Our Resident of the Month for August is Joan Greene. She was born on March 8, 1952 @ Princeton in Birmingham, AL. Her parents, Wallace and Edith James, moved a lot with her dad’s work. He worked with Graybar Electric. She has lived in Gulf Shores, Mobile, Montgomery, Gardendale and the Calcedonia Community.

Joan has 3 grown children – Jenny, Amy and Jeff – and 5 granddaughters aged 2 to 14.

After high school graduation, Joan worked at South Central Bell as a phone operator. One day while working, she received a call from a man who asked her how to get out of the building. She found out he was downstairs in the same building she was working in. She proceeded to direct him from the guard’s desk to the elevators, etc., etc. “No, operator!” the man laughed. “I just wanted to know how to dial out of here, not how to get out of here!”

Her goal while working at South Central Bell was to save enough money to attend nursing school. Joan received a scholarship from Baptist Medical Center and was accepted into the Carraway Methodist School of Nursing program where she received her R.N. degree.

Joan loved nursing. She worked in Med Surg, ER, ICU, etc. as well as a Home Health Agency. She also worked at Health South Rehab Hospital in Montgomery as a Case Manager and the Alabama Department of Health as a Case Manager for the HIV/AIDS Department.

Joan submitted a “pluggerism” (cartoon) to Tribune Media Services in Chicago and it was selected to appear in newspapers from Boston to San Francisco, Chicago to Dallas and Fort Worth and cities in between.

She is a member of Meadowbrook Baptist Church. She loves nature and painting. She is involved in arts and crafts workshops, painting classes, exercise classes, etc. She loves to dance and is participating in the weekly Ballroom Dancing classes.

You can see Joan throughout the day helping and encouraging other residents who live at Monark Grove. She says she “finds great joy in giving back!! Monark Grove is a great choice for me. I’m glad to be here.” We are glad to have Joan as a resident and appreciate everything she does to make others feel welcome.