Energetic, outgoing, bold, and caring, Amy Weintraub has found her niche as the new executive director of Covenant House.
"It's motivational that this organization and board is not shy about tackling issues that make others uncomfortable," said Weintraub, 38. "If there is a new social issue, we talk about it. This is the place for me."
She officially stepped into the position of executive director on Jan. 1, taking over tasks previously performed by Barbara Ferrraro and Pat Hussey. The two former nuns led the organization for 25 years before returning to their native Massachusetts to be near family and look for other jobs.
Weintraub, who is now part of a Unitarian-Universalist congregation, grew up in Spencer in a Baptist church. She was the oldest of three children born to Margie and Jim Hamric. While raising a family, her mother earned a college degree and became a teacher and principal. Her father was a teacher and coach.
Roane County was rich in diversity with back-to-the-landers moving there from Boston, New York and Philadelphia. As a teen, Weintraub hung out with their children, learned about liberal causes, and read a variety of magazines found in their homes.
"That was the launching pad for my life's work," she said.
She wanted to lift up those challenged by the economic and social structure. She wanted to stand up for others and bring about change.
She expanded her social and political understanding by becoming involved in things like 4-H and Teenage Republicans. While in high school, she loved visiting her aunt in San Francisco. She spent her senior year in Finland as an exchange student.
She earned a bachelor's degree from Emory University in Atlanta where she majored in religion and political science. Then she studied world religions at New York University where she met her husband-to-be, Marc, who is now a Charleston lawyer and city councilman.
Realizing life in New York would be expensive, they moved to Portland, Maine, for three years and in 1999 returned to West Virginia to be near extended family. By then the couple had two children. Amy Weintraub enjoyed her roles of stay-at-home mother and community activist.
She was public relations director for the nonprofit Planned Parenthood of West Virginia from 2001 to 2004 when she left that position to work on the John Kerry campaign. It was exciting to be part of a movement seeking change even though the outcome was not as she had hoped.
Weintraub then spent time helping nonprofit organizations in the fight against domestic violence. In 2005, she was asked to serve on the Covenant House governing board.
"I became aware of the breadth of the program and became involved in the movement of what Covenant House calls lifting up the poorest of the poor," she said.
Covenant House, a 13,000-square-foot facility on Shrewsbury Street, is a collaborative effort of 35 congregations of various faiths. Programs help more than 30,000 people a year in 32 counties.
At Covenant House, people may drop in for a safe place to shower, do laundry, make a telephone call, receive mail, obtain counseling, or get emergency assistance with rent, utilities, travel or medicine. For further assistance, they are referred to a clothing closet at St. Marks United Methodist or a food pantry at First Presbyterian Church.
An AIDS Residential and Resource Program offers housing and support services.
Over the years, Covenant House has been an incubator for other agencies that later began to stand on their own, such as the YWCA Sojourner's Shelter, West Virginia Health Right, Kanawha Hospice, and nonprofit housing programs.
When the job of executive director was offered to Weintraub, it seemed like a natural fit.
Amy and Marc Weintraub reside on Charleston's East End with their two children, Jeremiah, 7, and Caroline, 5. The kids believe newspapers are sacred because their parents read them every day and they pretend they are going to meetings just like Mom and Dad.
Weintraub describes her life as challenging, rewarding, and satisfying.
Contact writer Charlotte Ferrell Smith at 348-1246. |
