Joyce Briscoe pauses for a moment while working in her flower garden.

You can’t miss Joyce Hadden Briscoe’s apartment at Livingston Heights.

By Cathy Holt

It’s the one with the brightest colors. Pink, white, and red flowers are planted in front, and a bright red panel beside her door tells you someone special lives there. But her love of beauty doesn’t stop there: she has been responsible for more beautification nearby.

On Saturday, June 25, she organized several neighbors and children to plant flowers donated by Asheville GreenWorks in the entrance area of Livingston Circle. “Even when I lived in New York, I started a program to plant flowers,” she says with a chuckle.

Born in Asheville, she attended Stephens-Lee High School, but she lived in Detroit, Florida, Chicago, and New York for more 35 years. About ten years ago, she returned to Asheville, as have all her brothers and sisters.

Her career has been varied. A few years ago, she operated Rabbit’s (Soul Food) Restaurant on MacDowell Street. She has worked at an Avon factory and sold Avon products. In New York, she owned a tavern, “Urania’s Loft,” for about six years. “We didn’t allow any cursing there, and as a result there were never any fights,” she recalls. “We were like a family—my clientele was awesome.”

Always Looking Out for the Children

Joyce has three grown daughters, Joyce, Angel, and Yvette, living in Maryland and New York. When they were growing up in New York, she often took the kids from her apartment building out to the park and the beach in the family’s van.

Two years ago, her sister Wanda, a supervisor at the YWCA, invited her to become a “Foster Grandparent” there, and she has been going 4-5 days a week ever since to play with the 3-5 age group. The youngsters are interested and bright. “I enjoy the little kids,” said Joyce, “though some have a lot of mouth on them.” The best part? “Just loving them, listening to their little problems, helping them learn to write their names.” Sometimes the little ones cry when they first come to the Y, missing their mothers, so she scoops them up in her arms and comforts them, and finds something fun for them to do. She even spends some of her own money buying games for them.

Showing me a volleyball and badminton set she keeps in her closet, she says proudly, “The kids here at Livingston give me a lot of respect. I bring out the sports equipment for them to play with.” She even managed to get a basketball goal for the neighborhood kids. One day she saw one just lying in a yard neglected, and asked the owner to donate it. He told her she could have it, and even fetched a basketball to go with it. The kids were ecstatic to have their own basketball equipment to play with.

How does she stay so youthful looking and trim at age 63? “I lost over 30 pounds, and I work out at the YWCA. I walk a lot, and I cut down on my food intake,” she says.

Looking elegant in her pink blouse and tapered jeans and heels, I suspect that working with the children also keeps her young!