Fountain Of Youth: Age Doesn't Stop 95-Year-Old Nancy Dawkins From Making A Difference In Her Community

MIAMI (CBSMiami)- For decades, this 95-year-old former teacher has made it her mission to make a difference in her community and stand up for what is right.

Until this day, she continues to do so.

Nancy Dawkins is a force to be reckoned with.

She is a Liberty City pioneer who never takes no for an answer.

"I am not afraid to speak up and ask questions," said Dawkins."I am a spokesperson for the community because if they have all that noise over there in the park they'll call me to call the police.  The police know me.  I am the block captain."

It's a community she knows all too well.

She along with her late husband, Miller Dawkins, who served as a Miami City Commissioner for years, moved into their Liberty City home more than 60 years ago. Since then, she has worked tirelessly to make her community a better place.

"She is someone who has a tireless and boundless amounts of energy.  She is someone who understands the way the city functions and when it's not functioning.  She is not afraid to pull the ear of her adopted grandson the Mayor of Miami," said City of Miami Mayor Frances Suarez.

Her late husband was commissioner when Mayor Suarez's father, Xavier Suarez, was the Mayor of Miami.

It's her way or the highway, literally.

In 2017, the City of Miami named Northwest 50th St from 12th to 17th avenues as 'Mrs. Nancy S. Dawkins Way,' for all of her hard work and dedication to the community.

She attended Bethune-Cookman University in the early 1940s and graduated from Florida A&M in 1946.

Dawkins went on to teach at several schools in Miami for 35 years, leaving a lasting impact and until this day she continues to do so everywhere she goes even the airports.

"They take my passport and they look at it and say you don't look 95 and I say well how am I supposed to look?" said Dawkins.

She still loves to travel and hit the road.

She drives short distances and not at night.  She said she is smart, she stays on two lane roads and does not take the expressway.

She is a senior on the go who has found the fountain of youth with her words, community activism and her will to do the right thing.

"Do all you can while you can and go as long as you can. When it's my stopping point I am going to stop," Dawkins said.