THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 9, 1994 TAG: 9410090034
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY PERRY PARKS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CAMDEN LENGTH: Long : 110 lines
Almost 25 years ago, Mary Mercer began her public service career by driving back country roads, peering into yards for drying diapers or scattered toys or other signs of households with children.
Her job as a family planning outreach worker was to find parents or newlyweds and offer down-to-earth, frank talk about children's health and birth control. Among her nuggets of wisdom: ``Have 'em by choice and not by chance.''
``I enjoyed going up and down the roads and highways and back woods,'' said Mercer, 60, now a community health assistant in the Pasquotank and Camden offices of the four-county regional health department. ``To my surprise, a lot of people would be glad to see you.
``They would tell you their problems, and if there was anything you could do to help with their problems, you would.''
Mercer has spent so much time helping local folks with their problems - providing information to teens and young mothers, holding women's health meetings in her garage, volunteering in the Pasquotank-Camden Rescue Squad - that a Camden community leader thought she should be recognized.
Winnie Wood, who chairs Camden's Industrial Development Committee, thought of Mercer when she came across a flier from a Raleigh-based women's public policy group.
North Carolina Equity's Women of Color Program was looking for a minority woman who had ``made a difference in the area of promoting and improving women's health,'' the form said. Winners would be recognized at a Fayetteville conference Sept. 30.
``I thought, `This is amazing. A trailblazer in women's health. This is Mary Mercer,' '' Wood said. ``It was destined.''
``The health problems of minority women are . . . way off the scale,'' Wood said. ``I'm delighted to see some emphasis on it and some recognition of those who work in it.''
Mercer was among 28 women across the state honored at the two-day conference, which included discussions on such topics as reproductive health, domestic violence and nutrition.
``I was really proud of her,'' said Ellen Walston, a longtime friend and the organist at Mercer's church, New Sawyer's Creek Baptist in Camden. Walston, 63, went to Fayetteville with Mercer.
``It was really nice,'' she said. ``They couldn't have chosen anybody any better than Mary.''
Born in Camden Dec. 31, 1933, Mercer was raised in Virginia. Pregnant at 14, she dropped out of high school and married. Her first child was born when she was 15, her second a year later. She returned to Camden in 1950, doing farm and domestic work until she shifted to the health department.
She has continued her education with a GED from College of The Albemarle, as well as ongoing emergency medical technician training.
Mercer now works full-time for the health department, helping doctors and nurses tend to patients and keeping rooms stocked with the right equipment. She works in prenatal care, as well as child and adult health.
Her experiences as a teenage mother help her relate to young women when warning them of ``what to expect out there if they go out and take a chance.''
As soon as she's off-duty with the health department, Mercer is on-duty with the rescue squad, where she's a first responder in southern Camden.
When she's beeped any time of night, she rushes to her 1988 Monte Carlo with the red light on her dashboard and her rescue squad license plate. She's often the first on the scene, and she takes patients' vital signs and makes other preparations before the ambulance arrives.
``They tease me,'' said Mercer, whose advanced intermediate status places her one level below paramedic. ``I go out and I've got rollers in my hair and my nightgown. . . . They got a thing about that.''
Mercer, one of the first women to join the squad and the oldest active member, celebrated her 10th anniversary with the crew in December.
Others know Mercer best for her outreach work, particularly her group meetings that allowed women to talk about sensitive subjects in a way they could not anywhere else. Mercer conducted the meetings through the 1970s and into the early '80s, holding them in her garage because no other facilities existed.
``That helped the women cope with their problems, and it meant a lot to them,'' Mercer said. ``They had different questions, a lot of things they wanted to know about their bodies that they was ashamed to ask someone else.''
Wood once served as a guest speaker at one of the ``wide-ranging, wide-open discussions'' that touched on health issues, child discipline and domestic violence.
``Seems to me that those types of things are very effective,'' Wood said. ``The sharing of that is what I remember, their willingness to tell about experiences and their understanding of different kinds of abuse.''
Mercer's co-workers commend her for her sensitivity and her willingness to drop everything to tend to others' needs.
Annette Reel, a nurse-practitioner who's been working with Mercer for more than 20 years, called Mercer her ``right arm.''
``She's about as dedicated as you can find. Hard worker, always there when you need her,'' Reel said. ``I told her she couldn't retire until I retire.''
Others also raise the open question of retirement with Mercer, including the many patients she has known throughout their lives.
``Some of 'em before they were born, and now they're coming in and they're pregnant,'' Mercer said. ``It makes me feel old, really old.
``They say, `Mrs. Mercer, you still here? When are you gonna retire?' I don't know when I'm gonna retire.
``It's something to help the community, to help people,'' she said of her work. ``I guess it's just in my heart. My heart goes out to people that needs help.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photos
LAWRENCE JACKSON/Staff
Mary Mercer received an award from North Carolina Equity's Women of
Color Program for her contributions toward improving women's health.
She was among 28 women across the state honored at a Sept. 30
conference.
by CNB