Members of the Coconut Grove community gathered last week to celebrate civil rights advocate Thelma Vernell Anderson Gibson, whose life reflects Miami’s long fight for equality, as she turned 99 on Dec. 17.
The birthday luncheon fundraiser, held Friday at the Woman’s Club of Coconut Grove, honored nearly a century of service while supporting the next chapter of the Thelma Gibson Health Initiative (TGHI), which is working to establish a permanent home. Gibson was unable to attend due to a hospital stay.
“I am so happy that you were able to be there to help fund this new office that we want to make on Grand Avenue address and have a permanent office for the Thelma Gibson Health Initiative,” Gibson shared with attendees in a recorded message.
Thelma Gibson seen here in a recorded message presented on her 99th birthday luncheon on Friday, Dec. 19, 2025.
(Instagram@damianpardomiami)
“The fact that God let me live this long is all that I’m really thankful for, and the fact that I’ve been able to do whatever I could to help make change take place,” she told The Miami Herald earlier this month.
A trailblazer
Born Dec. 17, 1926, on Charles Street, formerly known as Evangelist Street, Gibson grew up in Coconut Grove’s segregated “Colored Town” in a home without electricity or running water. She graduated from George Washington Carver High School in February 1944, coming of age during a time when Jim Crow laws influenced nearly every aspect of daily life. She later became one of the first Black nurses hired at Jackson Memorial Hospital.
Thelma Gibson in the early years of her nursing career. / Forbearance: Thelma Vernell Anderson Gibson: the life story of a Coconut Grove native.
Gibson attended nursing school through the federal Cadet Nurse Corps, a World War II–era program created to address nationwide shortages. After graduating from St. Agnes Hospital Nursing School in 1947, she was hired at Jackson. Upon arrival, segregation barred her from working in the operating room, but she continuedadvancing her education while mentoring young people.
Gibson pursued advanced nursing studies at Catholic University, Florida A&M, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and the University of Miami, later earning a bachelor’s degree in nursing education from Teachers College, Columbia University. Returning to Miami, she became the first African American assistant supervisor at the Miami-Dade County Department of Health.
(L/R) Katrinka Cox, TGHI’s Board Member; Merline Barton, TGHI’s president; and Eric Knowles, TGHI’s Board of Directors Chair.
(Amelia Orjuela Da Silva for The Miami Times)
“Thelma overcame hardship and discrimination as a young, ambitious woman,” said Merline Barton, president and founder of TGHI. “She took that adversity and turned it into a lifelong commitment to fighting for herself and others in Coconut Grove. She paved the path for so many of us now building companies, organizations, and brands in Miami.”
In 1967, Gibson married the Rev. Theodore Gibson, a pioneering Episcopal priest and civil rights leader who later served on the Miami City Commission. Together, they advocated for desegregation and basic infrastructure improvements in historically Black neighborhoods.
“Her birthday celebration is a celebration of her life, but also of the work she and her husband did for many years building our community. Coconut Grove is Thelma Gibson.” -G. Eric Knowles, TGHI’s Board Chair
(Amelia Orjuela Da Silva for The Miami Times)
“Father Gibson was the force behind having running water and toilets in homes back in the day, and she continued that legacy,” said G. Eric Knowles, president of the Miami-Dade Chamber of Commerce and chair of TGHI’s board of trustees.
Though Gibson officially retired from nursing in 1980, her civic work expanded. In 1983, she established the Theodore Gibson Memorial Fund, which helped create the Gibson Plaza Community and Educational Center and supported youth STEM initiatives. She later helped form the Miami-Dade Women’s Chamber of Commerce and worked through the Coconut Grove Local Development Corporation to expand affordable housing, eliminate blight, and create youth programs.
“Her birthday celebration is a celebration of her life,” Knowles said, “but also of the work she and her husband did for many years building our community. Coconut Grove is Thelma Gibson.”
A resolution from Miami-Dade County presented to Theodore and Thelma Gibson, c. 1981.
(Courtesy of Episcopal Archives)
What’s next for TGHI
Founded in 2000 by Barton and Cherry Smart and named in Gibson’s honor, TGHI has spent 25 years addressing HIV/AIDS, mental health, illiteracy, substance use, housing instability, youth violence, and poverty across Miami-Dade County.
TGHI has spent 25 years addressing HIV/AIDS, mental health, illiteracy, substance use, housing instability, youth violence, and poverty across Miami-Dade County.
(Amelia Orjuela Da Silva for The Miami Times)
Although Gibson often reminds people that she did not found the organization, she did serve as a founding sponsor and remains its moral compass.
“Her life’s philosophy is that everyone deserves the opportunity to better their lives. Everyone deserves quality healthcare,” Barton said.
TGHI recently purchased a property at 3753 Washington Ave., which the organization plans to convert into its permanent headquarters. While the property’s legal address is Washington Avenue, leaders are working with City of Miami Commissioner Damian Pardo to change the frontage to Grand Avenue, a symbolic move in a rapidly gentrifying corridor.
Thelma Gibson at TGHI on her 98th birthday in 2024.
(Amelia Orjuela Da Silva for The Miami Times)
“Right now, you won’t see too many faces like mine or like ours owning property on Grand Avenue with the development that’s taken place,” said Barton. “This was very important for Mrs. Gibson, that we, Black and brown Americans, own property on Grand Avenue.”
Jordan Thomas, TGHI’s director of strategic initiatives, said the birthday luncheon marked a turning point in securing funds for the project.
“This event was a pivotal action for us to hopefully have enough funds to get the vision that we want, for this to be a permanent home for Thelma Gibson Health Initiative,” Thomas said. “We’re always serving the community that’s here.”
(L/R) Jordan Thomas, TGHI’s director of strategic initiatives, and Merline Barton, TGHI’s president and founder.
(Amelia Orjuela Da Silva for The Miami Times)
More than $70,000 was raised through a silent auction of donated luxury goods and services from local businesses and ongoing fundraising efforts. The two-story house will be converted into office space and later integrated into a broader affordable housing strategy. TGHI plans to collaborate with the Collaborative Development Corporation (CDC), which will build approximately 70 housing units adjacent to the site.
“Affordable housing is the biggest need,” Thomas said. “We’ll help make sure people have jobs, their credit is right, and they’re supported, and then provide them a home.”
The new office is expected to be operational by the end of next year.
Memories of a matriarch
Beyond her public legacy, Gibson is deeply devoted to family. Her nieces, Vanessa Anderson Murray and Kaye Woodard, described an aunt who balanced trailblazing work with unwavering personal attention.
“She has 21 nieces and nephews, and even more grand-nieces and nephews, and she calls every single one of us on our birthdays,” Woodard said. “She sings ‘Happy Birthday’ every time. Even at 99.”
Both said they only fully grasped the scope of Gibson’s impact as they grew older.
Thelma Vernell Anderson Gibson is considered the matriarch of Coconut Grove.
(Courtesy of TGHI)
“I knew she was born and raised in Coconut Grove and that this is the community that she loves and supports,” Anderson Murray said. “But it wasn’t until high school that I realized all the obstacles she had overcome as a young woman.”
Family traditions anchored their memories: Christmas Eve church services, celebrations at Gibson’s home, and her presence at every graduation, no matter the distance.
Thomas, who was once held by Gibson as a baby and later returned to serve TGHI after college, described her as the organization’s guiding force.
“Ms. Gibson is a matriarch to The Grove,” Thomas said. “She’s a role model for anyone who feels like opportunities aren’t available. Some people advocate for you, and you can make the impossible possible just as she has done. She is that living example that you can do it too.”
Miami-Dade County Commissioner Raquel Regalado, who presented a proclamation naming Dec. 19 Thelma Gibson Day in Coconut Grove, recalled Gibson’s service as an interim Miami city commissioner in 1997.
“Every time we asked Thelma to do something, she said yes,” Regalado said. “She was always there.”
Looking forward
Celebrating Gibson’s 99th birthday with a fundraiser, Barton said, symbolizes more than longevity; it represents continuity.
“It symbolizes a legacy that Ms. Gibson has left behind for people who have felt underrepresented in Miami-Dade County, to always be a beacon of light,” she said.
For Gibson’s nieces, the moment is about what comes next.
“We’re happy for you,” Anderson Murray said. “When you turn 100, we’re going to celebrate big. All 21 nieces and nephews will be here to honor her legacy.”
Woodard said Gibson’s influence spans generations.
“She has inspired not just the next generation, but the generation after that. Her legacy is that we will all continue to serve.”