How one man made a difference.

“Without Angel, I would have never survived,” says Cindi Edwards-Curry at Balance Rock Cafe, her successful restaurant in Helper, a vibrant and charming Utah town. However, the town was not so charming just a decade ago. 

Entering the town of Helper 12 years ago, the Riverside Motel was an eyesore.

“It was disgusting. I wouldn’t let an animal stay there,” Cindi said. At the time, many buildings and homes in Helper were abandoned and dilapidated. Once known for its coal industry, Helper had developed a darker reputation. The Riverside Motel had become the town’s last remaining legacy of prostitution and sex trafficking. Drug dealing and addiction were common sights. Still, by the time I first visited and wrote about Helper in 2012, things had begun to slowly improve.

Buildings along Main Street were being restored by artists who saw potential where others saw decay. University of Utah art professor David Dornan moved to Helper full-time in 1999 to paint while teaching plein air landscape classes. The Strand Theater was under renovation. A group of local historians, E Clampus Vitus, met regularly to organize volunteer projects and place historical plaques, preserving the town’s past even as it struggled through the present.

But momentum does not pay wages. Carbon County’s economic reality was harsh. Since the late 1990s, mines had been closing. Prescription opioids, easily obtained, left behind widespread addiction. For local business owners, hiring reliable employees was nearly impossible.

Cindi and her husband, Clay Iorg, learned that firsthand after buying the Balance Rock Cafe in 2011. Though centrally located, the restaurant barely stayed open. They wanted to invest in Helper’s Main Street, but the labor pool made long-term survival uncertain.

“The cooks we hired were drug addicts who couldn’t cook good food or show up on time,” Cindi said.

Out of frustration, she reached out to someone she trusted: Angel Villa-Ramirez, a former colleague from a CD packaging plant in Provo. Angel had a stable, well-paying warehouse job and no restaurant background, but he agreed to help on weekends. When he first stepped into the Balance Rock kitchen, it was in disrepair. Instead of cooking, he began fixing what was broken.

Eventually, Angel made a drastic decision. He moved his wife and children to Helper and left his city job behind.

“I was earning just $300 a week,” Angel said. “But I realized I could have a peaceful life, spend far more time with my family, and it’s much cheaper to live here.”

Cindi taught him the basics of cooking, including how to make tacos. Angel quickly realized the kitchen needed more than one reliable worker, so he brought in people he trusted. Alfredo Guzman moved to Helper to work as a line cook full-time.

“You can save a lot of money here,” Guzman said. “In Salt Lake, you just spend a lot of money living.”

Word spread. Family followed. Over time, Angel helped stabilize not just the Balance Rock, but the surrounding labor environment. Reliability became the exception no longer.

After a few year, Cindi was asked by Richard Presmann, the absentee owner of the Riverside Motel, if she knew a dependable handyman. She gave him Angel’s number.

“The Angel landed here,” Presmann said with a laugh.

What Angel encountered at the Riverside was worse than expected. Only a handful of rooms were usable, most occupied by drug dealers or prostitutes. Angel responded immediately.

“I see guys selling drugs here in the parking lot,” he said. “I just call the cops, and they come. Eventually, they stopped coming back.”

The rooms themselves were gutted one by one. Drywall was replaced. Bathrooms rebuilt. Kitchenettes repaired. Over time, the motel became livable again. Presmann credits Angel’s consistency.

“You will never meet a harder-working guy than Angel,” he said.

Today, six of the motel’s 16 rooms house long-term tenants. Ten are available for short-term visitors, priced between $65 and $100 per night. The parking lot has new concrete. The chaos that once defined the Riverside has largely vanished.

Angel eventually left the Balance Rock to start Angel’s Cravings, a taco trailer parked at the motel. The business quickly became known for its oversized burritos, fresh salsas, and homemade tamales prepared daily by Angel’s wife, Graciela. Their sons work alongside them, along with extended family.

Catering followed.

“The biggest event we’ve done was 452 people,” Angel said.

When asked how he keeps prices low, his answer is practical: the trailer is paid off, there is no rent, and food is sourced directly. From March through September, weekends are booked solid.

Angel is now a half-owner of the Riverside Motel and plans to buy out Presmann entirely. Though recently offered high-paying jobs back in the city, Angel declined.

“It’s not how much I make,” he said. “It’s how I live now.”

Helper did not change because of one man alone. But Angel changed what was possible by showing up every day, fixing what others walked away from, and refusing to accept dysfunction as normal.

Feature Image: Angel Villa-Ramirez. Photos by Ryanne Andrews.