This story first appeared in the Sylva Herald

When Julie Keffer accepts a diploma for her bachelors degree from Western Carolina University in May, she’ll stand apart from most of her fellow graduates. For one thing she’ll have five children and 14 grandkids in the audience, cheering her on. For another, she’ll be at the end of a 27-year journey to graduation.

Keffer, 55, has taught for two decades at the Kneedler Head Start Child Development Outreach Center on the WCU campus in Cullowhee, but her path to a Bachelor of Science in Birth-Kindergarten Education began in Haywood County in 1997, and has taken her through twists, turns and painful places before leading her to the Ramsey Center stage.

It is the culmination of a dream.

“No matter what your age is, as long as you have breath in your lungs and a heartbeat, you’re not done,” Keffer said. “What I hope to show people is that you can finish your degree at any age. I encourage single moms to push for it – I was once there.”

Keffer enrolled her first son in the Clyde Head Start as a working young mother. Head Start is a federally funded child development program for preschool children from low-income families, and Mountain Projects’ Head Start program has educated Haywood and Jackson County preschoolers since 1965. 

At first, she volunteered in her son’s classroom with art projects and reading, but through encouragement from the staff she became inspired to teach. She was certified later that year, and began work as a full-time Teacher’s Assistant. 

“I see now it was my calling,” she said. “It just felt right.”

Not long after, as a single parent of two sons, she began Early Childhood Education night classes at Haywood Community College. Her father babysat the boys, Mountain Projects footed the bill, and Keffer set her sights on a four-year degree through a joint program between HCC and WCU. When she graduated from HCC, her employers were in the audience to cheer her on.

“That meant a lot to me,” Keffer said. “Not everyone’s boss comes to stuff like that.”

It wasn’t long before she was lead teacher at Kneedler, and in hot pursuit of her bachelor’s degree.

But then things got rocky. She took time off from school to care for an ill grandparent, and when she applied for readmission in 2006 she couldn’t get back into the Pre-K program. Her earlier GPA wasn’t quite high enough. For four straight years she appealed the decision, with essays and letters of recommendation in hand, but was denied despite support from Mountain Projects staff and its Executive Director, Patsy Davis. 

“Patsy told me, ‘I don’t know how you’re gonna do this – but you’re gonna do this. Just don’t give up,’” Keffer added. “I just kept hitting walls, but I kept the hope alive.”

Years passed, and a colleague, Christie Paxton, became director of Mountain Projects’ Head Start. Paxton engaged with the director of the WCU program and took up Keffer’s cause.

Things looked good, but then came the Covid-19 pandemic, and her progress stalled again. When in-person classes resumed in 2021, Keffer was admitted to the program at last.

“I was ecstatic,” she said. “I felt like I was finally going to make this happen.”

She and her family celebrated – prematurely. She contracted a debilitating case of Covid-19, followed by many months of recovery, and her return to school was delayed again until winter of 2022.

Even then, the challenges weren’t quite over. Her father fell terminally ill during her first semester, and she was his primary caregiver. Although she missed a lot of work she still managed to complete her studies. 

“I was in the hospital crying, typing, and doing homework,” Keffer said. “One of the last things my father said to me while he could still talk was, ‘Don’t give up, no matter what happens here.’ So, I just did not let anything derail me.”

Keffer is now a Dean’s List student. She credits Mountain Projects, “her second family”, for making it possible. Aside from years of support, the organization helped her earn a full scholarship through the T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood North Carolina Scholarship Program.

And in May her journey will end at last.

HOLIDAY REQUEST – While many members of the community are out shopping for Christmas presents this time of year, others may be worrying about how they are going to pay their heating bills.

For Patsy Davis, the executive director of Mountain Projects, this time of year is always a reminder of the young families, low-wage workers or people on Social Security who desperately need emergency heat or utility assistance.

Davis’s commitment to the cause is driven by her memory of a news story she read about in which a family lost their life while trying to stay warm in Haywood County.

“I am forever reminded of that tragedy and about how important it is to keep people with heat in the winter,” Davis said. “All children and seniors deserve a place of safety that is warm and safe.”

Mountain Projects is keeping vulnerable families from falling through the cracks by using donations to provide emergency heating and utility assistance to keep them warm, safe, and secure.

And this year, the need for heating assistance is higher than ever.

“Our heating assistance fund is critically low,” said Davis. “And yet we have been seeing an increase in senior citizens having trouble paying their utility bills. Oftentimes, the older we get the more heat we need to stay warm.”

To celebrate Davis’ birthday on Christmas Day this year, Mountain Projects is asking for donations for its emergency fund and heating assistance fund – which is how the nonprofit can help families with their most urgent needs.

Any donations made to these funds are unrestricted; this means that these donations can be used for any kind of crisis that may arise.

“We had a 76-year-old man come in who was behind on his mortgage because his significant other went into long-term care,” Davis said. “Another time, someone needed tires. You never know what kind of situation is going to walk through the door. But without donations, we have to turn people away and say no.”

And according to Davis, being able to help these families that walk through the doors doesn’t only restore their livelihood, it gives them strength to keep going.

“I really think when you can help somebody, you restore their hope,” she said. “Just a little support can restore people’s hope and drive to carry on.”

 It all started at Head Start

Anyone who knows Davis will agree that she has a deep connection with community outreach, which likely started when she was in preschool.

Davis grew up in Cullowhee and attended Head Start in Jackson County in the late 60s.

“I’m a Head Start child,” she said. “I remember an outreach worker came to my house and recruited me. They had toys there like we didn’t have at home. I don’t remember last week, but I remember my days in Head Start.”

The Mountain Projects Head Start program is available at no cost to qualifying families on a first-come, first-served basis for children ages 6 weeks to 5 years old.

In addition to offering childcare services at no cost, all other supplies such as diapers, formula or other food items are supplied by Head Start as well.

“We now have Head Start in the same location where I went to high school,” Davis said with a laugh, noting that she attended Cullowhee High School, which has now been turned into the Kneedler Child Development Center at WCU.

Davis had always wanted to be a teacher. She recalls sneaking away from her high school classes to go work with the younger children, who were in the same building.

“I probably should have been learning but I loved it,” Davis said.

Davis followed her dream of working with students in the classroom, but some things she saw made her change her major while at Western Carolina University.

“I didn’t know that children were without clothes and were hungry,” she said. “I thought, ‘These children can’t learn when they’re hungry and don’t have a place to sleep.’ So, I changed my major to social work.”

And so began Davis’s career of changing lives. 33 years later, she is still at the helm of Mountain Projects, crusading for the safety and security of vulnerable families all over WNC.

“Every contribution, every act of generosity is a blessing to a person in need,” Davis said, noting that currently, the organization receives an average of 10 emergency requests a day. “A lot of times everything is OK until their husband or wife passes away or has to go into long-term care. Then all the sudden they don’t have that income anymore. The community helps us solve serious problems like this when they make donations.”

This holiday season, consider donating to a cause that will go directly back to the community, and do it with Davis in mind.

With your help, we can restore the heating assistance fund and help make December 25 even more special for the woman who is always there for the community when they need it most.

To make a donation, visit https://mountainprojects.org/product/heatingassistance/ or https://mountainprojects.org/product/campaign_2023/.

You may also contribute by check by mailing it to Mountain Projects, Inc., 2177 Asheville Rd., Waynesville NC 28786, Attn. “Winter Warmth” or “Emergency Fund.”