Outgoing Haywood Pathways director recalls seven years with nonprofit
Haywood Pathways was once a minimum-security state prison. File photo
After serving as the executive director of Haywood Pathways Center since 2017, Mandy Haithcox is stepping down. Haithcox and her family will be moving back to Minnesota where aging family members live and need the comfort of family in their midst.
“I want people to know my leaving has everything to do with family and nothing to do with Pathways,” Haithcox said. “It’s bittersweet because the Haywood Pathways Center has been a huge part of my life in the last seven and a half years. I am very sad to leave.”
At the same time, she is leaving the nonprofit that provides a pathway from homelessness to independence in the best shape it’s been in for years. Year-end statistics show Haywood Pathways served 369 individuals in 2024 with the help of grants, donations and 835 registered volunteers this past year.
The organization hit a rough patch last fall when board members announced a low cash balance threatened operations of its Holy Cow food truck and continuation of the family dorm. A groundswell of community support helped turn things around, resulting in a cash balance of $428,000 by mid-January. Haithcox wasn’t surprised at the turn of events.
“The Haywood community at large has shown support over and over again with its overwhelming presence of love and concern,” she said. “The support has been meaningful.”
Pathways celebrated its 10th anniversary this year, and Haithcox looks back to all the changes since she arrived.
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“When I first got here, I had to oust white-power gang members and stop people from coming in the dining room to sell drugs,” she recalled. “It’s a much different place now.”
The facility has space for 10 families, 32 men and 28 women. A release sent out by Haywood Pathways notes that the fact that 369 individuals were served shows the efficiency to helping individuals get through a bad patch, land steady employment and save enough funds to move out on their own.
“This isn’t just a Band-Aid,” Haithcox said. “It’s here to meet people where they are at and offer help to people down on their luck.”
Another change she’s noticed through the years is the increasing number of elderly and disabled residents staying at the shelter. About 75% of the residents have stable monthly income, where they can save money to use when it’s time to move on. They are simply waiting until an affordable place to stay opens up.
Mandy Haithcox is stepping down to attend to aging family members in Minnesota. Donated photo
Haithcox said her fondest memories will be seeing families and individuals who successfully completed the program and later came back to visit to say, “Look, we’re still here and doing well.”
Adding the family shelter in 2019, where up to 10 families can stay until suitable homes are found, has been a huge community service, she said. Those families entering the shelter were often living in cars or camping in the woods before they found their ways to the shelter.
Through the years, mothers have given birth and had a warm, safe place to bring their child home from the hospital, and young mothers and fathers can know their children have a roof over their heads as they put the pieces of their lives together.
All who enter the Haywood Pathways Center must sign a pledge to follow all the rules and to work on a person-centered goal plan with the support of a case manager. All must have a clean drug test to enter, and regular drug screenings are required.
Residents have six months to alter their life trajectory — more if they are working the program and there are simply no affordable rentals to be found. During their stay, residents save their funds and carve out time to participate in life skills classes, recovery and support groups. Not all are ready for the life changes required to remain but are welcome to return at a later point. Haithcox said the organization, in conjunction with Mountain Projects, Waynesville Housing Authority and Haywood Habitat for Humanity, has been working to create more opportunities for both transitional and lower-income housing in the county.
“We’ve just started to have conversations on how to make larger scale changes in the continuum,” she explained. “Pathways can serve as the feeder organization for people starting out who could move on through the housing authority and eventually the housing provided through Habitat for Humanity and Mountain Projects.”
She said she’s hoping the county and municipal governments in Haywood will recognize the tremendous value provided by Pathways and help provide a steady source of funding.
“If we’re able to work with partners and help people find stability while gaining independence, it helps them, the community and the tax base,” Haithcox said.
As for the Haithcox family, Kurt has found a job with a Minneapolis law firm; Greta, 11, is sad to leave her friends but is looking forward to being near her “aunties;” and Mandy said there are plenty of opportunities in the homeless field in their new community. An added plus is they are moving to a state where education is ranked 15th in the nation as opposed to 43rd, where North Carolina ranks.
Meanwhile, Pathways’ assistant director Julie Cloninger will serve as the interim director as the board searches for Haithcox’s replacement and she will continue on a consulting basis until her replacement is ready to solo.
Those who have worked with Haithcox through the years marvel at her ability to remain calm, despite what’s going on. When pressed, Haithcox suggested a list of qualifications that would be helpful in the job. While her background is in social work and theology, she suggested knowing more about the business side of nonprofits coming into the position is essential.
Jeff Haynes, the president of the Haywood Pathways Center’s board of directors, was full of praise for Haithcox and all she’s done for the organization.
“We are grateful to Mandy for her consistent leadership over the past seven and half years and wish she and her family all the best in the next chapter of their lives,” Haynes said. “Haywood County has benefited from the efforts of Mandy and her staff as we continue to address the challenges of those in need in our community. We will embark on a search for a new executive director, all the while keeping the values instilled by Mandy and her leadership first and foremost in our minds.”
