Poyadue, Florene Stewart

Florene Stewart Poyadue was born in 1934, one of 12 children who were raised in a three bedroom house in Lovejoy, Illinois. Immediately following high school, she earned a nursing degree from St. Mary's Infirmary School of Nursing in St. Louis, Missouri. In 1975 she earned a Bachelor of Vocational Education degree from San Jose State University. Prior to graduation, Poyadue gave birth to their fourth son, Dean, who was diagnosed with Down's syndrome. The only advice that doctors and hospital staff gave her regarding Dean's diagnosis was to "take him home and love him." Frustrated with the lack of support and information available about her son's condition, she reached out to other parents. Soon after, Poyadue joined forces with Elayne Bagwe and Gita Dedek, who had recently started a parent resource group called "Parents Helping Parents" (PHP).

From the moment Poyadue took charge of PHP in 1976, the organization flourished. She left her job to work with PHP full-time and immediately incorporated the organization as a non-profit and wrote its bylaws. Poyadue went on to earn a master's degree in Marriage/Family/Child Counseling from Santa Clara University in 1983. In 1985, PHP was asked to become a United Way agency, and in 1987 Poyadue accepted the Senator Lloyd Bentsen Award at a conference of the U.S. Surgeon General in Washington, D.C. In 1991 the U.S. Department of Health designated PHP as a national center on parent-direct resources. In 1993 Santa Clara University awarded her an honorary doctorate and invited her to address the graduating class.

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