John Elliott and Luella May welcome you to the Third Edition of Women of Courage
Each week we will honor a woman that has truly made a difference by her contributions, courage, love, and selflessness. Women honored will be chosen from inside AdlandPro, outside AdlandPro, living in the present, and yes, we will not forget those heroines that paved the way for the freedoms we now enjoy. We will honor women who have shown tremendous courage and fortitude against all odds.
Assisting us in coordinating these awards are four outstanding ladies who are Women of Courage in their own right.
Presenting:
LaNell
http://community.adlandpro.com/go/44064/default.aspx
Carla Cash
http://community.adlandpro.com/go/245569/default.aspx
Veronica Davidson
http://community.adlandpro.com/go/vdavidson1972/default.aspx
Joyce Hyde
http://community.adlandpro.com/go/031849/default.aspx
We welcome a new team member, Adlands very own Man of Courage. We are most proud to introduce:
John Partington http://community.adlandpro.com/go/114695/default.aspx
and
Georgios Paraskevpoulos http://community.adlandpro.com/go/Genesis/default.aspx
AND NOW WE PRESENT TO YOU OUR THIRD WOMAN OF COURAGE
Joyce Hyde
There is one thing that separates Joyce from the rest of the world. When life where you live becomes intolerable, you move. When crime takes over your neighborhood, you move. When disaster strikes, you move. On the morning of August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina made landfall in southeast Louisana and at the Louisiana/Mississippi State Lines. The damage that Katrina caused along these areas were nothing less than catastrophic. The City of New Orleans was wiped out. Where countless thousands have relocated to new homes throughout the United States, Joyce Hyde went back to her hometown. Joyce Hyde went back to sheer devastation. However, Joyce went back with a purpose. Joyce went back to rebuild her section of the world with her bare hands.
We no longer hear of New Orleans and assume that it is a city resurrected after this most horrific of disasters. Not so. The poor have been forgotten. The elderly have been left to fend for themselves the best they can. And the children? Despite the trauma that they have already undergone, they still suffer without having their needs met, one of the most important being their educational needs. The trauma still continues in New Orleans.
Joyce went back to the home her mother purchased in 1978. She started her heroic work in this treasured house, cleaning up fallen trees, dirt, water, and 30 years worth of irreplaceable memories.
Joyce has become involved in civic organizations attending Planning Commission Meetings and lifting her voice demanding the rights of the people. As she said in the material that she sent me, big money is being spent in New Orleans, but it certainly isn't on them.
She holds a class teaching the people, the children and the elderly how to use a computer so that they may have contact with the "outside world."
Joyce has built wonderful relationships through her heroic and unselfish work. One story that she told me has stuck close to my heart. As she works on her computer, she watches the children on the way to school. They wave to her and she waves back. These forgotten children merely making the motions of going to school, as the school system has still not been put back in place and they are not being educated. They are merely being held for six hours only to return back home.
Joyce is there to put lives together. Her neighbors, the elderly, the children. She puts her mother's house back together and she puts lives back together. Where does Joyce fall in the scheme of things? At the tail end. She doesn't even consider her own needs.
We have read about many famous heroes and civil rights leaders throughout our lifetime. Joyce Hyde falls into this category. And who knows, TC4Women may very well sing out loud about this unsung hero, our dear Joyce.
I know one thing for sure. Those children will remember her throughout their lives, as she has won their hearts. One day they will tell their children and grandchildren about that brave lady in the big house that fought for them so that they would be counted, so that they could have a decent life. Future generations will live on and remember Joyce Hyde.
Joyce, you are indeed a Woman of Courage. We love you, respect you, and we are in awe of you.
Luella May