Meet Sonny Von Cleveland, our 2023 Person of the Year

If you spent any time out and about in Palm Springs and the surrounding area in 2023, you’ve likely spotted Sonny Von Cleveland. And it’s not necessarily because he’s 6-foot-6.

In the past year, Von Cleveland could be seen on stage (he was in performances for both Desert Theatreworks and Palm Canyon Theatre), snapping pictures (he works professionally as SVC Photography), staffing a booth for the Boo2Bullying organization, mentoring youth at Indio Juvenile Hall, and even serving as a re-entry coach for the Anti-Recidivism Coalition in Los Angeles.

We ran into him most often while he was operating the espresso machine at Frisky Business Cat Cafe. The year-old combination coffee shop and cat shelter was the vision of Von Cleveland’s partner, Claire Rogers, whose own story — and commitment to helping both animals and people in the community — is worthy of recognition all on its own.

The couple met in 2021 when Von Cleveland was a guest on a podcast hosted by Rogers, a fellow motivational speaker and mindset coach. They moved to Palm Springs later that year, after Rogers suggested they search for a home in a community that was more diverse and accepting than the Midwest city Von Cleveland was living in at the time.

“This is a wonderful and diverse community,” he said during a recent visit to the cat cafe. “It really fits in with the goals I have in my life. I found a place where I want to help lift people up.”

It’s at Frisky Business that you’ll spot copies of “Hey White Boy: Conversations of Redemption,” a memoir Von Cleveland penned with the help of Rogers. It’s through the book that chronicles his life that Von Cleveland hopes to do that lifting, especially for convicts and ex convicts.

Von Cleveland is not shy about his journey. In person and in the book he tells how a childhood marred by sexual assault left him with severe emotional scars, and how his outgoing nature gave way to anger and rebellion. He faced his first felony charge at age 7, and by 16 was in prison, where he found himself again at 21.

He eventually served 18 years. But it was a 19-month stint in “the hole” — solitary confinement — where he struck a deal that would alter his path.

“I was supposed to be in there longer, but they said if I would teach a class I could get out,” he explained. “The class was all pedophiles — the very types of people who had abused me. I tried to teach them the consequences of their actions. I’m the result of what you did.”

Von Cleveland learned something valuable as well: self forgiveness. “It’s never over,” he said, looking back at mentors and others who gave him a second chance to live a life with greater purpose.

His primary purpose for the foreseeable future will be continuing his commitment to help troubled youth. Part of that commitment includes building The Von Cleveland Foundation, which he launched earlier this month along with a handful of board members with similar backgrounds.

Through the nonprofit foundation, they plan to build an empowerment center offering resources such as a library, a Zen center, classrooms and more. Its purpose is to help young offenders, as well as adults, successfully transition from juvenile detention, jail, or prison, back into society.

The facilities would be the first of their type in the Coachella Valley, alleviating trips to Los Angeles for many former convicts as they undergo rehabilitation. The effort has earned the backing of many of the most influential people in the valley, including Waymond Fermon, a member of the Indio City Council who is also a correctional officer.

“We don’t have special powers,” Von Cleveland said of former convicts who choose to dedicate their lives to serving others upon release. “We just have somebody who cared.”

For all his efforts in 2023, and those to come, we’re proud to name Sonny Von Cleveland our 2023 Palm Springs Person of the Year.

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