(CBS 5) Geraldine "Gerry" Earp doesn't spend the long hours at San Francisco's Laguna Honda Hospital she once did, but she still finds time for visits. She comes to bring cheer to a woman she has known for more than 30 years; a woman who is 106 years old. Gerry herself is 86.
Thirty-five years ago, she worked at Laguna Honda and Mt. Zion Hospitals, not only caring for the elderly, but being an advocate for services that would improve their lives.
Her commitment to older people led her to start the Senior Action Network 20 years ago. It was instrumental in making transportation more accessible for seniors and helping the elderly stay longer in their own homes.
"I still say that people do do better at home than they do in institutions," Gerry says. "I think sometimes people don't think that people who are aging can do things. Aging doesn't keep you from living your life happily and comfortably.
Gerry's desire to help others started early in life, when she was growing up in Arkansas as one of twelve children. Her mother was a midwife and Gerry would tag along, volunteering to hold the hand of a patient, providing comfort.
"My mother taught us to be concerned about people that could not do for themselves," she explains. "Definitely that happens when you get old."
She even went back to school in her 40's, earning bachelors and master's degrees so she could better serve seniors. But it's not only the old who've benefitted from her volunteerism. She co-founded OMI Neighbors in Action which empowers residents of three city neighborhoods to make their communities safer.
Dr. David Werdegar is the president and CEO of San Francisco's Institute on Aging where Gerry is a board member. He has worked with her for more than 25 years.
"She was a pioneer," he says. "You don't run into people who have made a life's career of crusading for older adults and have been effective in a number of different settings in the community."
Even with so many successes and all of her volunteerism for more than 50 years, Geraldine Earp isn't ready to quit her activism just yet. Right now she's working to see an old theater in San Francisco turned into housing for seniors.
When we asked her when she plans to slow down, she laughs, "Today!"
But she follows with, "As soon as we get the senior campus afloat, then I'll retire."
Until then, she will keep working to ensure senior citizens are not forgotten. For that, Geraldine Earp is this week's Jefferson Award Winner in the Bay Area.
By Barbara Rodgers
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