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A CEREMONIAL RESOLUTION
21-157
IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
January 5, 2016
To recognize the work and contributions of Birdie Mae “Granny” Keels.
WHEREAS, Birdie Mae “Granny” Keels, who is affectionately known as Ms. Birdie, or Granny Keels, was born Birdie Mae Odom on January 2, 1934, in Aiken County, South Carolina as the 4th of 5 children born to Joe M. Odom and Ruther Friday Dunbar-Odom;
WHEREAS, Birdie Mae “Granny” Keels lost her mother from illness at the age of 4 years, and her siblings and she were sent to live with their maternal grandparents, Jamey and Quitman “Daddy” Dunbar while their father was away working on the railroad;
WHEREAS, Birdie Mae “Granny” Keels was sent to live with her father and his new wife in the Capitol Hill area at the age of 9 years following Ms. Jamey’s death from illness;
WHEREAS, Birdie Mae “Granny” Keels graduated from Armstrong Technical Senior High School in Northwest Washington, D.C., where she met her future husband, Woodrow “Woody” Harry Keels, who also was from South Carolina, and had 5 children with Woody – Harry James, Ronald, Terry Yvonne, Tyrone, and Sandra “Beanie;”
WHEREAS, Birdie Mae “Granny” Keels raised the family on I Street, N.E., before the I Street renovation that led the family to relocate to the Syphax Gardens public housing community in Ward 6 in Southwest Washington, D.C.;
WHEREAS, Birdie Mae “Granny” Keels was hardworking and maintained 2or 3 jobs for many years to meet ends in hopes to achieve the “American Dream” of becoming home owners, with Granny Keels working as a teacher’s aide at Junior Village in Southeast Washington, D.C. from 1955-1965, an evening and weekend housekeeper, and a caretaker of children and senior persons for different families in the area;
WHEREAS, Birdie Mae “Granny” Keels enrolled in a social service case management certification program at Howard University during her time at Junior Village, and upon completing the program, found employment as a social services case manager with the Southwest Community House located in the James Creek neighborhood of Southwest Washington, D.C., under the leadership of Phyllis Martin;
WHEREAS, Birdie Mae “Granny” Keels, through over 30 years of work with the Southwest Community House, provided housing assistance, food and nutrition services, and health care provisioning for many residents of James Creek and East of the Anacostia River in Wards 7 and 8; helped the public housing communities in Ward 6 hold many community events, such as the Annual Southwest Day and turkey basket giveaways during Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons; and worked with many community organizations and city initiatives to assist numerous families and underserved individuals to become self-sufficient and self-driven in order to overcome their adversities;
WHEREAS, Birdie Mae “Granny” Keels also worked closely with community activist and future mayor Marion Barry and Pride Inc., a program that distributed free food for persons becoming homeless after the 1968 riots;
WHEREAS, Birdie Mae “Granny” Keels and her family moved to the Penn-Branch section of Southeast Washington, D.C., in Ward 7;
WHEREAS, Birdie Mae “Granny” Keels continued to serve the residents all over the District of Columbia in providing housing, nutrition, and other social services for low-income and elderly populations in Wards 5, 6, 7, and 8;
WHEREAS, Birdie Mae “Granny” Keels retired from her work with the Southwest Community House and began working with the National Puerto Rican Coalition assisting new Hispanic residents in the city to gain opportunities in employment and housing within the District of Columbia;
WHEREAS, Birdie Mae “Granny” Keels has been a member of many community boards, and social service and senior nonprofit groups, and a renowned community leader in the District of Columbia who has taken pride in helping the underserved communities, persons with disabilities, and at-risk youth;
WHEREAS, Birdie Mae “Granny” Keels has been a resident of the District of Columbia for over 70 years, and a Ward 7 resident of the Penn Branch community for over 40 years;
WHEREAS, Birdie Mae “Granny” Keels is a wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, sister, aunt, cousin, second mother, long-time caregiver, and helpful presence in the community and a mother to many people of all ages; and
WHEREAS, Birdie Mae “Granny” Keels has overcome adversity and progressed to success, triumph, and victory.
RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this resolution may be cited as the “Birdie Mae “Granny” Keels Recognition Resolution of 2016”.
Sec. 2. The Council of the District of Columbia honors and thanks Birdie Mae “Granny” Keels for her dedicated service and significant contribution to the residents of the District of Columbia.
Sec. 3. This resolution shall take effect immediately upon the first date of publication in the District of Columbia Register.
