Addie Carroll-Beal has found joy by living her life with purpose and serving others. She was born and raised in Memphis, Tennessee, one of four children and the only girl in her family. Raised by a single mother, during the time of segregation, she felt protected by her loving family. Her greatest influences during her early life were her mother, brothers, church community, teachers, neighbors, and friends. Some of her childhood friends are still friends to this day. Addie’s heart for service originated when she began volunteering with her church, school and community as a child. She graduated from high school on a career track as a licensed Cosmetologist.
After high school, Addie married and moved to Los Angeles, CA, and she has one son, Taurence Kevin Powells. She attended college with a major in Social Work and worked in financial services and banking for over 20 years.
Following the civil unrest in Los Angeles associated with the 1992 Rodney King riots, Addie volunteered to help rebuild her community. In 1993 she had an opportunity to relocate to Tallahassee. Addie states that she has “always been on the core people and business career path.” Her first career in Tallahassee was as a therapeutic assistant working with troubled teen girls at DISC Village, a behavioral health services center, and created and facilitated a 12-step Nar anon group program for family members in the community. Later, she served in Benefits Administration as a Licensed Health and Variable Annuity Agent and serviced thirteen state agency employees’ voluntary benefits. She contracted with insurance companies for state benefits. After retiring, she served as the Volunteer and Participant Coordinator for the Tallahassee Senior Center. In Tallahassee, Addie met and married the love of her life, Allen Beal, 1 SG, USA Retired but sadly lost him to pancreatic cancer in 2012.
Since retirement, Addie has had many accomplishments and held numerous volunteer positions. She has served on the executive boards of the Capital City Garden Club (Petunia Circle), Veterans Event Tallahassee (V.E.T., Inc.) and the Tallahassee Senior Center Advisory Council. She had done fundraising for the Hirschberg Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer research. As a trained Stephen Minister with St. John’s Episcopal Church, she provides one-to-one care for people experiencing challenges in life. Other volunteer positions include the Riley House Museum Blended Lives program, AARP, SHINE, Reading Pals, Citizens Review Team, Tallahassee African American Genealogical Society (TAAGS), and Unity Eastside Church (Executive Board, Hospitality, Prayer Chaplain, and Congregational Care).
Recently Addie served on the Leon County – Visit Tallahassee Bicentennial team helping our community celebrate 200 hundred years of the rich history of Tallahassee and Leon County. One of Addie’s proudest accomplishments after retirement was fulfilling her lifelong dream of completing her bachelor’s degree in social work at Florida A & M University. During her time as a student at FAMU, she honed many skills such as research and resources that focused on the aging community, with an internship at Advantage Aging Solutions Serving Health Insurance Needs of Elders (SHINE) program. She has been able to apply these skills to her volunteer work.
In addition to her tireless volunteering, Addie stays active and fit by walking, chair yoga, attending musicals and plays, gardening, and traveling. Her favorite vacation was an Alaskan cruise with family. She enjoys inspirational and motivational readings, writing, journaling, poetry, and attending concerts. She loves music, particularly gospel and jazz. In the future she dreams of travelling to Europe, something she and her husband had planned to do before he passed.
During some of the great challenges of her life, such as experiencing the civil unrest during the Rodney King riots, and learning to embrace life as a widow after losing her beloved husband to cancer, Addie always felt the power and presence of God and listened to the voice in her head that told her “I am enough.”
Inspiring others to serve and find purpose through serving has brought Addie the most joy during her lifetime of helping others. Her advice to other people who want to make a difference is to “Live with propose and love without limits.”
