HOUSTON — About 80 miles southwest of Houston you’ll find the “goose capital of the world”, Eagle Lake, Texas.

It was there, in the small rice farming community, that a remarkable woman was born and grew up, Daisy Stiner. “I graduated from high school there. The first girl in my family to graduate and go to college,” Stiner said.

Stiner studied at Prairie View A&M before going on to get her master’s degree at another Historically Black College, Texas Southern University. Stiner credits her brother for showing her, her true passion. “He introduced me to this new and exciting field, called ‘social work’. He said ‘you’ll be able to go out and help people’,” recalled Stiner.

Since then, Stiner has built a life and career around helping people through social work and civic engagement. She came out of retirement, about 7 years ago, to take on the role of the executive director of the Julia C. Hester House. A neighborhood close to her heart and family.

“My husband’s family is from the Fifth Ward. Hester House is in the Fifth Ward. And it was an opportunity for me to continue my social work and civic engagement,” said Stiner.

Since being established in 1943, Hester House has been so much more than just a community center it stands as a beacon of hope for underprivileged youth. And Stiner hopes to inspire other young women, like herself.

Her main piece of advice? “It’s just ‘stick-to-it-ness. That’s the word my mother taught me,” said Stiner.

Stiner says her mother is the remarkable woman who has inspired her. Coming from a family of 12, she says her mother only had an 8th grade education. She like so many had to drop out to help on the family farm.

“But the most important thing to her was education. She always said if you get an education, you’ll be able to go places and do anything you want to do. So, she’s been my inspiration all these years. And that’s my mother, Marjorie,” said Stiner.

Invaluable life lessons that helped mold Daisy Stiner into the remarkable woman she is today.