For 40 years, she’s had Holy Angels under her wing
This article was published in The Charlotte Ledger e-newsletter on June 18, 2022. Find out more and sign up for free here.
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
Need to sign up for this e-newsletter? We offer a free version, as well as paid memberships for full access to all 4 of our local newsletters:
➡️ Learn more about The Charlotte Ledger
The Charlotte Ledger is a locally owned media company that delivers smart and essential news through e-newsletters and on a website. We strive for fairness and accuracy and will correct all known errors. The content reflects the independent editorial judgment of The Charlotte Ledger. Any advertising, paid marketing, or sponsored content will be clearly labeled.
Like what we are doing? Feel free to forward this along and to tell a friend.
Social media: On Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn.
Sponsorship information: email brie@cltledger.com.
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