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Unsung Hero

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Maxine V. Hickman

Dr. Maxine V. Hicks’s entrepreneurial spirit, resilience and faith in  God have served as a foundation  for her career which has helped  provide shelter, food and clothing  to countless San Franciscans for  decades. Dr. Hickman is founder,  Executive Director and Chief  Financial Officer of Hickman  Homes, Inc., a consortium of  agencies and facilities that have  served some of San Francisco’s  most vulnerable residents. 

Born in Louisville, Mississippi,  Hickman was raised in Milwaukee.  After moving to San Francisco,  she attended San Francisco City  College and earned her BA Degree  from San Francisco State University. She received her Master  of Science Degree in Child and  Youth Care administration from  Nova University, and an MBA and  Doctor of Philosophy degree from  Northfield University. 

In 1969 she established the Pine  Street Guest House, a residen tial care facility for mentally ill/ retarded adults. Additionally, she  also established a residential care  facility for the elderly. In 1981, she  established the “Hickman Home for  Mothers and Infants,” a home for  unwed mothers who had decided  to keep their children. She later  established group homes for youth.  In 1993 she developed the Hickman Home Foster Family Agency,  where prospective foster parents  are recruited; trained and certified  to become foster parents.  

She organized a school to provide  a successful learning and residential environment, which stimulates  intellectual and social growth for  at-risk students. Hickman also created a food program that provided  food for needy families and established H&W Fashion Boutique to  provide quality clothing at reasonable prices. 
 
She closed the group homes in  2012, after providing guidance and shelter for thousands of youth many  of whom have become successful  adults. Currently she continues to  operate the Foster Care Agency,  renamed Trinity Foster Services of  the Bay Area and the boutique. She  said she is in discussion to expand  the foster services agency. Her  agencies are run under the umbrella  of “Hickman Homes, Inc.,” where  she serves as Executive Director  and Chief Financial Officer. 

“Next year will be the fiftieth  year that I’ve been doing residential care,” she said. She said being  a Black woman in San Francisco,  she has faced many challenges, but  she made it work and, “It became  my life.” 

“When I decided to work group  homes full time, family and friends  told me I needed to give up group  homes and get a real job. They  could not visualize the difference  I was making and could make in  the lives of abandoned, abused and  neglected youth. Telling me I could  not make a difference motivated  me to work even harder,” she said. 

Hickman is the immediate Past  President of the San Francisco  Chapter of the National Coalition of  100 Black Women(NCBW). Under  her leadership the NCBW undertook innovative programs including  collaboration and partnership with  Covered California, implementing  the Affordable Care Act and the  Bridging the Generations Employment and Training Program. She is currently first Vice President of the  SF Chapter and a member of the  National Board. She is a certified  enrollment counselor for Covered  California. 

She is an active member of the Cosmopolitan Baptist Church,  where the Rev. Dr. A.R. Gentle is a pastor. Currently, she is serving as  Financial Secretary of the Church,  Chair for the Budget Committee.  She is a member of the Voices  of Cosmopolitan and the board  of trustees. She established an  outreach mission prayer ministry  which goes into the homes of the  shut-in. 
Hickman has been honored by  having August 1, 1991 observed as Maxine V. Hickman Day in San  Francisco. 

A widowed mother of one  daughter, she is a devoted grandmother of five, great grandmother of seven.

Trinity Foster Family Services is looking for responsible, dedicated Couples or Individuals 
to become Foster Parents to care for children who need a home.

To find out how you can offer support to abused and neglected children, please call: 415-941-7291

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