For 40 years, she’s had Holy Angels under her wing
Plus: Teen Talk returns with a 'fit check,' A timely crossword; And the top news of the week — City Council approves Spectrum Center renovations — girl falls from Camp Thunderbird zipline
Good morning! Today is Saturday, June 18, 2022. You’re reading The Charlotte Ledger’s Weekend Edition.
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Q&A: Regina Moody leaves a legacy of transforming non-profit for people with disabilities as she steps down as CEO of Holy Angels
Regina Moody (left) is shown here on a trip to Ireland with Maria Morrow, who as a baby was left in the care of the Sisters of Mercy in Belmont by her young mother who worked in a Gaston County textile mill. A 1956 Charlotte Observer column about Morrow went nationwide, and donations came in to form Holy Angels. Morrow became the face of the organization. She died in 2010 at age 54. (Photo courtesy of Regina Moody)
by Cristina Bolling
Regina Moody was a young teacher not long out of college in the 1970s when she found herself in a Gaston County special education classroom in charge of 12 adolescent boys — an “entertaining and challenging” environment that sparked in her a calling toward people with special needs.
The job was supposed to last six months, but she enjoyed it so much that she kept at it for six years, tacking on roles as she went: Special Olympics coach, director of a camp for kids with disabilities and assisting a non-profit for people with special needs.
When she felt called to a move into administration, she earned graduate administrative degrees and became the first lay principal of St. Michael’s Catholic School in Gastonia.
Those experiences paved the path for the role of her lifetime: In 1982, Moody became president and CEO of Holy Angels, a non-profit residential facility founded by the Sisters of Mercy in Belmont serving people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and fragile medical conditions. Back then, Holy Angels served children ages 0-12 in one building, with 35 staff.
Now in its 67th year, the organization serves 83 residents ages 2 to 80 in 10 different homes or residential settings and has a round-the-clock staff of 350.
This month, Moody wraps up 40 years as president and CEO of Holy Angels. Starting July 1, she’ll turn the CEO role over to Kerri Massey, a 24-year veteran of the organization. Moody will continue on part-time as president to oversee some expansion plans, marketing and outreach efforts until January 2023.
Moody spoke with The Ledger last week about the ways caring for people with disabilities have changed over the last four decades, what it’s been like to lead an organization through big shifts and growth, and what lies ahead for her and Holy Angels.
The conversation was edited for brevity and clarity.
Q: Let’s start by going back in time. I imagine things were a lot different 40 years ago in terms of how people with disabilities were cared for. What’s changed since you’ve been doing this work?
When I came here, goal was to move from a “custodial” model of care to a “developmental” model. In the custodial model, the children were loved and cared for. They had a good life. Back in the day, that was considered the best for children with very severe disabilities.
Then, as the field changed and laws changed to assure a fair and equitable public education for children with disabilities, so did the field of services. We began to provide a full array of services so that each child could develop to be the best they can be — a holistic approach.
I had the vision to develop the programs, starting with physical therapy, speech therapy, nursing services, education and social work that were needed to wrap around the children and families we served and to encourage the families to be involved and to be a part of the lives of these children as they became more visible to the community. One of my responsibilities was to try to get any government funding available by meeting licensing and funding requirements and raising money.
As we were trying to develop this model, some of the staff that were here knew they were providing great love and care, but they had to come around to understanding about the programs and education that the children deserved. I had to kind of bring folks along, which I did. I hired some great people in the process.
Q: You’ve not only led the expansion of residential programs, but Holy Angels has also launched full-fledged businesses under your leadership, which put people with disabilities to work in the community. Tell me about those businesses.
We operate four businesses. The first we developed was Cherubs Café on Main Street in downtown Belmont. From there, we opened the Cotton Candy Factory — it’s kind of a like a happy place, with cotton candy and more than 100 nostalgic candies in downtown Belmont. We opened Bliss (art) Gallery three years ago, and it features local, regional and state artists. Seventy percent of the art we feature is from community artists, and 30% is our own residents’ art. The fourth business is The Spruced Goose in McAdenville. They needed a community lunch place there, and it’s similar to Cherub’s.
These businesses give us the opportunity to employ people with and without disabilities. We employ 15 people who we serve in our community group homes, and we also serve another 10 from the community who may live at home and are working for us in a part-time capacity.
Q: Holy Angels seems like a place that could be out of sight, out of mind for a lot of people. How have you been able to get the story and mission in front of the right people to help it grow the way it has?
We have a great mission and a great history and story. Thank God that most people don’t need a place like Holy Angels. But for those that need a place like this, because of the level of care their child needs, we are here to serve.
It’s always been important to share our mission with various groups. Early on my career, I spoke to rotary and really tried to put Holy Angels in the forefront, to make people aware of the very unique and important services we provide. We educated and advocated. I became the voice for the people we served that didn’t have a voice. So did our staff.
We try to help people understand that children and adults with intellectual disabilities are really no different than everybody else — they just learn slower. They might not be able to do everything that you or I could do, but they can do other things. Recognizing and believing in the dignity of each person is so important. And value of the person; that they can contribute and give back. We have this slogan we use: “unconditional love and unlimited possibilities.”
Q: What was it like leading an organization like Holy Angels through Covid? That must have been scary.
When we were aware that the pandemic was coming, we immediately started planning for how to deal with this. We stayed very involved with CaroMont Health and the public health department and we formed a Covid leadership team. Some weeks we met five times a week trying to stay on track. Our first priority was to keep residents and staff safe. We immediately started using PPE. The majority of our residents could not wear masks. Early on, we had only one case with an asymptomatic resident. He had to quarantine 14 days. Fortunately, he came through it and never got very sick.
We had one other case of Covid among our residents, in the thick of the pandemic. That person was a long-term resident. She was in the hospital eight days, in the Covid unit. After eight days she came home and was great. We were very fortunate. We didn’t lose anybody. I think that has so much to do with our infection control practices, our aggressiveness in care and ensuring people had masks.
Having to close our buildings (to the public) was the hardest part. We had to not let people in, whether they were consultants or doctors. We had to figure out how family members could visit and not come in our buildings. We had to close our buildings for six months.
Q: What’s next for you, in semi-retirement? Have you had time to ruminate on the end of a four-decade run?
I’m excited to be able to spend time with my family and traveling, playing golf, riding my bike. We have one son and we have a nephew we’ve raised who’s in college. We have two grandsons, one who is 3 and one who will be 2 in July. They are the love of our lives. So I’m looking forward to spending more time with them. I’m excited about having some time to do things I haven’t had time to do.
I really believe I was led here. I honestly think that things happen for a purpose, and I know God’s hand was in all of my career moves, from being a teacher to being a principal, to being here at Holy Angels for the 40 years I’ve been here. It’s been absolutely tremendous career and a great ministry and mission and certainly a passion.
Cristina Bolling is managing editor of The Ledger: cristina@cltledger.com
Today’s supporting sponsors are ASC’s Cultural Leadership Training Program, which identifies and helps develop emerging leaders into productive board candidates for cultural organizations. Visit ArtsAndScience.org for more information.
… and Soni Brendle:
Teen Talk — Build your vocabulary
School may be out, but this is a great time to keep learning: Impress and delight the teens in your life by using the words they use! The Ledger shows you how in this occasional Saturday feature.
Today’s phrase: Fit check
Pronunciation: “fit check”
Definition: The trend of describing each piece of your outfit on social media, typically including where you bought each item. It’s hugely popular on TikTok.
Used in a sentence: “Fit check! My shirt is from Target, my shorts are from Goodwill, my sandals are from Nordstrom and my necklace is from H&M.”
Ledger analysis: To break it down — the “fit” in fit check refers to the word “outfit,” and “check” refers to checking in with what you’re wearing. Check out this young Charlotte family who have become TikTok influencers with more than 573,000 followers, as they do a fit check before eating lunch out in South End:
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—Cecilia Bolling, age 17
This week’s Charlotte crossword is timely
This week’s Charlotte-themed crossword is impeccably timed — on Father’s Day weekend, and just a couple days after a basketball player with local connections was named MVP of the NBA Finals.
Ledger crosswords are created by Chris King, edited by Tim Whitmire and presented by CXN Advisory. Enjoy!
.PDF (suitable for download and printing):
.PUZ (suitable for use on tablets and computers with Across Lite app):
Ledger crosswords are perfect for vacation or downtime. Check out our dedicated Charlotte Ledger Crossword page.
This week in Charlotte: New home for the Levine Museum; Eastover gets taller; girl falls from zipline at Camp Thunderbird; commissioners talk school funding
On Saturdays, The Ledger sifts through the local news of the week and links to the top articles — even if they appeared somewhere else. We’ll help you get caught up. That’s what Saturdays are for.
Education
School funding: (WSOC) Mecklenburg commissioners took a preliminary vote to provide $30M more to Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools than they did last year. That’s still $10M less than CMS wants, but $10M more than County Manager Dena Diorio initially recommended. CMS asked for $578M from the county.
CMS plans to auction off clear backpacks: (Observer) The district will auction off 46,000 clear backpacks online after spending $440,000 on this security initiative for high school students. The backpacks were not distributed due to a cancer warning that officials found attached to the bags, and have been sitting in storage for months. The auction is scheduled to happen in late June or early July.
Politics
City Council approves Spectrum Center renovations: (WBTV) The Charlotte City Council approved a $215M renovation to the Spectrum Center in a 10-1 vote. The city will also provide the Charlotte Hornets with $60M for a new practice facility and an extended lease of the Spectrum Center through 2045. Renovation money will come from rental and hotel sales tax, and money for the new practice facility will come from new revenue generated by naming rights and other opportunities. The Hornets’ lease will run through 2045.
New uptown route for Silver Line: (Transit Time) The Charlotte Area Transit System proposed a new route for the Silver Line that runs through the middle of uptown by sharing tracks with the existing Blue Line.
Local news
Girl falls from Camp Thunderbird zipline (Ledger 🔒): A 12-year-old girl was rushed to the hospital last week after falling from a zipline at YMCA Camp Thunderbird on Lake Wylie. Parents of campers were informed of the incident in an email, but the YMCA has released no details on how the fall happened or the condition of the camper, citing “privacy.”
New museum location: (Observer) The Levine Museum of the New South will have a new home in a 6,000-s.f. space at Three Wells Fargo Center on South Tryon Street. Wells Fargo will not charge the museum rent for the first three years while museum leaders figure out their long-term real estate needs. The museum’s former location was sold and will become a high-rise apartment building.
More toll lanes for I-77? (Business North Carolina) The N.C. Department of Transportation says it has received a “conceptual, unsolicited proposal” from a private company to work with the state on widening I-77 south of uptown by creating toll lanes. Transportation staffers won’t say who submitted the proposal, but leaders suspect it could be I-77 Mobility Partners, the company that runs the toll lanes between uptown and north Mecklenburg.
Business
Plans for an 8-story building in Eastover: (Ledger 🔒) More tall changes are likely coming to the Eastover neighborhood, as Charlotte developer Roy Goode filed plans for an 8-story building on Providence Road and Altondale Avenue. With 22 condos, 45,000 s.f. of offices and 6,000 s.f. of ground-floor restaurants and retail, the proposed building would be among the tallest in the area, measuring 112 feet. Some nearby residents worry about the effect on being able to turn out of their neighborhood.
Loans to ‘overlooked’ businesses: (QCity Metro) Charlotte-based venture capital firm Black Pearl Global Investments plans to launch a lending division that will make loans to small, Black-owned businesses. The company’s CEO said it plans to make loans to “overlooked segments,” including to “vice industries” like CBD and alcohol and to companies owned by people who were previously incarcerated.
Sports
Davidson says goodbye to basketball coach: (WCNC) Bob McKillop announced his retirement Friday after 33 seasons as Davidson College’s head basketball coach. He finished his career 634-380 with 11 SoCon tournament victories and 10 NCAA Tournament appearances, including an Elite Eight appearance in 2008 with NBA legend Steph Curry on the team. His son, Matt McKillop, will take over his position as Davidson’s coach.
From the Ledger family of newsletters
Blighted ash trees: The bark-devouring emerald ash borer beetle is killing stretches of trees along Mecklenburg County greenways and other places, causing county park staff to scramble to deal with the dead trees. Some areas, like Torrence Creek Greenway in Huntersville, now look like “a moonscape” because of all the dead trees.
Back to the office: For a piece about how businesses are returning to the office, business publication Insider took a look at Bank of America, examining how many employees are reporting to the office and the company’s return-to-office policies.
Hot 🔥 rezonings (🔒): For people who follow development deals, we’ve got the goods on what’s happening around town, according to rezoning filings in the last month. Rezonings filed last month include apartments in SouthPark, Midtown, the Mallard Creek area and Plaza-Midwood, townhomes in Myers Park and duplexes off Sugar Creek.
Wednesday Ledger (🔒):
Air conditioning’s Charlotte roots: With temps in the 90s, this is good week to tell you that the term “air conditioning” is widely credited to a turn-of-the-century Charlotte textile-industry baron.
Center city challenges: In a presentation and Q&A with Charlotte City Council members on Monday, Charlotte Center City Partners CEO Michael Smith said about workers are back in uptown at about 50%, that the pipeline is strong for new business to uptown, and he’s not worried that some employers are shifting their offices from inside the I-277 loop to nearby South End.
Friday Ledger (🔒):
CMS national interview: In an unusual move, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools board chairwoman Elyse Dashew gave a TV interview to a national news outlet on the topic of the district’s handling of student sexual assault allegations. The interview was taped six weeks before the April firing of superintendent Earnest Winston.
Latest in Panthers Rock Hill HQ saga: The general contractor on the failed Carolina Panthers Rock Hill headquarters project says it is owed $68M — more than twice the amount originally estimated.
Ways of Life (🔒):
A father of 8, with a heart for helping: Mario Acitelli was the son of Italian immigrants and the father of eight children who loved helping friends and family navigate life’s many twists and turns. Whether they needed career advice or a lawnmower repaired, he could always be counted on to pitch in. In the last paragraph of his obituary, the family shared a way to carry on his legacy: “Help someone solve something.”
New coach makes his mark: Charlotte FC’s new coach got a win in his first game, and some of the changes he is making are apparent in the way the team played. Plus” the team’s goalkeeper speaks out on a flagrant play, a new practice location, understanding the new TV deal, cheaper seats on the way and a tifo snafu.
A big welcome to new Charlotte Ledger staff writer Lindsey Banks, who joined the Ledger team on Monday!
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Executive editor: Tony Mecia; Managing editor: Cristina Bolling; Staff writer: Lindsey Banks; Contributing editor: Tim Whitmire, CXN Advisory; Contributing photographer/videographer: Kevin Young, The 5 and 2 Project