Bartlett Center honors Washington

Marcus Clem, St. Joseph News-Press, Mo.
·2 min read

Mar. 18—A venerated contributor to Midtown St. Joseph's historic child care campus has had its lobby named in her honor in a special ceremony Saturday.

Helen Washington, known as Haneefah within the Islamic community, served for 17 years as the youth director at the Bartlett Center. Her vast collection of awards and honors for work at the BC, InterServ, the Juneteenth Committee, and other initiatives is now installed along with her portrait at the Helen Washington Memorial Lobby. Helen died in 2021, so Ramadhan Washington attended to speak Saturday in place of his late wife.

"We just want everybody to know that the Bartlett Center is here, and I think it's gonna be here for a long, long time," Ramadhan said. "It's dedicated to its mission of educating the youth to the best of its ability, and the best of our ability here in the community. It takes the village, it takes all the people, it takes all of us working together to achieve that end. That is Haneefah's lesson for us."

Throughout her career, Ramadhan said in his address, his wife strove to integrate what he called Abrahamic philosophy in the upbringing of a child. The principles at hand are referenced in the Holy Bible, the Torah, and Quran and were passed down by the Creator, he said. Specifically, the first 21 years of a person's life are divided into three 7-year blocks in which obedience, education and befriendment combine to create a whole person.

Mike Veale, the president of the AFL-CIO Northwest Missouri Central Labor Council, serves on the Bartlett Center's board of directors. In years of knowing her and in looking over her lasting legacy, Veale said, his appreciation of what a difference she has made for the BC and the community it serves has steadily grown.

"I've become good friends with Ms. Helen and her family," he said. "Just tons of respect. She captured me with that infectious smile of hers, and drew me in to be a close friend of hers, and I just have tremendous respect for her and what I've seen her do around here for the kids. Everything focuses on our children because of her."

Marcus Clem can be reached at marcus.clem@newspressnow.com. Follow him on Twitter: @NPNowClem