Dec. 11—Patsy Davis, the executive director of Mountain Projects, Inc. was the woman of the hour last week when she was celebrated at a luncheon upon becoming a member of The Order of the Long Leaf Pine, the highest civilian award given by North Carolina.
The award is bestowed by the governor to persons who have made significant contributions to the state and their communities through exemplary service and exceptional accomplishments.
When accepting the award, a tearful Davis took little credit. Instead she praised her board members, colleagues, family and the Lord.
“If I have done anything good in this world, I thank the Lord,” she told the crowd. “I wasn’t the brightest star in the sky when I was in elementary school, and I had to struggle to get through school, but I got there. Those struggles made me ready for Mountain Projects, when I had to read all those federal regulations.”
Davis has served as the executive director of Mountain Projects, a community action agency that serves Haywood and Jackson counties, for 28 years but started out overseeing the Foster Grandparent program six years earlier.
In some ways, she is a product of the very program she directs.
One of the hallmark programs of Mountain Projects was Head Start, which provided early education, health and family involvement services for children ages 3-5. Davis, who grew up in Jackson County, was one of the Head Start children in her early years. She received a degree in early childhood education from Southwestern Community College before receiving a bachelor’s degree in social work from Western Carolina University.
During her college years, she held down two jobs and was named the 1987 “Outstanding Graduate of the Social Work Department” at WCU.
Her first job after college was in various management positions at McDonalds, but she transferred to Mountain Projects in 1990, where she has worked ever since.
Davis has helped Mountain Projects expand into 22 different programs with a total annual budget of $16 million.
Her nomination included samples of the more than 160 news articles about Mountain Projects through her tenure.
Davis’ genuine empathy for clients and her eagerness to use the talents of diverse community leaders helped her break new ground, said Bob Leatherwood, Davis’ predecessor as Mountain Projects director. Davis has enriched the lives of the elderly and disadvantaged residents of Western North Carolina through those new approaches, he said.
“This quickly gained her the respect of her co-workers within the agency, regulators across the state, and the love of the seniors within the program,” Leatherwood wrote in a letter supporting Davis’ nomination for the Order of the Long Leaf Pine.
“Patsy has created a legacy that will hopefully inspire her successors to dream of possibilities and work together to build a better future, not only for this community but for others across our country,” Leatherwood wrote. “She is especially deserving of recognition for a life and career devoted to the service of others. As those of us who have had the privilege of working with and being inspired by her know, this comes straight from the heart.”
Former Haywood County Sheriff Greg Christopher, a fellow member of the Order of the Long Leaf Pine, said Davis’ leadership has lifted Mountain Projects to the top in the field of nonprofits that help more than 15,000 people in the two counties annually.
“She has brought Mountain Projects to the forefront with her ability to see the future from a 10,000-foot view, but she also has a relationship with those on the ground, doing the work,” he wrote. “She is a highly motivated, brilliant woman who leads with such humility and transparency that, in my opinion, she is irreplaceable.”
Nick Honerkamp, former pastor of New Covenant Church, wrote of Davis’ pivotal role in organizing emergency shelter for the homeless in Haywood, an effort that eventually culminated in the formation of the Haywood Pathways Center.
“She is a treasure to our community and to our state,” Honerkamp wrote of Davis. “She is the epitome of what the “Order of the Long Leaf Pine Award” stands for.
“Patsy’s extreme passion for helping those that sometimes can’t help themselves, her vast knowledge, and her heart felt compassion for people that are struggling cannot be taught but must come from the heart, and she has demonstrated those “Jesus-like” characteristics for over a quarter of a century.”
Davis credited her parents, including her 87-year-old father who was present for the ceremony, with living a life where she daily had the example of how to love your neighbor as yourself.
“They provided an example every day of my life, of the person I needed to become, and I am so grateful,” she said. “A lot of people have made me look good, but it was thanks be to God for the things I’ve been able to accomplish. It’s nothing I did, but it was from a lot of prayer.”
Davis was intending to retire this year, but the floods caused by Tropical Storm Helene postponed her retirement for another 12 months.