Meredith Switzer. Photo by Cat Ford-Coates
By Emma Castleberry
Last year was hard for everyone, but nonprofits in particular experienced a perfect storm of decreased donations, outreach challenges and increased need. Amidst this difficulty, the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce named Meredith Switzer, executive director of Homeward Bound, the 2020 Outstanding Woman in Non-Profit Leadership.
This award is presented by the Chamber’s WomanUP initiative, a program intended to create a network of support for woman in business. Nonprofit leaders, who Meredith says are often drawn to their work because of compassion, tend to experience fatigue and overwhelm “because the resources are so small and the challenges so big,” she says.
“Recognizing their work with awards like this one goes a long way in reminding them that the work is important and valued.”
Meredith, who holds a BA in Broadcasting from UNC Chapel Hill and a Master’s in Educational Psychology from Texas A&M University, has spent more than two decades volunteering and working in the regional nonprofit world.
In 2019, she was asked to join Homeward Bound as interim executive director, intending to serve for a few months until a permanent director was found. “After becoming engaged in the work, I realized it was incredibly meaningful and life-changing, so when the opportunity to stay presented itself, I made the decision to do so,” she says. “It has been the most challenging, yet rewarding work of my career.”
Meredith lives in Weaverville with her husband and two teenage sons and likes to spend her free time outdoors. “As a woman in nonprofit leadership, the responsibilities are demanding and many times unpredictable, so it means that I make concessions in other areas of my life,” she says. “Like many working mothers, I often struggle to find balance between work and family, and I am grateful that I have a spouse who has been able to fill in the gaps—many of them realized at the last minute—when I have needed him to.”
Homeward Bound works to end homelessness through the Housing First model, so their clients faced obvious hardship when the shelter-in-place order took effect last year. The nonprofit’s services were in greater demand than ever before. “Our agency never stopped providing services for our community’s most vulnerable, unhoused neighbors, with shelter, food, connections to housing, behavioral health support and medical care,” says Switzer. “I’m proud to be a part of a team that has made such a difference in the lives of others during this crisis. My job allows me to be a part of creating meaningful change in this community that I love.”
For more information about Homeward Bound, visit HomewardBound.org. For more information about the WomanUP initiative, visit AshevilleChamber.org.
