Green was Oakland's mother. She spent decades feeding and clothing the poor, volunteering at schools, collecting blankets for the homeless and even fighting to install streetlights in neighborhoods where there were none.
The honors "Mom Green" received over her 77 years fill a wall. The people whose lives she touched, even after she was diagnosed with lung cancer, filled a church.
"She didn't just want you to serve. She wanted you to understand the people that she served," Desley Brooks from the Oakland City Council said.
When Oakland police or firefighters found someone who needed help, they knew who to call.
"The amazing thing about Mom Green is that Mom Green did that for the entire Oakland community every single day of her life," Oakland firefighter James Whitty said.
When mom green found someone in need, she knew who to call too.
"I can recall the days when she would call and say I need you. I'd say 'when' and she'd say now. I need you to drop something off in that police car," Margaret Dixon from the Oakland Police Department said.
She leaves behind a legacy of love and a motto to live by: "You can't help everybody, but you have to do what you can."
