PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Lenore Sears Gay, founder and CEO of Lenore’s Loving Care, is a nurse and medical foster care parent — one of the few in the city.
“Back in 2004, there was a child that literally starved to death who had cerebral palsy, and she was in the care, I believe, of a foster parent. And it broke my heart,” she remembered.
That’s when she knew this would be her calling. Sears Gay has a gift for taking care of fragile pediatric patients.
“It’s challenging at times,” she said, “but it’s always so rewarding at the end because many times, I wind up reuniting families who were struggling.”
Sears Gay adopted two of the children she was caring for, and she’s in the process of adopting another.
“It does make me feel good to make other people feel good,” she said. “That’s a wonderful, wonderful feeling. When he had those little, tiny arms hugging you around your neck and saying, ‘I love you Miss Lenore’ — that’s the best feeling in the world.”
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Sears Gay also goes on medical missions, like helping earthquake victims in Haiti. On the homefront, she conducts coat and clothing drives.
And, she does it all despite having multiple sclerosis herself.
“When I first got the devastating diagnosis, I kind of wanted to just throw in the towel. But I thought about it, and there’s so many people who rely on me.”
During Black History Month, KYW Newsradio’s GameChangers honors 10 individuals or organizations that have made a significant, positive impact in communities of color in the greater Philadelphia region. KYW community affairs reporter Racquel Williams will host an evening honoring this year’s awardees on Feb. 22. View the 2023 honorees here.