[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 3]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 4467]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


                      A TRIBUTE TO JOSEPHINE AJAYI

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. EDOLPHUS TOWNS

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Sunday, March 21, 2010

  Mr. TOWNS. Madam Speaker, I rise today in recognition of Jospehine 
Ajayi for her significant contributions to the nursing profession and 
her community.
  Josephine Monilola Ajayi is a black American of Nigerian origin, born 
in Oshogbo, capital of the Oshun state of Nigeria. She had her primary 
and secondary education in Nigeria. She was trained and registered as a 
Grade 1 Midwife, and worked in this capacity in Nigeria for four years. 
She was married to David Ajayi, and later migrated to the United States 
to join him in 1973.
  Josephine attended the New York City Community College and graduated 
with an Associate's degree in Nursing and became a Registered Nurse. 
She went on to earn a Bachelors of Science in Nursing from the Long 
Island University Brooklyn Center, from where she later earned the MS 
degree in Community Health and Healthcare Administration.
  Currently Josephine is the Regional Clinical Manager for Queens at 
the Visiting Nurses Service (VNS) of NY Long Term Home Health Care 
Program. She joined the organization in 1993 as an Admissions 
Coordinator, moved up to Patient Service Manager and then Compliance 
Manager. Before joining the VNS, she practiced her profession of 
nursing in several other institutions including St. John's Episcopal 
Hospital, Lutheran Medical Center, Metropolitan Jewish Geriatric Center 
and Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center where she held the Assistant Head 
Nurse position in the Rehabilitation Unit.
  She is an active and devoted member of the Calvary First Nigerian 
Seventh-day Adventist Church. She has been a Church Board member and 
has held many positions in the church, including, Deaconess, Secretary/
Clerk, Women Ministry Leader, Education Director, Youth Teacher, etc. 
She is a woman who loves God and strongly believes in the power of 
prayer. She is a Prayer Warrior.
  She is blessed with five children, Temitayo, Olumide, Abimbola, 
Olubusayo (daughter-in-law) OlaOluwa and Atilola, all of whom are grown 
and independent. Outside of Nursing, Josephine is quite active. She 
belongs to Ipoti Ekiti Unity Club (IEUC) of New York, a cultural 
organization whose main goal is the betterment of the community the 
members came from, and she was recently the president of the club for 
five years. She also is a member of Nigerian Adventists in North 
America (NANA), an organization devoted to the spiritual, mental, 
physical and cultural well-being of its youth and older members. She is 
a member of the Africa Advisory Board of the Atlantic Union of Seventh-
Day Adventist Church. She is a recipient of the Exemplary Leadership 
Award from the IEUCNY and the Ipoti community. Her hobbies include 
sewing, photography, shopping and cooking.
  She is a woman who believes that ``what is worth doing at all is 
worth doing well.'' She fully commits herself to any efforts she 
decides to pursue, be it in her private or public life, with the goal 
of making a difference for the better in the job environment and in the 
lives of consumers of her services. She is a person who does not 
believe in mediocrity. She learns details of her job and endeavors to 
produce excellence. She is generous and supportive of others and 
endeavors to make a difference in other people's lives.
  Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in recognizing the 
achievements of Josephine Ajayi.

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