Bea Gaddy

Beatrice "Bea" Gaddy (February 20, 1933 – October 3, 2001) was a Baltimore city council member and a leading advocate for the poor and homeless. Known locally as the "Mother Teresa of Baltimore," she was inducted into the Maryland Women's Hall of Fame in 2006.

Early life and education

Beatrice Frankie Fowler was born in Wake Forest, North Carolina, on February 20, 1933. She grew up in poverty, in a violent home. By the age of 25, she had been divorced twice and was the mother of five children, occasionally living on welfare. She and her children moved to New York City, where she worked for several years as a housekeeper.

Gaddy's food center also collected and distributed toys to children at Christmas, and hundreds of pairs of shoes each winter. In the 1990s she started a furniture bank and a program to renovate abandoned row houses for needy families. She became a minister so that she could perform marriages and burial ceremonies for the poor, free of charge. She was also involved in voter education and summer youth programs, and served as assistant chairperson in the Johns Hopkins Day Program. She was elected to the Baltimore City Council in 1999. She received an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Towson State University in 1993, and the Frederick Douglass Award from the University System of Maryland Board of Regents in 2000.

Death and legacy

Gaddy was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1998. She died on October 3, 2001, aged 68.