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During a 30-year career
in social services, Adelaide Wishnow Luber ’49 improved
the lives of the elderly and broadened opportunities for the
poor. Adelaide became the first director of the Cranston, Rhode
Island, anti-poverty program in the mid-60s, and expanded the
program over the years to include job training, community organizing,
and day care programs for the elderly. She was the first woman
in Rhode Island, and across New England, to be named director
in this field.
Adelaide's own life reflects tremendous personal growth, being the first woman in her neighborhood to go to work, after raising a son and two daughters as a housewife.
She grew up on a farm near Somerville and came to Douglass College where she earned a degree in economics and sociology. Following Douglass, Adelaide moved to Cranston, Rhode Island and completed coursework for an M.A.T. degree in history from Rhode Island College. She also received a certificate in Strategic Leadership for Key State Executives from Duke University, and took courses at the Labor Research Center at the University of Rhode Island.
Adelaide
became a volunteer with the Rhode Island League of Women Voters
where she was exposed to the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964, designed
to develop programs to meet the needs of low-income people. Familiarity
with the legislation, prompted her to apply for a job in social
services. It blossomed into a career.
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Adelaide
brought her experience implementing innovative programs to the helm
next as director of the Department of Elderly Affairs, serving from
1985 to 1990. During her tenure she initiated the Rhode Island Pharmacy
Assistance for the Elderly, intergenerational programs, the Elderly
Abuse Program and Elderly Security in Public Housing. As an advocate
for the elderly, she saw the importance of seniors helping seniors
work through the changes in their lives to maintain function and
a lifetime of independence. Adelaide worked with federal and state
agencies including the United States Department of Health and Human
Services, the Administration on Aging, the U.S. Department of Labor,
and, in Rhode Island, with the Department of Hospitals, Department
of Transportation and the Department of Human Services.
In 1991, Adelaide became a consultant for Aging 2000, in Providence,
where she researched health care policy for the program run by Interfaith
Health Care Ministries, Inc. In her retirement, she co-founded Optima
Consultants, Inc., a human services management consulting firm.
Adelaide was a Senior Advocate on the Board of Trustees for the
Rhode Island Mentoring Partnership, and served on the Governor’s
Commission on Alzheimer’s and Dementias Related to Aging.
She is currently a member of the Board of Directors for In-Sight,
an organization assisting the blind and visually impaired. She spends
time with her teenage grandchildren, and continues to be a proud
member of the Rotary Club of Providence, with whom she became involved
14 years ago. |
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Adelaide served as Executive Director of the Cranston Community
Action Program, Inc. from 1966 to 1985, where she developed a comprehensive
social service agency to meet the needs of low-income residents
of the city. Over the next 19 years, she spearheaded the agency's
annual initiatives that grew from a budget of $27,000 to nearly
$5 million. She also increased the staff necessary to provide services
from just three employees to 90. Programs she implemented included
Head Start, community health services, geriatric day care, home
energy assistance and alcoholism and family counseling. In addition,
she cultivated sustained participation in the agency’s activities
from government officials, civic groups and low-income residents
of the community.
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