Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, November 19, 1995 TAG: 9511200003
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BETSY BIESENBACH STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Wendy Moore's welcome back to her old job was probably a little bit warmer than she had expected. In fact, it was downright hot.
Moore, who was executive director of Roanoke Area Ministries from 1985 to 1990, returned to RAM in August, after the resignation of Julie Hollingsworth as director.
Weeks after her return, Moore found herself square in the middle of a disagreement between RAM and David Hayden, the founder of Justice House, a residence for poor and formerly homeless people, over how much help the agency had promised the tenants after Hayden resigned as their building manager.
In the end, the residents of Justice House had to move when their buildings were condemned after electricity and water were shut off for nonpayment. But with RAM's help, everyone who needed assistance was able to find a new home, and the whole process went smoothly, Moore said.
Roanoke Area Ministries is a 27-year-old organization that operates the area's only day shelter for the homeless. The center is supported by nearly 200 churches, synagogues and businesses in the Roanoke Valley.
Approximately 200 to 250 people show up each day, Moore said. Last year, the agency served 41,000 free hot meals to the hungry.
RAM also operates an emergency financial assistance program, which helps people with emergency needs, such as rent payments, utility bills, medical expenses and food.
Much of the money for the program comes from the Good Neighbors Fund, sponsored by The Roanoke Times. Last year, the fund raised $102,525 to help RAM. Every penny raised goes to the needy; none of it is spent on administrative costs. In fact, much of RAM's work is done by volunteers, Moore said.
Some of the funds are distributed by the Presbyterian Community Center, which is supported by 22 area churches.
Last year, RAM gave out $165,000 in emergency financial assistance to 2,800 individuals and families.
The way Moore handled the Justice House situation "was a good example of her leadership," said Ken Lane, president of RAM's board of directors and pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church.
Moore combined "genuine caring for people" with good communication and problem-solving skills to help resolve the situation, he said.
The fact that Moore came into the job already familiar with the community, the agency and many of the churches that support it "is a real advantage," Lane said. She very quickly developed a rapport with the board, the staff and the volunteers, he said.
"I haven't seen any real difference" in the way RAM operates since Moore took over, agreed Gene Meador, who has been a volunteer with the organization for the past four years. Hollingsworth and Moore seem to have the same level of commitment to the job, he said.
Despite the rough start, Moore says she's glad to be back.
"I love coming here every day," she said. "A few of us are lucky enough that our avocations are our vocations."
Moore resigned in 1990 to spend more time with her children and to pursue a master's degree in liberal studies from Hollins College, which she is still working on.
"With two kids in college, we can't all go at the same time," she said.
In between, she kept up her work as a volunteer with various civic and charitable organizations, most recently with the Foundation for the Roanoke Valley, which she joined in 1993.
"I came from a family that always believed in giving back to the community," she said. In the 1940s and 1950s, her parents were involved with the NAACP and with various political campaigns.
They taught her that getting involved "is your duty to the country."
Besides, she said, "I have a blessed personal life. I have a good marriage, a healthy family, and I feel I should give something back."
Perhaps the biggest contribution Moore made to the agency during her first tenure was the opening of the day shelter in 1987. It began with 23 guests and a menu of hot dogs and beans; $10,000 raised by Ken Patrick, then-president of the board; and plenty of volunteer labor.
Because of the success of the day shelter, her name "was synonymous with the organization," Frank Mueller, president of the board when Moore resigned, said in a 1990 interview.
The biggest changes Moore has seen since her return is an increase in the number of younger people and families who show up at RAM's day shelter and for emergency financial assistance.
Families are losing their livelihoods because of corporate downsizing, she said. "These are very needy people."
Also, the number of people asking for assistance with medical bills has doubled, she said. Many middle-class people do not have health insurance anymore. And, unlike those who have been poor all their lives and know how the system works, "these people don't know where to go" for help.
"It's an unusual situation for them." Some of them even insist on paying the agency back, Moore said.
Although running RAM's existing programs should be enough to keep Moore busy, she already has plans for some new projects.
First of all, she said, the agency plans to co-sponsor next year's CROP walk, an annual event that raises money for the hungry.
She'd also like to be able to help some of RAM's clients with job placement, as well as training and GED programs. She'd like to provide meeting space for Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous, too.
Another change involves her personal life. During her first stint at RAM, she said, she often put in 60 to 70 hours a week, and then took her worries home with her. This time around, she plans to relax more.
It's easy to get burned out in her profession, she said, but the key to preventing it is to remember that the poor will always be with us and to "accept what you can do, knowing that you can always help some people."
Checks made payable to the Good Neighbors Fund should be mailed to The Roanoke Times, P.O. Box 1951, Roanoke, VA 24008.
Names - but not donation amounts - of contributing businesses, individuals or organizations, as well as memorial and honorific designations, will be listed in the newspaper. Those requesting that their names not be used will remain anonymous. If no preference is stated, the donor's name will be listed.
by CNB