Mary Herbenick has been inspired to build community ever since she moved to Greensboro. After helping to spearhead Ready for School, Ready for Life, she has recently taken a position at The Kellin Foundation as Director of Development and Resiliency.
Mary grew up in Dayton, OH which she describes as being very similar in size to Greensboro, but says Greensboro has special qualities she hasn’t experienced in other places she has lived. She came here for her ex-husband’s work and landed in Lindley Park. She immediately felt connected through her neighborhood, school and eventually the wider Guilford County community. She warmed to the way residents look out for each other and pulled together to help their neighbors. Mary thinks that this culture stems from Greensboro’s Quaker roots or fighting for justice during the Civil Rights Movement.
She is thrilled to be working with The Kellin Foundation. The foundation is a direct service mental health provider to 10,000 residents of Guilford County. They provide quality mental health services to the uninsured and underinsured. They work together with many other community agencies such as the Greensboro Police Department and Guilford County Schools. One of their foci is trauma informed care. Many people have experienced trauma that is affecting their lives and their children’s lives. Kellin Foundation and Duke University operate the only 2 trauma focused care organizations in our state.
Mary’s focus in helping Kellin build a resilient community is to facilitate us to understand and support those dealing with and/or experiencing trauma. This involves working to change challenging systems, especially those that perpetuate social and racial injustice. The issues our community and others consistently are working to prevent (homelessness, food insecurity, joblessness, mental health issues, violence) are often the symptoms of these injustices. This trauma informed piece essentially is how we can better care for each other.
She says funders can make a difference by taking a systemic approach to funding assuring their contributions are helping to solve our most pressing needs as a community.
Mary has love and faith in her Guilford county home and is working to help us as a community dig into our deep and far reaching prejudices and live up to Greensboro’s history in the fight for social justice.
Author: Carrie Little