Ifé – Faces of Seabury

Ifé is a participant at one of Seabury’s Ward 5 ADRC nutrition sites and a district resident for the last 40 years. Originally from the U.S. Virgin Islands, Ifé has three children and four grandchildren. Her name means love in Yoruba, the language and name of her family’s ethnic group in Nigeria. Ifé has a history of triumphing over adversity through her joyful, loving, and caring spirit.

During her career as a nurse for Howard University hospital and other area medical centers, Ifé often worked with terminally ill patients. During the HIV epidemic in the 80’s, she brought comfort to dying young men when many were ostracized. She fondly remembers one couple whom she was treating and their kindness in taking her out to a show at Ford’s Theater — an outing she was not used to as a single mother with 3 children.

For more than 12 years Ifé has suffered from type two diabetes. The nutrition site she attends provides her with nutritionally balanced meals, sometimes the only meal she will eat that day. Some would be defeated by the challenges and heart wrenching situations Ifé has been through, but spend one minute around her and you will know that couldn’t be farther from the truth about how she faces life.

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Last year, Seabury Resources for Aging provided nearly 40,000 hours of health and nutrition services through its Wards 5 and 6 Aging and Disability Resource Centers.