Cynthia Yvonne Anderson Hernandez, age 64, of Dawsonville, Georgia, passed away on February 7, 2024. She was born in Onslow, North Carolina, on August 24, 1959, to the late Edward Rudolph Anderson, Sr. and the late Martha Elizabeth Baldree Anderson.

In addition to her parents, she is preceded in death by her brother, Edward Anderson, Jr.

Survivors include her sons and daughters-in-laws Dustin and Tasha Green of Ellijay, Drue and Kristen Green of Carnesville; daughter and son-in-law Marisa and Jose Luque of Dawsonville; grandchildren Jakob Freeman, Kaleb Freeman, Annahbelle Green, Andrue Green, Abigail Green, Briar Green, Emersyn Green, Carson Green, Mateo Luque; and nephew Andy Anderson (Olivia).

Cynthia had a passion for helping migrant farm workers and making their lives better. Her love for this underserved population began as a journalist covering stories about migrant farm work. This assignment turned into a life mission for Cynthia. The opportunity to make an impact for this vulnerable group presented itself when she moved to southwest Georgia. Because southwest Georgia is a huge agricultural community—growing and harvesting year-round, she was met head-on by the difficult and backbreaking work of these laborers that affected their health...and there was no care!

Working for the Colquitt County Board of Education, providing social services to families and students, she quickly identified the many needs of the local community. She engaged in community-level work to establish a Head Start Program that provided services in English and Spanish. Here, she envisioned creating a Farm Worker Health Clinic to serve the migrant workers in the community. She started a small clinic in the unused Ellenton Fire Department in the mid-1990s, finding a team dedicated to helping provide care. She wrote grants and was awarded funds to build a new clinic, which is in use today. The Ellenton Georgia Farmworker Health Program, a federally funded Farmworker Clinic serving a 4-county area, opened its doors, providing cost-effective and culturally appropriate primary care where she was proud to be the Clinic Director. To support this effort, she hired former farmworkers who had worked in the fields to be the clinic outreach workers. This staff, who understood the challenges of farm work, became a vibrant family dedicated to helping the men and women who worked in the fields.

Cynthia worked with community partners, farm owners, Southwest Georgia AHEC, Georgia Migrant Education, and Emory University School of Nursing's Farm Worker Family Program, among others, to deliver healthcare services. Each summer, Emory SON's special program offered additional health services in the fields and schools to support the workers and families in need of care. Cynthia crisscrossed the fields in her counties and spoke to farmers and farm workers alike, learning what she might be able to accomplish to enhance their lives. She helped to develop additional programs including afterschool services, providing clinical hours for students from many colleges across Georgia, and offering mobile clinic events with staff going to the workers to offer care.

Even when diagnosed with cancer in 2006, she continued to manage the clinic while seeking care for her own health needs. Her strength was her love for the people she served and even through a stem cell transplant, she still worried and focused on her clinic and the workers. Health issues forced retirement, but nothing ever diminished her love for the community she had dedicated herself to serving.

A celebration of life was held on Sunday, February 11, 2024, at Anderson-Underwood Funeral Home in Dahlonega.

To share a memory or a condolence with the family, please visit Mrs. Cynthia's online guestbook at andersonunderwood.com.

Anderson-Underwood Funeral Home 2068 Highway 19 North, Dahlonega, GA 30533