WAGES director retiring
By Phyllis Moore
Published in News on July 10, 2016 1:45 AM
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Dr. Marlee Ray, executive director of WAGES since 2008, will retire July 15.
Dr. Marlee Ray, WAGES executive director since 2008, is retiring from the role July 15.
She is only the second director of the program, following Bryan Sutton, who had been in the role since its inception in 1965, when he retired. Her background included 32 years in public education, as a classroom teacher and elementary school principal before working with the exceptional children's programs in Wake and Wayne counties.
But her heart for community action, and specifically WAGES, had begun long before.
"My mother worked for WAGES," she said. "Martha Ray Joyner was the director of the Senior Companions and Foster Grandparents in the '70s. She started the program here.
"So I have grown up with WAGES, from when the office was on Virginia Street."
WAGES, or Wayne Action Group for Economic Solvency, has always been about programs and services that benefit the community, Ray said.
"I grew up hearing and seeing the importance, so to me that was just a natural transition" from public education to WAGES, she said. "I know what community action is. I know the difference it can make. I wanted to be a part of that."
For the 50-plus years since it was introduced, WAGES has remained vital and current as the agency has changed to keep pace with the community it serves, she said.
"For example, right now we have a large focus on the young children, realizing the importance of educating these young children," she said. "And we realize that our population is aging so we transitioned our Senior Companions to be more inclusive of Alzheimer's and dementia patients."
Many recognize the individual programs that make up WAGES, like Head Start, Meals on Wheels, the weatherization service.
But it is also about overcoming barriers and helping citizens become more self-sufficient.
"We can bring someone in and help them develop an action plan for what they see are the goals they want to achieve -- sometimes it's education, sometimes it's getting a different job, sometimes it's securing a different house. If we can help them develop those goals and then through case management help them attain those goals, then that person is self-sufficient and can move above the poverty level," she said.
Funding is an ongoing issue for the agency, reliant on support from grants as well as federal and state money.
"If we're going to be able to sustain and be viable in the future, our No. 1 goal going forward is to identify ways to access community-based funding," she said.
She explained that funding not tied to specific guidelines gives the agency flexibility to respond to additional needs.
"We haven't always been good at that," she said. "We're a private, non-profit (agency). We have not done a very good job of letting people know that they could give to WAGES, that WAGES needs and would be able to use the money to meet the needs in the community."
The agency is currently feeling the pinch, the result of $80,000 in cuts to a community services block grant, effective July 1.
"There's the potential for laying off or cutting staff. It's definitely going to be a reduction in client services," she said. "That makes it very difficult when you have been working with someone to reduce barriers. Now you're putting up a barrier."
It is working through such challenges that she will miss, along with the 200 people who work there.
"People who work in community action care about other people," she said. "They spend their time trying to help remove barriers to solve problems."
In retirement, she will initially take off a little time before pursuing several interests -- including doing some traveling and going on a mission trip with her church. But WAGES will still be a part of her life, she says.
"I have always been a person who believed that you give back to your local community and help people in your own back yard, your own neighborhood. That's why I'm so passionate about community action," she said. "There are always needs, things to work on, people who need support to be able to support themselves. If we keep that as a focus, then whether it's professionally or personally, giving big or small, it makes a difference.
"I will always be a part of the WAGES family. I will always have a special place in my heart for WAGES and I know because of the strength of the program, but also the strength of the people, that the agency will continue to thrive."