New boss takes job at center
By Steve Herring
Published in News on August 23, 2015 1:50 AM
Paula Edwards
Some Wayne County senior citizens just need a safe haven, said Paula Edwards, the county's new Services on Aging director.
The county's senior center can provide that haven as well as the many other services and activities available there, she said.
"What goes on at home, you never know," Ms. Edwards said. "You want them to be able to come and participate in activities and yes, that is fun. But it also develops relationships and support for them. That is what you are also encouraging. That is also important because you don't know -- a lot of them don't have family. They don't have support and they are isolated, and that you do not want. They are sitting their isolated and that you do not want."
Ms. Edward's said she can see a change in those senior citizens because they have connected with people.
A Pitt County native, who now lives at Mount Olive, Ms. Edwards, 46, was just recently appointed director after serving as interim director since May when Eryn McAuliffe resigned to move closer to her ailing father.
"Paula will do a fine job leading this department," County Manager George Wood said. "It was evident during the interview that serving our senior population is very close to her heart.
"The county expects that she will continue the progress that the county's Services on Aging program has experienced over the past few years."
Ms. Edwards holds a bachelor's degree in social work from East Carolina University. She received her associate degree from Emmanuel Christian College in Franklin Springs, Ga.
"The ironic thing is that I actually started at the Department of Social Services in child protective services," she said. "That is where I thought that my career was going to go. I enjoyed working with children. Actually my mother had a youth center in Grimesland. But she also was one of those community people if somebody needed help, she was in the home. So I worked with seniors, too. But my mother became sick, and I went home to take care of her. She passed. Mr. Walter Brown in Duplin County Services on Aging offered me a job, and I went to work for him."
Ms. Edwards said at the time she did not know anything about senior services, but that she came to love it.
That was in 1995 and next month she will celebrate 20 years in that field.
"I stayed," she said. "It is kind of ironic how your direction can change, and I don't regret a day of it. "I enjoy working with them. My whole thought process has changed. We think about getting older and, 'Oh, the quality of life is no longer.' But you have to come out here and see these people line dance in their 70s and 80s. I can't keep up with them."
Ms. Edwards said she draw encouragement and wisdom from the senior citizens.
"It is very encouraging to see that it is really how you perceive life and look at it and enjoy it -- and they do," she said. "They have a lot of fun and they are great to be around. I am learning a lot from them. It is a great resource for me."
When Mrs. McAuliffe became director in 2008 she hired Ms. Edwards to take her place as in-home aid supervisor.
"I happened to see a news article about her being director, and the (in-home aid supervisor) position was open," Ms. Edwards said. "It just looked like an opportunity I should check into and see if I wanted to come to this county."
Ms. Edwards also serves on the state Provider Performance Review Committee.
"What we are doing there, we are reviewing the North Carolina Division of Aging policies for the in-home aid programs for Division of Aging as well as Departments of Social Services that provide in-home aid services through the home care community block grant," she said.
Don't expect to see any major changes at the center, Ms. Edwards said.
"Eryn has done a great job," she said. "I don't look to undo anything that she has done, but to build on what she has brought to this program and I guess add my little stamp on it as well. If you look back, every director has brought something to this program. That is what I want to do -- serve the seniors of Wayne County. They are my boss."