Joyce Hayes, Glide fixture and foster mom to 87, dies
Joyce Hayes, a longtime member of the Glide Memorial United Methodist Church family who proved her faith by being a foster mother to 87 children over a span of 40 years, has died at 73.
A large personality, even by the exuberant standards of Glide, Ms. Hayes was known for her flowing African robes in shades of red, and for taking in people who had no other place to go.
“Joyce was the heartbeat of the children’s program,” said Janice Mirikitani, co-leader of Glide with her husband, the Rev. Cecil Williams.
Some of Rovianek’s earliest memories are of her mother bringing in wayward kids from the building.
When she started in 1971, Glide’s Free Meals program was just being launched.
Ms. Hayes offered to lead a second program that would not only feed children but give them a safe place to play in the Tenderloin church.
Eventually the program hosted 100 kids and took up the entire second floor of Glide.
Thirty years after she started at Glide, Ms. Hayes was given the Congressional Angels in Adoption award in Washington, D.C., after being nominated by Rep. Nancy Pelosi.
In addition to Rovianek, Ms. Hayes is survived by her daughter Kellye Guidry of Somerset, N.J.; son, Robert Morrow of Los Angeles; sister, Carole Salter of Los Angeles; and brother, Gary White of Carteret, N.J.
“I will always remember her laughter, acceptance and love echoing off the walls at Glide,” Mirikitani said.