CLARA LEE WILLIAMS JACOBS has given the last 23 years of her life as a foster parent to children whose own families are so dysfunctional that San Mateo County Child Protection Services must intervene. In 1970, she attended one of the first classes in Model Approach to Partnerships in Parenting offered by san Mateo County government and currently serves as a trainer for these classes. When her own son was born deaf, she was determined that this handicap would not be an excuse for failure and she encouraged and empowered him to be independent. She has been honored by San Mateo County Social Services Department in 1989 and by the Palo Alto Sertoma Club in 1987. Her nomination notes that she rarely attends social gatherings, and her last vacation was in 1984.
