Over the past few months, communities have become more aware of essential workers and the people who keep the communities running.

Brooklyn resident Eleanor Traubman started a Facebook page to bring some recognition to those essential workers and community members during the pandemic.

“People who do work daily. Hard work. Without a lot of fanfare to make things go well for people around them,” says Traubman.

She considers them heroes and is celebrating them online, starting a Facebook page called “My Local Heroes.”

She's shared the stories of more than a dozen people on the Facebook page. One example, Tiffiney Davis, is the co-founder of the Red Hook Art Project. Davis used to work in after-school arts and academic enrichment, but the pandemic caused her to change how she helps the community.

“Mobilizing resources in Red Hook to feed the residents of Red Hook who are food insecure and also to do online art instruction for the youth of Red Hook and getting laptops to them and art supplies,” says Davis.

The first local hero Traubman posted was a mail carrier in her neighborhood. Others include fashion designers and a bike shop owner, showing that not all heroes wear capes.

“There is a continued need to show and highlight the people who are working day in and day out to make our communities a better place,” says Traubman.

Being a resident of Gowanus, all the stories Traubman shared are of other Brooklyn residents. She says she wants to continue celebrating hardworking people and how they keep the community going even after everything goes back to normal.