Amy Vestal is the new Chief Philanthropy Officer for the Novant Rowan Medical Center Foundation. — Karen Kistler

Karen Kistler

karen.kistler@salisburypost.com

SALISBURY — Being a teacher at heart, providing access to the services people need and being an advocate for those services is what new Chief Philanthropy Director for the Novant Health Rowan Medical Center Foundation Amy Vestal said drives her.

Vestal comes into the new role after serving as the development director at Partners in Learning where she recently spearheaded a successful $12 million campaign with the Salisbury nonprofit.

Having a background in Applied Behavior Analysis therapy for children with autism in both public and private schools and working with children with autism and other special needs, Vestal said “having that passion to educate and make a change in the world” led her to Partners in Learning.

And while she never saw philanthropy or fundraising as a career choice, she said she did see it as something she is passionate about where people have “access to critical services they need and began sharing the story and being an advocate for those services.”

As noted in her biography, “her impactful advocacy includes collaborative efforts with autism advocates, resulting in the successful passage of North Carolina’s autism insurance mandate in 2015, and being the first to advocate for ABA therapy in Rowan County. This experience, coupled with her academic foundation including a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Appalachian State University and advanced studies in ABA therapy at the Florida Institute of Technology and Social Work at the University of New England, naturally transitioned her to philanthropy.”  

Her first day with the foundation was May 5, where she went through some training. Her first official day in the office was May 7, she noted. 

Unofficially, Vestal said, she joined in with the May 2 Campbell Classic Golf Tournament, an event that raised nearly $200,000.

She said they are already gearing up for next year’s tournament and she is excited for it, and hopes to “engage even more golfers in the community and sponsors to make it an even greater event for the foundation and the community.”

Vestal credited the committee and especially Will Campbell who she said spearheaded the tournament this year for its success and the remarkable turnout.

A people person, she said that she loves listening to stories and things happening in the community and therefore wants to continue being greatly engaged in the local community.

She noted that the efforts that they would be doing included supporting “the community’s healthcare needs, thinking outside of the four walls of the hospital and helping to meet those needs.”

While there are a variety of different projects that they support the community, each “spark a special place in your heart, but one that has really sparked an interest and passion for me is our mental health telehealth program we are in with the Rowan-Salisbury School Systems,” she said.

Vestal noted that they are branching out into private schools as well as serving in the public schools so that all students would have access to on-demand, emergency mental health telehealth, which she said is “absolutely critical.”

Children are facing lots of challenges these days, she said, and “so being able to help them in the moment and in a safe place within their school walls and keeping them out of the emergency room, keeping children safe in their environment.”

Other projects that they have include their Upward Mobility program which helps their current clinical staff, their certified nursing assistants, be able to achieve their RN degree and then return to the local hospital to begin their journey as a nurse. She noted that next week there would be four graduating.

Another initiative that she shared about is the cancer center which provides access to treatment and supportive care following treatment and helping them get on a track to wellness.

Vestal will be helping to raise funds for these healthcare initiatives, she said and added that every citizen in the county “deserves access to remarkable healthcare and supportive care and that’s what I want to be able to stand on the soapbox along with Gary (Blabon) and shout and support.”

Other duties she will be involved with, she noted, is listening to the needs of the community and working with Blabon, the president of the hospital, and her team “identifying areas that we can help support our local community so that they have access to better supportive care, and not just care, but educational opportunities within the healthcare, so anything that’s related.”

Speaking at civic group meetings or other community events is another thing that Vestal said she loves to do.

“I think that sharing what the foundation does is going to be critical and realizing how we can be the changing force for our community.”

Speaking with others makes a great impact, she said, whether to small groups or one on one.

Vestal said the foundation board wanted someone local to fill this position, someone invested in the community and she said, “I am humbly excited that I was provided the opportunity to serve in this role. I love this community. My children go to school in this community and so it’s home.”

Those wishing to donate to the Novant Health Rowan Medical Center Foundation may do so by sending to rowan.supportnovanthealth.org/give/383655/#!/donation/checkout or by sending a check to the Novant Health Rowan Medical Center Foundation office, located at 130 Mocksville Ave., Salisbury.