What started as a family visit for Clara King more than 50 years ago has been life-changing.
That's not hyperbole or overstatement; in fact, life-changing may not be strong enough, at least in terms of number.
"I visited an aunt here and liked it so much I decided to get a job and stay," King said through a joyful smile. "I got a job at G&E Cafe. They had some good food down there.
"You know, God has blessed me. I love those kids and they love me."
"Those" kids Miss Clara referenced are the hundreds of youths she has helped learn to read or to adjust or just plain helped in her 20 years with the Foster Grandparent Program.
Jay Greeson"Miss Clara has been amazing," said Angela Hayes, the director of Chattanooga's Foster Grandparent Program.
Hayes and her team direct almost 100 volunteers over the age of 55 in the Foster Grandparent Program, which is funded by the Corporation for National and Community Service and sponsored by the City of Chattanooga. The focus of the program is student improvements in math, literacy, social and emotional development.
The benefits are clear for the kids who need the help. The benefits are just as strong for the volunteers who provide the help.
"They spend anywhere from 15-40 hours working with kids who are targeted as having special needs," Hayes said. "And those needs can range from mental to physical to really having stress at home or problems beyond school."
The program helps kids from six weeks through the fifth grade. Imagining the details that cause a 3-year-old stress is heartbreaking.
And what Miss Clara - or Granny Clara as her kids call her - and the rest of the volunteers provide is invaluable.
"I read to them, play games with them, dance with them," Miss Clara said.
Said Hayes: "Oh, Miss Clara loves to dance, for sure."
She has worked with hundreds of kids in her 20 years with the Foster Grandparent Program.
"Too many to count," she said.
She has handled endless stories that started with heartache and became success stories.
"Too many to count," she said.
The stories of kids who could or would barely speak who Miss Clara taught to read and went on to become straight-A students are magical.
She has spent more than 12,000 hours working with "her kids" over the last 20 years. She wears the buttons and pins of distinction from the program as proudly as any decorated military man.
She's a hero, plain and simple.
Think of it this way:
What is our most valuable individual resource? I'd say our time is high on that list.
What is our most valuable society resource? I'd say our children are pretty high on that list.
Miss Clara is giving hers to help ours, and like so many of the volunteers in the Foster Grandparents Program, the two-way payoff is a jackpot for both.
"Her involvement keeps her vibrant and healthy," Hayes said of Miss Clara, who will be 88 this May. "And what she does with the kids is amazing."
Amazing. That seems like the right word to end on.
Or maybe this one: Blessed.
Blessed for the Foster Grandparents Program, the effects and the future.
And blessed that Miss Clara found that job at G&E Cafe.
Contact Jay Greeson at jgreeson@timesfreepress.com and 423-757-6343.