OAKLAND, CA - Oakland Parks, Recreation & Youth Development is pleased to announce that Martha Humphrey has been selected as Oakland’s 2024 Mother of the Year.
The honoree will be recognized during the 71st Oakland Mother of the Year Award Ceremony held at Morcom Rose Garden, 700 Jean Street, at 10:30 a.m., on Saturday, May 11, 2024.
Martha Humphrey began caring for children at age 8, supporting her youngest sibling. At an early age, Ms. Martha decided that caring for children delighted her. When she reached adulthood, she began housekeeping which would often include caring for her employer's children. She accepted a job as a nanny caring for a lawyer, his wife and their 4 children in Houston, Texas. The family moved to San Francisco in March 1950, and she came with them to assist with their 4 young daughters. When the last daughter had completed high school and went to college, the family no longer needed her care. She moved out of their home and moved to a place called Fillmore Center which she describes as a wonderful place to live.
In the early 1970s, Martha acquired a lovely home with two large bedrooms and decided to start a foster home. She contacted a foster care agency, took the necessary classes to be certified to work with foster children, and began her ministry. Ms. Martha passed the test with flying colors. She put two cribs in one bedroom and set it up as a nursery. It was not long before she got a call and started with her first foster child. Over time, she began receiving more and more calls from foster agencies and hospital social workers who begged her to take infants in fragile health because of her excellent reputation. For over 50 years Martha Humphrey has fostered over 300 children and continues to this day!
“Ms. Martha has been known throughout her community as the person that wants to "Just Serve" by being a caretaker and a guide for vulnerable children and youth over the past 50 years,” said Paul L. Cobb, The Post News Group, who initiated the nomination.
About Oakland's Mother of the Year Award
Oakland’s Mother of the Year Award is a project of Oakland Parks, Recreation & Youth Development and was initiated in 1954, to publicly honor an Oakland resident whose contributions to the community symbolize the finest traditions of motherhood. Past honorees have included hard-working, dedicated community servants whose volunteerism has been exemplary.