The 15th annual Fight Stroke Walk at the San Jose Municipal Rose Garden on Sunday morning will be momentous. And not just because of the 800 people who are expected to don their red T-shirts and take laps around the historic garden to raise awareness about strokes.
It will be a celebration of a merger in the works between the Stroke Awareness Foundation — founded in 2002 — and AbilityPath, a Peninsula-based nonprofit that provides services for people with disabilities. The partnership will create Stroke Awareness & Recovery, powered by AbilityPath, a name that’s a lot to put on a T-shirt but sends the right message.
Stroke Foundation CEO Noemi Conway says she fields calls all the time from people looking for support for themselves or families members who have been released from the hospital or rehab centers following a stroke. Now, as director of the merged initiative, Conway will be able to provide them with the help they’re seeking.
AbilityPath CEO Bryan Neider talks during an interview on April 27, 2026, at the San Jose Municipal Rose Garden, where the Stroke Awareness Foundation is holding its 15th annual Stroke Walk on May 3. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group)
Stroke Awareness Foundation Executive Director Noemi Conway on April 27, 2026, at the San Jose Municipal Rose Garden, where the foundation is holding its 15th annual Stroke Walk on May 3. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group)
AbilityPath CEO Bryan Neider, left, and the Stroke Awareness Foundation board member Bill Baron talk during an interview on April 27, 2026, at the San Jose Municipal Rose Garden. The foundation will hold its 15th annual Stroke Walk at the garden on May 3. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group)
Yellow floribunda roses, dedicated by the Stroke Awareness Foundation in memory of former San Jose Vice Mayor Pat Dando, bloom at the San Jose Municipal Rose Garden on Monday, April 27, 2026. Dando was a stroke survivor. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group)
People took laps around the San Jose Municipal Rose Garden for the 11th annual Fight Stroke Walk on Sunday, Oct. 23, 2022. (Sal Pizarro/Bay Area News Group)
Stroke Awareness Foundation co-founder Chuck Toeniskoetter greets people at the 11th annual Fight Stroke Walk at the San Jose Municipal Rose Garden on Sunday, Oct. 23, 2022. (Sal Pizarro/Bay Area News Group)
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AbilityPath CEO Bryan Neider talks during an interview on April 27, 2026, at the San Jose Municipal Rose Garden, where the Stroke Awareness Foundation is holding its 15th annual Stroke Walk on May 3. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group)
“Our work will still continue in the education part, supporting systems of care,” she said. “We think of ourselves as the educational arms of our hospitals and stroke centers. And now we’ll step into the recovery part.”
AbilityPath CEO Bryan Neider said the partnership makes sense for their organization, too. “We’re bringing in some of the recovery services, but the deep knowledge of how to reach the community in a broader way is something that Stroke Awareness Foundation is very skilled at. That is not our sweet spot in this particular service area. Our job is to amplify what’s already been happening and take it to the next level.”
To that point, the Stroke Awareness Foundation’s app will remain the same, as will the Fight Stroke Walk fundraiser. The Stroke Awareness Foundation’s current board will transition to an advisory board and will oversee the event. Board member Bill Baron said “better together” has become his new favorite phrase because of this merger.
“The Stroke Awareness Foundation has been on the front side of stroke for its existence and to create the continuum of care is something SAF has been striving to do,” he said. “From education about how to minimize risk of stroke to knowing about what stroke symptoms are, all the way to the post-recovery.”
The Stroke Awareness Foundation was started by Chuck Toeniskoetter, former San Jose Vice Mayor and Korean War vet Chuck Hoffman. All three had suffered strokes and wanted to create better outcomes for survivors in Santa Clara County. They sought to make sure people recognized the signs of stroke in friends or family members and got them to treatment as soon as possible. Hoffman died in 2014, and Dando died in 2017; the Stroke Awareness Foundation planted a bed of yellow roses named in honor of the Texas native as a tribute to her.
“My recovery depended on having someone nearby who understood the urgency of getting me to the right treatment center,” Toeniskoetter said. “It is incredibly rewarding to see how far we’ve come in improving stroke outcomes in Santa Clara County — and even more so to know that this progress will continue and expand through our partnership with AbilityPath. I couldn’t be prouder.”
BREWING GOOD VIBES: There are a few places in San Jose’s historic Japantown known for being a hub for community activity, but none are quite like the Gordon Biersch brewery on Taylor Street — and it’s not just for the beer, either.
Gordon Biersch is kicking off a summer of events this Sunday with the opening of the Japantown Farmer’s Market, from 8 a.m. to noon, and that’ll be followed by the return of the popular night market on Thursday from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Both events take place in the brewery’s parking lot.
Owner and founder Dan Gordon said philanthropy and community engagement have been part of Gordon Biersch’s recipe from the start. “A lot of charitable organizations have counted on us for the past 40 years for support, and we will be supportive so long as we are here,” he said. “The Japantown Farmer’s Market was displaced by development and stranded without a home until we gave
them a rent-free space to operate.”
The Night Market is in its 10th season and again will collaborate with San Jose Jazz. The May 7 opener will feature DJ Chale Brown, with the 408 Collective playing May 14 and Frunkyman on May 21. The lineup for the first week features a dozen food trucks, including Shrimpin’ Ain’t Easy, Uncle Papa’s BBQ, Sam’s Chowdermobile, Scratch Cokery and HASHNDASH.
PARK PLACE: The San Jose City Council approved naming a new park in southwest San Jose after Bill Kee, a Chinese American businessman who managed the National Dollar Store in San Jose from 1939 to 1947 and worked — unsuccessfully — to preserve the historic Ng Shing Gung temple from demolition. His daughter, Gerrye Wong, said he was active in the San Jose business community, as a member of the Rotary Club and the Chamber of Commerce — and was often the first Chinese American member of those groups.
Wong said it was fitting that she spoke before the council on the topic since it was 80 years earlier that her father had spoken to a different council to urge them to save the historic temple.
Plans for the park — a 1.4-acre parcel near Rinconada Drive, Almaden Expressway and Curtner Avenue that’s currently blighted — include a playground, a walking loop, a small pollinator garden and public art.
CROSSING THE LINES: They say football is a game of inches that’s won at the line of scrimmage. Today’s elite passing quarterbacks might disagree, but don’t tell that to the offensive and defensive lines of the 49ers. This year’s Dwight Clark Legacy Series, which returns to the Hammer Theatre in San Jose on May 20, will shine a spotlight on those big guys, who’ll share some stories from their days on the field.
The expected lineup of guests is impressive, including Randy Cross, Harris Barton and Derrick Deese on offense and Bryant Young, Brentson Buckner and Dwaine Board representing the defense. The 7 p.m. event also will feature the annual “state of the team” conversation and the presentation of the Dwight Clark Award to Pro Bowl fullback Kyle Juszczyk, who embodies the toughness and selflessness that defined No. 87.
The evening’s proceeds benefit a San Jose Sports Authority REACH Youth Scholarship in Clark’s name and the Golden Heart Fund, which provides support to former 49ers in their lives after football. For tickets, go to www.dwightclarkaward.com.