In this issue, Edna McClendon, the president of NOAH’s Board of Directors, shares her vision for NOAH and talks about how growing up in the Glades inspires her to speak out and why she is so determined to help people find homes.

McClendon speaks on …

NOAH’s direction
"I think when the board agreed to do a national search for an executive director, that was good," she said of hiring Thomas Roberts several years ago to lead the organization. "He studies, and he listens," she said before repeating the phrase for emphasis. She is impressed with his Ivy League background and likes the fact that he has been in corporate America and can bring professionalism and business practices to guide the human development goals of the organization.

"He leads by example," she said. "He’s above board. He has certainly helped the organization gain the credibility that our founders had in mind from the beginning." She believes his professionalism commands respect and becomes imitated throughout the organization. "If you want a good organization, hire good people."

The Board of Directors
"We have committees, and we have committed to meeting more often. We are taking the time this year, as of our retreat, to aggressively meet. Members have been placed on boards such as finance and planning and have been given specific tasks.

"That’s a way of empowering the board. That’s another way of having oversight. We don’t ever want people to think we are a rubber stamp board because we certainly are not."

NOAH is actively recruiting for diversity in skills on its board, looking for potential members who are in finance, real estate, contracting and architecture.

The most rewarding thing about working with NOAH
"When I see a resident move from one of our housing complexes and become a homeowner, that’s just …" She didn’t complete her sentence, choosing instead to look toward the sky with her palms raised upward as if giving thanks for a divine experience.

"When there is a child who has been really well developed because of the work we have done with them and FCAT is not a problem for them …" Again, hands raised and skyward eyes accentuate her point.

Challenges for the future
"With the state of the economy the way it is, rental collection is the biggest problem we have. We’ve still got to collect rent. Housing is our business," she said. We are working with other organizations like the Urban League and training people how to stay in homes. At some point, if people would just say, ‘I don’t want to be poor anymore’ and get a job and get educated. It’s a capitalist society and I just wish people would understand that they don’t always have to be poor and at the bottom."