SALISBURY — As a thank you to the Salisbury-Rowan community for its support of Meals on Wheels and its recent “Forever Home” project, Meals on Wheels is sponsoring an advocacy workshop and an evening panel discussion on advocacy as part of its week-long grand opening celebrations. Both the workshop and panel discussion are free and will be held on Sept. 24, from 3-5 p.m., at St. John’s Lutheran Church, 200 West Innes St., in the Faith Center.  

Meals on Wheels Executive Director Cindy Fink will facilitate the workshop. Fink is a 2024 fellow with the N.C. Center for Budget and Tax and the N.C. Black Alliance. She participated in in-person and online workshops with a cohort of 10 fellows selected from across the state. She met with N.C. legislators, advocacy professionals, budget, tax and demographic analysts, and advocates across the state. Fink will pack the workshop with information and resources to start or jumpstart your advocacy journey. Special guest Karla Foster Leonard, the public affairs division chair for the Rowan Chamber, will share her experiences as an advocate on both the state and national levels.

If you are interested in advocating for a special population, a special interest, your job or your community, this workshop will be a great place to start. If you are a longtime advocate who wants to know where to get the latest information and data on your area of interest, attend the workshop to leverage new resources and meet others excited about advocating in their community and state. Anyone interested in attending the afternoon workshop must register by emailing afisher@mowrowan.org or call Alexandra Fisher at 704-633-0352. The workshop will accommodate 30 registrants.

The evening panel discussion is titled Advocacy for Aging, Public Education and the Environment.

The speakers on the topic of aging include Mike Agee, chair of the Older Americans Home Care and Block Grant Advisory Committee in Rowan County, and Dr. Kaitlin Mueller, the director of the Healthy Aging Center at Catawba College. Agee moved to Salisbury with his family in 1986 to manage the Duke Energy Operation Center. In 1993, he began working with Duke Energy Corporate in various roles, including strategic planning, research and development, business development, business continuity and crisis management.

He is a registered professional engineer emeritus, and he retired from Duke Energy in 2011. Agee graduated from Clemson University, where he earned his MBA. He has been very involved in the community over the years, participating as a member and leader in Boy Scouts, St. John’s Lutheran Church Congregation Council, Rowan Rotary, United Way and the Centralina Agency on Aging Region F Aging Advisory Council. He will be speaking as chair of the Rowan County Home and Community Care Block Grant Advisory Committee.

Mueller is an assistant professor and program director of recreational therapy at Catawba College. She is also the director of the Healthy Aging Center at Catawba. She received her bachelor’s degree from the Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania, her master’s degree from Indiana University Bloomington, and her Ph.D. from Clemson University. She is a certified therapeutic recreation specialist and a licensed recreational therapist. She is a proud Clevelander who worked for five years in sub-acute rehabilitation and assisted living at Ohio’s largest senior living community. She is passionate about helping aging Americans flourish through research-based programming and resources. Mueller convenes the Healthy Aging Center Board and Community Agencies to connect and share information and trends in aging programs and demographics. Outside of her roles at Catawba College, she enjoys time with her husband and three young children. 

On the topic of education, Rowan-Salisbury Schools Superintendent Dr. Kelly Withers will present the case for public education. Withers spent more than two decades as a teacher, assistant principal, principal and district administrator at Rowan-Salisbury Schools. She graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill, earned her master’s degree in school administration from Gardner-Webb University, and her doctorate in educational leadership and cultural foundations from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Withers is dedicated to creating opportunities for students that engage and prepare them to pursue their productive passions. She and her husband, Lee, live in Rowan County and have three children. Their son attends UNC-Chapel Hill, and their twin daughters attend South Rowan High School.

The environment is an important topic across Rowan County. Dr. Lee Ball is the vice president of sustainability and the Center for the Environment director at Catawba College. He previously served at Appalachian State University as the chief sustainability officer, where he played a pivotal role in advancing sustainability initiatives. Ball taught sustainable building design, building science and sustainability leadership undergraduate and graduate courses for 22 years. While at ASU, he sat on the chancellor’s cabinet, served as the lead team administrator for App State’s solar vehicle team, led the Appalachian Energy Summit, and chaired the university-wide strategic planning and climate action planning committees. Ball graduated from Lees McRae College, earned his master’s at the University of New Mexico and his Ph.D. at Prescott College. Ball is active globally and has led international programs in nine countries. He and his wife moved to Salisbury in August of 2023.  

Tarik Woods is a policy and program manager for the Institute for Emerging Issues in N.C., where he focuses on the future of energy policy and its relation to regional preparedness. Woods is a native of Salisbury and a graduate of Salisbury High School and UNC-Chapel Hill. He worked for the James B. Hunt Jr. Institute for Educational Leadership Policy as an Associate Policy Analyst. Woods is a fellow of the North Carolina Institute of Political Leadership. In his free time, he plays the cello in a local orchestra, is a volunteer firefighter and cheers for the Tar Heels.

Each speaker will have 3-4 minutes to introduce their topic. Fink will facilitate the panel discussion. Audience members will be able to submit questions to the panelists for response. The panel discussion will begin at 7 p.m. and end at 8:30 p.m. in the Faith Center at St. John’s. 

For more information or to register for the Advocacy Workshop, email afisher@mowrowan.org or call 704-633-0352.