Evelyn Foster has worked at Michigan for 40 years. During that time, she raised three sons and never stopped tending to the lives and needs of others.

As UMHS Entrance Services Manager, she and her staff work round the clock to serve the patients, guests, families and vendors who come to any one of the six U-M hospital entrances-East Ann Arbor, Kellogg, Cardiovascular, Cancer Center, University Hospital and Taubman entrances.

Early Career: From Custodian to Supervisor

Evelyn started working at the U-M in 1973, as a custodian, while attending Eastern to get her B.S. in Social Work. In 1976 she became supervisor in custodial services. She graduated with her social work degree, yet stayed at the U-M, because "working with the staff and the patients here in the hospital felt like social work."

In 1980, she moved to campus housing as supervisor. She worked in the dorms, including Mary Markley and Oxford Housing. Back then, she says, "the kids weren't held as accountable for the messes they created. There wasn't recycling then, so everything was just thrown out. Move out was always an event."

When the business school's Executive Residence was completed, she supervised the opening of that facility, before returning in 1990 to the U-M Hospitals, as Entrance Services manager, where she has been, since.

Evelyn's life in some ways mirrors her mother's. Her mother, Annie Hamlin, now deceased, also worked for 40 years at U-M, as a clerical assistant in clinical research. "Mom had good managers, I had good managers. My dad wasn't in the picture," says Evelyn. She keeps photographs and loving mementos of her mother and sons above her desk.

Her sons, ages 35, 32, and 23, each worked for a time at U-M, in parking and transportation. "That's three generations!" she says proudly.

Is her job stressful? It can be, she says. "I like to see our patients and visitors taken care of, so if I hear that there's a problemthen that becomes stressful, because I like to try and fix it.

"I have been the fixer since I was a little girl," she says with a smile. "When I was a little girl everyone called me mama!" Evelyn is soft-spoken, and laughs easily, quickly putting people at ease.

You Have to Like People

She says, "You have to like people, to be a customer service person. That is number one. If you don't like people, this is not the job for you."

Her grace under pressure and the hospitality of her staff have resulted in many Making A Difference awards. "I'm very proud that people see our staff as very helpful," she says. "Visitors appreciate when someone greets them at the car every day when they come." It makes coming to the hospital a lot easier, she says, because no one really wants to come to the hospital.

"We are the first person that people see when they get here, so whatever impression they get at that front door, can travel with them until they leave. If we can make it better on the way in, it makes it better for the staff that they are going to see, and when they leave, if there's a problem and we can help assist them before they leave here, that makes it better as well," she says.

A sadness hits when the patients who were coming multiple times a week suddenly stop. "It's still hard when someone you get to know passes. Families come back and tell you."

"Being a social worker is what I always wanted to be," she says. "I was going to fix the world with kids. I was going to work in child abuse. But I was offered this position and it just grew on me and I stayed."

Even outside of her job, Evelyn finds time to continue giving. "I am also the financial secretary for my church, the financial person for the Huron Braves (a little league community football team in Ypsilanti), and a sorority member in Delta Sigma Theta."

When she retires, she says, it will be as head of UMHS Guest Services.

"That's what I am-a customer service person."