Uncrowned Community Builders

Barbara Ann Finley was born on December 18, 1942 in Enid, Oklahoma to Hulon and Pearl Mitchell. She is the fifth of 15 children produced by this union. She was raised in Enid, Oklahoma. Barbara met and married her childhood sweetheart Robert L. Finley, affectionately known to friends as Bob or Lee. They have been married for 49 years. They have five grown children, Deborah, Angela, Gilbert, David and Audrey, nine living grandchildren and eight great grandchildren.

Barbara graduated from El Camino College Registered Nurse program in 1971 with an Associate in Arts Degree and was immediately hired as a Staff Nurse at Doctors Hospital in Compton. She accepted a Nursing Supervisorââ?¬â?¢s position at West Adams Community Hospital in 1974. In 1975 she received the Dr. Charles R. Drew Post Graduate Medical School/Martin Luther King Jr. General Hospital ââ?¬Å?Trauma Nurse Specialist Practitioner Certificationââ?¬ and that same year became a member of the Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee at West Adams Community Hospital in Los Angeles.

In 1980 she was promoted and became the first ever African American Director of Nursing Services in San Luis Obispo County, at Twin Cities Community Hospital. In 1981, Barbara became advisor to the Committee interviewing Nursing Candidates for Cuesta College Nursing Classes. In 1982, Barbara officially became a Board Member of the Cuesta College San Luis Obispo County Community College District Nursing Advisory Committee. In 1985, Barbara became a Certified Nurse Administrator through the State of California Board of Registered Nurses and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts Degree.

She later accepted the position of Director of Nursing Services at Twin Cities Community Hospital in Templeton, California where she was the first African American to hold that position in San Luis Obispo County. In 1989 Barbara became the first African American Nursing Home Administrator in San Luis Obispo County at the Wilshire Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Templeton, California.

In 1991 she opened the Shadow Oaks, a Residential Care Facility for the elderly in Paso Robles, California. In 1996, Barbara opened a second residential care facility for the elderly with Alzheimerââ?¬â?¢s in Paso Robles, called Shadow Oaks II. She functioned as Owner/ Operator/Administrator of both facilities, while additionally maintaining her administrative position at Wilshire Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Templeton.

Opening the Shadow Oaks Facilities, showed Barbaraââ?¬â?¢s strong character traits like, tenacity and ability to achieve against the odds; like in the early 1960ââ?¬â?¢s when she was encouraged to enroll in the LVN Program, however, the female Director of the Nursing Program (in Salt Lake City, Utah) met with her privately and told her, ââ?¬Å?I donââ?¬â?¢t care how good you are, I will never let you into My Program!ââ?¬.

Barbaraââ?¬â?¢s Shadow Oaks Facility went on to win a Proclamation for her commitment and excellence in Service from Mayor Chris Iverson of the city of El Paso de Robles, California in 1993, during the American Health Care Associationââ?¬â?¢s Nursing Home Week Campaign. Barbara achieved in spite of the race-based-rebuff. The biggest test of her character came when husband, Robert, was felled by a debilitating stroke that was thought to be terminal. Robert says that when the doctors told him he could not live, Barbara told him he could live and she proceeded to quit her job and nurse him back to health. Today, nineteen years later, you would never know Robert ever had such a tremendous health crisis and he fondly refers to Barbara as his ââ?¬Å?guardian angelââ?¬.

Upon retirement, Barbara and Robert relocated to their hometown of Enid, Oklahoma. They began their ââ?¬Å?retirementââ?¬ by establishing, with their daughter Angela and her husband Al, Southern Heights Heritage Center and Museum. They opened the doors in October 2001 and received their IRS 501Ã?©3 non-profit status in February, 2002.

Currently, Barbara is the Executive Director of Southern Heights Heritage Center and Museum. She is also an Ethnic Indian Advocate and Educator. Presently, she serves as President of Black Indians United Legal Defense and Education Fund. With Barbaraââ?¬â?¢s Museum work as a backdrop and her Ethnic Indian Advocacy as a cornerstone, her joyous past-times have combined wonderfully to provide the stimulus to introduce the only annual Ethnic Indian Pow Wow in the State of Oklahoma, with Southern Heritage Center and Museumââ?¬â?¢s Annual Pow Wow. The event, in combination with revitalization efforts, seeks to promote tourism in a formerly blighted area of the City of Enid.

Barbara is a founding Charter Member of the Quota Club of Templeton, California. She has served an astounding five terms as President. The service organization boasts, in addition to their local, state, and national charity work, its work as an advocate for the hearing impaired. Barbara is a member of the following organizations:

* The California Society of Nursing Service Administrators
* The American Association of University Women
* The Santa Barbara County Alzheimer Association
* The Better Business Bureau
* The Association of American Retired Persons
* The San Luis Obispo Blues Society
* The Monterey Bay Blues Society
* The County of San Luis Obispo Health Commission
* Oklahoma Museums Association

Barbara enjoys gardening and decorating. She has quite a collection of Oriental Artifacts and many items can be found in her home. Barbara is most proud of her marriage and husband of 49 years, her family, her children and their families, including her many years of operating Women Owned Businesses.