it’s taken years and years of talking and just creating that atmosphere,” she said.
Despite the challenges, McCaffery remains hopeful and determined. “It’s going to take more than us and the advocates, the organizations, the attorneys, it’s going to take the entire nation that wants to go back to having some type of fairness and equality to find better solutions,” she shared.
Grace Resendez McCaffery’s story is a reminder that true strength often lies beneath a gentle demeanor. Through adversity, she has become a source of support for our community, proving that compassion and persistence can change lives. She is an example of the importance of humanity in troubled times.
