LAURINBURG – Kathy Lytch got involved with Scotland County Concerned Citizens for the Homeless because she was bored, but in the 27 years since she has been anything but.
Lytch’s friends and family celebrated her 27 years of work with the organization on Tuesday and said a temporary goodbye as she moved onto the next stage of her journey — retirement.
After raising her children, Lytch said she was ready for a change. Then she got a call from a friend.
“It dawned on me that I knew what I would be doing every day of the week,” Lytch said. “So, I was ready to go back to work or find something meaningful to do.”
Randy Cheek asked Lytch if she would like to be involved in helping start a shelter for single, homeless women. Lytch said yes and the project snowballed from there.
The first meeting Concerned Citizens for the Homeless took place in 1989 with four charter members to decide how to approach the project.
The first house for women opened in 1990, and the program expanded to a second home for men in 1991, according to Lytch.
Lytch believes her biggest achievement during her years as executive director of the program was launching the Helping Hand thrift store.
Lytch’s mother Julia Joseph owned and operated Julia’s Dress Shop on Main Street for 40 years but was ready to retire. She left Lytch the store, fixtures and remaining merchandise.
“Money was drying up at that time for nonprofits,” said Lytch. “We opened the store in February of 1998; I borrowed $1,000 from four different board members … and we already had customers still coming in still thinking it was Julia’s, so by the end of the first year I had already paid back those board members their $1,000 each and we had made a small profit.”
The store brought in enough money over the years to help nonprofit purchase its houses and be fully self-sufficient. As an added bonus it provides patrons with affordable, gently-used clothing.
Lytch said the group doesn’t have any outstanding debit as a result of the efforts of the store.
Concerned Citizens for the Homeless does not accept any funds from state or federal agencies, according to Lytch. She said the board believes that if it expects clients to be self-sufficient then CCH should.
Lytch has played a part in helping hundreds of homeless people get back on their feet.
The group gives residents 18 months of services like health care through the free clinic, GED classes, or drug or alcohol rehab through Alcoholics Anonymous. The program also helps clients find housing and jobs to regain their independence.
“We want them to be healthy again,” Lytch said. “It’s wonderful to see them blossom. You see someone scared and crying in your office the first time, and at the end of it, they’re just like anybody else.”
Lytch said she has seen homeless people in an array of circumstances from illiterate to college-educated. Most, she said, do not fit the stereotype of a dispossessed person. If you passed by them in public you’d never know they were homeless, she said. Most just want help to get back on their feet.
Lythch said that most people in the county are one paycheck away from being displaced.
“We have found that folks in Scotland County live paycheck to paycheck, and if you miss one, you’re in trouble. If you miss two you’re homeless.”
Lytch said it was time for her to say goodbye to her position as director, but the work she does is in her blood, so she will return to volunteer at the Helping Hand after traveling with her sisters and daughter.
Lytch requests that people support CCH by volunteering and shopping at the Helping Hand; she said the store also takes clothing donations. Clothes that are in good shape go to the store and the rest is sold to a recycling center, but she asks that you mark donations for the store or for recycling.
Nearly 40 volunteers, family, and friends showed up at the Story Telling Arts Center to wish Lytch well in her retirement.
Greg Wood, chair of Concerned Citizens for the Homeless, welcomed visitors and shared remarks lauding Lytch’s work. He said she had a “knack for getting the most out of the people she helped and out of her volunteers.”
Wood, who has worked with Lytch for over a decade, called her a motivator.
“Sometimes [clients’] spirits are a little bit down and she’s able to help motivate them to get back into the game of life,” Wood said.
Julian Butler ,who runs the Helping Hand called Lytch “a mother to Concerned Citizens for the Homeless, a facilitator, sometimes a devil, and an instigator” and said that she knew how to push volunteers and residents gently with a lot of love.
Lytch was showered with retirement gifts and two plaques. The volunteers at the Helping Hand raised $500 for CCH in her name, and a plaque to honor her legacy will be hung in the store.
Josie Harrill will replace Lytch as executive director. Harrill has worked as office director since mid-2016 and says she has learned a lot from Lytch in that time.
Harill said the most import quality she has learned from Lytch is to be firm with people, but to have a compassion as well.
