Mrs. Hattie Mathews was born in Crowville, Ga. She moved to Cleveland in 1956 and has resided in the Ward 6 area for more than 40 years. She is married to Willie D. Mathews, is the mother of five children and also raised one granddaughter.

In 1976, Mathews received training at The Ohio Sate University in law enforcement. She worked as a security guard at the state store at East 105th Street and Euclid Avenue. She also worked in various Cleveland department stores as a store detective for

five years. She was featured in the Call and Post for being one of the first black women to hold this position. She later went on to work for the Cleveland Metropolitan School District as a security guard until her retirement in 1993.

Mathews continues to care about safety in her neighborhood. She has served as president of New Image Block Club and is a member of the third and fourth police district community relations boards. Mathews also stays active by participating as treasurer of Fairfax Business Association. She is involved with many other organizations, including the Ward 6 Democratic Club, Precinct Committee, East 86th Street Block Club Party, Esther Circle Ministry and Flower Guild Ministry.

Mathews loves decorating and designing, event planning, cooking and working in the church as secretary for the Sunday school program. She is very dedicated to the community and does all she can to help others.

Join The Cleveland Department of Aging for the free Cleveland Senior Walk from 9:30 a.m. – noon on July 27 at Gateway Plaza between Quicken Loans Arena and Progressive Field. The event, to encourage health and physical activity in older adults, includes health screenings. To register, visit cleveland2013.com and click on “2013 Summer National Senior Games” then “Year of Vitality” or call Brian at 216-363-1512.

Article written by Jennifer Rooney, project coordinator with the Cleveland Department of Aging.