My older sister, Jody Greenlee, left the University of Kentucky Medical Center five years ago to volunteer full time for Children of the Americas, Inc. Since then, Jody has run the grassroots organization from her home in Lexington, Kentucky. Children of the Americas, Inc. strives to provide health care, education, and social justice to needy children everywhere.
Jody has organized and participated in the group’s medical missions to Guatemala during the past five years. These missions serve the health care needs of impoverished children and their families. Jody recruits and coordinates over fifty volunteer doctors, nurses, and others for each trip. Throughout the year, Jody plans, arranges, and secures all that the medical missions require to succeed. In addition to her management and fundraising, Jody assists in thirty to fifty free surgeries per day in one-week stays abroad. This year, the organization will journey to the remote Western Highlands of Guatemala, where the local people have not had any surgical or medical care for over ten years. Additionally, Jody helps bring sick and injured children from Guatemala and other countries to the United States for surgery. She calls on all segments of the medical profession and industry to provide free travel, treatment, and medication for the children. She also writes the necessary letters, keeps medical records, makes hospital and doctor visits, and finds host families to provide post-surgery home care for her patients.
Jody and her volunteers often work under dangerous conditions when abroad. In addition to heavy workloads, the threat of kidnapping and violence remains a constant. Yet, Jody’s work does not end when she returns home. Many of the children transported to the U.S. for treatment require multiple surgeries and long-term care. Jody tends to their needs. For example, Jody oversaw the long-term treatment of a Haitian baby burn victim. The injured baby’s mother heard of Jody’s work, and sent a letter pleading for help. Jody and Children of the America’s made it happen. Jody secured the infant’s safe passage, free medical care, and the host family to provide post-op care, a project that took nearly a year to achieve.
Jody’s commitment often demands much of her: She left the security of her position as a Senior Pediatric Nurse at the University of Kentucky to run Children of the Americas full time, and for no compensation. During her career at U.K., Jody went above and beyond the call of duty in her care of young patients and their families. She brings this passion to Children of the Americas. Jody often opens her own home to and oversees the organization’s fundraising events and dinners. A caring mother of her own three children, she opens her home to medically fragile children for the duration of their treatment. Jody follows up with many of the families her organization has helped, doing all that she can to ensure their continued well being. Due to Jody Greenlee’s efforts, hundreds of impoverished children and their families have had and continue to have access to advanced health care and a better quality of life.
Read More Hero Stories >
