Sabbatical Grants Awarded by Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation

Five Nonprofit Executives Receive $25,000 Grants

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (July 7, 2006) - The Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation has awarded grants of $25,000 each to five leaders from North Carolina’s nonprofit community through its annual Z. Smith Reynolds Sabbatical Program. The sabbaticals allow nonprofit leaders to take extended breaks from their jobs to relax, revitalize, and gain new energy.

This year’s winners are:

• Catherine Ann Ahrendsen, Executive Director of A Helping Hand, Chapel Hill
• Mary Tay Bynum, Executive Director of Homekeeping Mortgage Default Counseling, Greensboro
• Dorothy Hunt, Executive Director of Life Line Outreach, Henderson
• Alan McGregor, Director of Philanthropic Programs at the Southern Rural Development Initiative, Asheville
• Leah Wise, Executive Director of Southeast Regional Economic Justice Network, Durham

The Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation established the sabbatical program 17 years ago.  Foundation trustees saw that some of the most creative and inspired leaders in North Carolina’s nonprofit community were suffering from burnout from the daily challenges of sustaining and effectively managing a nonprofit. The sabbaticals may last from three to six months.  Recipients structure their time away as they choose - to travel, work on special projects, spend time with family, read, relax or simply reflect. 

“Burnout among experienced nonprofit professionals is a serious problem,” Thomas W. Ross, Executive Director of the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, said. “They often go non-stop, often juggling fundraising responsibilities with programming, human resources, and other duties.  After awhile, it becomes the only lifestyle they know, and they suffer professionally and at a personal level.  We make it possible for sabbatical recipients to walk out the door without worrying about how to cover personal expenses or ensure the organization will have adequate leadership in their absence.  They get time and space to clear their minds, renew their spirits, adjust their lifestyles, and get a fresh perspective on life.”

Catherine Ann Ahrendsen has been Executive Director of A Helping Hand for 10 years. In 1995, Ahrendsen founded A Helping Hand in Chapel Hill to help foster independence and dignity for senior citizens and the disabled by providing companion care, transportation, assistance with errands, meal preparation, light housekeeping and correspondence.

“A sabbatical will make a difference in my future work because it will provide an opportunity to think beyond the way our organization now operates.  I believe that some time and distance from the everyday stress will result in opening my mind to the many possibilities for this organization,” said Ahrendsen.  “These include, but are not limited to, new approaches to companion recruitment and training, grant seeking, creative ways to attract individual donors and the development of more community partnerships.”

Mary Tay Bynum has served as Executive Director for Homekeeping Mortgage Default Counseling for eight years and has worked in the nonprofit sector for 27 years.  From her home office, Bynum provides pre-homeownership and post-homeownership counseling to homebuyers and homeowners with housing retention being the main objective.  Housing retention is achieved through intense budgeting, advice and lender intervention, when required, to prevent foreclosure.

“This agency has overcome many financial challenges to be able to continue delivering services.  We have never turned a client away and have experienced a success rate of more than ninety-percent for more than five years,” said Bynum. “I cannot imagine doing anything else more gratifying.  I would, however, love to have a break from day-to-day stress for a short time to rejuvenate and prepare a document to leave for those who follow me.”

Dorothy Hunt has spent 22 years as Executive Director for Life Line Outreach, a shelter for women and children in crisis.  Life Line Outreach began in Henderson in 1984 and currently offers shelter, food, clothing, education and counseling to women suffering from domestic violence and substance abuse.

“I think this will be a rejuvenation of my desire to help the homeless and will renew my commitment to Life Line Outreach,” Hunt said. “I see myself looking forward to my return with a fresh outlook and a rekindling of new ideas.”

Alan McGregor has been working in the nonprofit sector for 32 years, and the last 11 have been with the Southern Rural Development Initiative (SRDI). Eight years ago, he became the Director of Philanthropic Services.  SRDI supports rural communities in their efforts to discover and use local assets for community-based development and homegrown philanthropy.

Deborah Warren, Executive Director of SRDI said, “Alan is a true leader in the North Carolina, southern and national non-profit world, combining a strong vision with the tenacity and skills to move that vision forward.  Working at the intersection of grassroots empowerment and southern philanthropy, Alan continues to reinvent the field.  We need at least two or more decades of his incredible work and this Sabbatical will help to get him on a personally sustainable and healthful path.”

Leah Wise has been Executive Director of the Southeast Regional Economic Justice Network (REJN) for 16 years.   REJN’s mission is to build an inclusive grassroots movement to create an economy with broad opportunities and to enable Southern communities to understand and respond to economic restructuring and negative impacts of globalization.

“The challenges associated with operating a regional network and providing assistance to members of the Network is demanding within itself.  We cannot afford as champions of this movement to lose such a valuable warrior,” said Donna Latimer, Executive Director, New Life Women’s Leadership.

The recipients of the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation sabbaticals were selected on the basis of the need for a break from the stresses and challenges of their work environment, the innovation and creativity they have demonstrated in their past work achievements, and their potential to continue to make significant contributions to public service.  They must have worked at their nonprofit for three years, two of which must have been in the leadership position.

The sabbatical program was initiated in 1990 as an annual initiative of the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation. The Foundation was established in 1936 as a memorial to the youngest child of R.J. and Katharine Smith Reynolds.  During its history, Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation has made grants of more than $382 million to projects in all 100 counties in North Carolina.  The Foundation’s current areas of major interest are community economic development, democracy and civic engagement, the environment, pre-collegiate education, and social justice and equity.

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Persons desiring more information about the sabbatical program should visit www.zsr.org, write or call:  

Sabbatical Program Coordinator, Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, 147 South Cherry Street, Suite 200, Winston-Salem, NC 27101-5287 (336) 725-7541 or (800) 443-8319.