I love this woman! Georgie is not only a remarkable nurse, but a remarkable human being. I was young and inexperienced and learned so much from her. The families Georgie served were deeply affirmed and given hope through their work with her, and the other nurses and I were blessed by the opportunity to work with Georgie – and with one another.
—David Olds, Nurse-Family Partnership founder
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Georgie helped advocate for her moms. She worked with them to stay in high school and met them during study hall when needed. Georgie would bring them materials to help them pursue their goals and help them find assistance to go to college.
Recently she ran into a nurse who called out, “Georgie,” and she ran up to her and gave her a big hug. “I did it,” she cried. “I’m a nurse now. You told me there was nothing I couldn’t do if I put my mind to it.”
Georgie sees the endless rewards of her work from 40 years ago.
The moms she once visited are now in their 50s. “The best thing is to see the difference it made in their lives,” Georgie said.
Georgie is high-spirited, warm and funny and at 80-years-old she said she wishes she could do it all over again.
“It was the best thing that happened to Elmira. David [Olds] saved a lot of young kids and changed a lot of lives,” she said.
“David was a baby when we started this. He looked like he was younger than 25. He was kind of shy, but brilliant. He was a blessing. I’ll tell you that.”
The work of Nurse-Family Partnership founder David Olds was born in Elmira in 1977. It has changed over 280,000 lives. Georgie’s five-nurse team was the original nurse team, and today over 1,800 nurses are replicating it across the country and around the world.