A Holmes County businesswoman was recently featured in an ICBA publication – She is described by family, friends and associates as a phenomenal person, imbued with “humbleness”.

By Gail HM Brown, Ph.D.,

Contributing Author,

Regarding women’s history or women’s accomplishments, Beulah Greer counts among them all, but you’ll never know if she has to tell you.

She’ll never tell you that on Friday, April 1, she and the nonprofit she co-founded were featured with Mark Ouellette, Senior Vice President and Director of Affordable Housing for BankPlus in and about BankPlus on the Independent Community Bankers of America’s (ICBA website: https://independentbanker.org/2022/04/creative-banking-for-the-communitys-benefit/ The article by Colleen Morrison, a writer from Maryland, is titled “Creative Banking for the Community’s Benefit”. ICBA is the national voice of community banks.

“I have so enjoyed working on the housing effort with Beulah over the past decade,” Quellette said. “His desire to help its community is inspiring. She doesn’t take “no” for an answer, and that attitude has helped improve the lives of countless families in Mississippi. »

“Ms. Greer is a phenomenal woman. What she represents is the true meaning of a role model,” said David Johnson, senior vice president and director of community development at BankPlus. woman of God, she inspires me and encourages me to give the best of myself.

Greer will never tell you that she and her husband, Leslie Greer, her high school sweethearts, started a community arcade business in Lexington when there wasn’t one before called Fun City. This rec room building was remodeled and expanded to house their Community Students Learning Center (CSLC) foundation, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization officially established in 2003, where she serves as the executive director.

She’ll never tell you that under the CSLC umbrella, they’ve run one of the largest, if not the largest, after-school tutoring programs and summer enrichment camps in the county, helping hundreds of people over the years. Leslie Greer often tells staff how they started selling a popular brand of donuts just to pay their teachers after school until they could do better.

“Our after-school teachers were determined to make sure the kids did more than they needed to be paid,” Beulah Greer recalls. “Many of them were volunteering their time after leaving their long teaching days at school, and we and the parents were very grateful.” Unfortunately, the After School Tutorial and Summer Enrichment have been suspended in part due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Beulah Greer won’t tell you that as Executive Director over the years, CLSC, its Board of Directors and participating partners have effectively provided a multiplicity of programs and services for and to the community through the implementation successful implementation of over $10 million in federal grants. These programs help youth and adults with home repairs, homebuyer education, healthy teen relationships and prevention and intervention training and more.

A more recent grant is a $2.5 million SBA Community Navigation Pilot Project under the Biden-Harris administration to help small businesses with technical assistance.

She won’t tell you about the many certifications, awards and accolades she has earned. She probably won’t tell you that she is a former statewide supervisor of the Mississippi State Department of Education, Special Education Services. She won’t tell you that she received the October 2013 Outstanding Minority Business Award from the Mississippi Minority Business Association MMBA.

“I was always taught to let my artwork speak for me,” said the Lexington, Mississippi native, who spent part of her early childhood growing up with parents in Chicago before returning to Mississippi to be with his brothers and sisters.

“We are very proud of our sister,” said Jeanette Friar. “She goes above and beyond for us and anyone she can help. She’s just a real sweet person.

His nieces and nephews agree with his siblings. “Mrs. Greer is a phenomenal woman, nephew Antwan Clark said. “What she represents is the true meaning of ‘role model.’ She is a great leader and inspires and encourages us to be the best we can be. »

Humble and unassuming, Greer said, “I’ve never been one to honk my horn myself. “I just want to do God’s will, and when I’m done, I want him to say, ‘Well done my good and faithful servant.’

Longtime friend, classmate and employee Luebertha Banks said, “I have known Beulah since fourth grade. She was a shy person, calm, not frank, left alone. She was an A/B student. It would hurt her heart to receive anything less. She always wants to do her best in everything she does. She cares about people and their well-being and enjoys giving back to her community.

Banks is the coordinator of the CSLC International Home Instruction for Preschool Youngster’s (HIPPY) program.

Other Greer staffers share similar sentiments. One member said: ‘She is so humble that she prefers to work downstairs with the staff rather than in her beautifully decorated executive office upstairs. She is friendly and moves to get things done like the “Energizer Bunny”.

Greer says she never wants anyone to think she’s perfect. “I am not. Jesus is the only perfect one,” she emphasized.

Henry Luckett, one of her project managers, describes her as “focused, goal-oriented, an excellent administrator who expects the best from her employees, caring and understanding, but who demands reliability and loyalty, and who puts family before work, but always looks at the bigger picture to ensure business success.

“She always tells us how she wants us to succeed because when we do, the organization does,” said Lucretia Holmes, who works with the HIPPY program and the SEED program. “I admire his strength and courage.”

Speaking of family, like the woman in Proverbs 31, they call her blessed.

“My “mom is like no other, she raised me to be the person I am today. She has done so much for me over the years; taught me everything about life and more. My mother always went out of her way to make sure others were happy before taking care of her first. I thank her for her kindness, her generosity and the love she has shown me over the years,” said her eldest Antonio Greer of Atlanta.

He, his wife Rosalind and their children, Katlyn and Austin, recently visited. “I hated to see them go home,” Beulah Greer said.

“My grandmother is a phenomenal woman who will travel to the moon and back to meet the needs of her family and to support her loved ones. I commend her for her perseverance through everything she’s been through, because as we all know, Beulah Mae Friar never stops working. I continually strive to be half the woman she is, and she should always remember that we love and appreciate her for everything she does,” her eldest granddaughter said. Katlyn.

Her brother Austin said: “Granny is smart, kind, caring and gives me everything I want.”

Her son Martez shared this: “She is an excellent mother, a very caring, caring, loving and protective mother. As a businesswoman, she works hard, always caring about her employees. My mother is on the road all day to make sure the business is running smoothly. Martez’s wife, Brandi, who often volunteers, said, “It doesn’t matter what you need. She is there to help. “Grandma always has a smile on her face,” said Cicely, their daughter.

Takila Greer describes her mother as “lovely, kind, a darling, the best mom that God could have given me. I am so thankful to God for her. She is the best grandmother to my granddaughter, Aaliyah.

Aaliyah, 7, and the youngest granddaughter, said her grandmother was “a kind woman and what I love most about my grandmother is that she takes me to the store and play robox with me”. Aaliyah said she aspires to be the next CSLC administrator.

Leslie Greer often describes his wife as a hard worker. “When she has it in her head to finish a report, she stays up most of the night to finish it,” he said. He is proud of her and her dedication to the company and, more importantly, to the people they serve.

In 1990, Beulah Greer founded Justice Bail Bonding Company, a highly sought after business in Holmes County. At that time, there was only one other minority woman-owned bond company in the county.