Historic Foundation executive takes personal leave

By Emily Ford

eford@salisburypost.com

SALISBURY — Mourning the loss of her mother and pulled between three cities, Cynthia Cole Jenkins said she’s made the difficult decision to take a leave of absence from her new job as executive director of Historic Salisbury Foundation.

The leave, which begins Friday, is open-ended. Jenkins said she doesn’t know when she will return but plans to resume her duties after dealing with personal matters.

Soon after Jenkins took the job March 1, things began to go wrong in her personal life.

Her house in Charleston, S.C., has never sold.

Her husband has suffered health problems, and her mother died unexpectedly in April.

The couple are moving out of the historic home they’ve been renting at the corner of Fulton and Horah streets.

“Even my dog was sick,” Jenkins said. “It’s been a tough four or five months.”

Most possessions will go into storage here until they find another house to rent or buy, she said.

Jenkins must pack up and sell her mother’s house in Myrtle Beach, which contains 40-plus years of belongings.

“These aren’t things you can get done on a weekend,” Jenkins said. “I needed a break.”

She and her husband will split their time between their mountain home near Landrum, S.C., and his mother’s house in Beaufort, S.C.

Jenkins said she had no idea how difficult her mother’s death would be.

“People kept telling me, when you lose your mom, it’s the worst thing you ever go through,” she said.

Salisbury has been a wonderful and welcoming community, Jenkins said. It wasn’t fair to stay in the job when she couldn’t give 100 percent, she said.

“It is a tremendous amount of work,” she said.

Maintaining the foundation’s four properties — the depot, Hall House, Grimes Mill and the ice house on Horah Street at the railroad tracks — in addition to other real estate, protective covenants, events and more require the full attention of the executive director, Jenkins said.

She plans to return to her job.

“Well, I hope so,” she said. “That’s what we’re working toward.”

David Post will serve as executive business manager during the interim. Post has been active in the foundation’s membership and is a new member on the board of directors.

He will resign from the board to lead the organization, Jenkins said.

Post, a CPA and lawyer, is one of the owners of Salisbury Pharmacy and has had a range of experience in both the for-profit and nonprofit worlds.

As a businessman, Post can review operating and personnel policies, work to integrate technology into the organization and address other items that nonprofits sometimes neglect, Jenkins said.

“It’s opportunity for us to reassess,” she said. “He will look at things with different eyes.”

The foundation’s major fundraiser, OctoberTour, will continue as planned Oct. 8 and 9.

Led by Post and Christine Wilson on the foundation’s staff, OctoberTour preparations are running smoothly, said Jenkins, who plans to attend the event.

Susan Sides, president of the foundation, said the group looks forward to Jenkins’ return in a few months.

“Cynthia Jenkins has become one of Salisbury’s most popular citizens and respected advocates,” Sides said in a statement. “She has immersed herself into our community and its history. In a short period of time, Cynthia has made literally hundreds of friends, has become one of Salisbury’s most knowledgeable historians, and has added an incredible richness to the mosaic that makes Salisbury the historic and wonderful city it is.”

Before taking the helm at Historic Salisbury Foundation, Jenkins served as executive director of the Historic Beaufort Foundation and the Preservation Society of Charleston and as a professor in the graduate program in Historic Preservation at Clemson University and the College of Charleston.

“I look forward to getting all of these issues resolved and getting back to work,” Jenkins said.

Contact reporter Emily Ford at 704-797-4264.