Dianne Brown:
Helping Others Be The Best They Can Be

.By Sherrie Norris

Dianne Brown is one of those special people who lights up the world around her. She is a lady in every sense of the word, quietly reaching out to others and making a positive impact wherever she is, regardless of what she’s doing.

Diane Brown with her friends at Watauga Opportunities. Photo by Marie Freeman

She is best known perhaps in her role working with and encouraging adults with developmental disabilities at Watauga Opportunities, Inc. (WOI), the agency’s mission is one of enabling self-reliance and enhancing independence by providing vocational and community services to people with employment barriers. Hers is a position she has held with pride and pleasure for over twenty-five years, and is much more than just a job.

“In 1978, a long-time friend asked me about coming to work at Watauga Opportunities to teach skills such as nutrition, budgeting, health, sewing, and craft-making. That job evolved into teaching Compensatory Education, a state-wide curriculum through the community college system, designed for adults with developmental disabilities. In 1990, our curriculum focused more on vocational skills in preparation for community employment; our first community employee was placed at a local fast-food restaurant in April, 1991, and we were off and running,” Brown said.

Employed by another agency in the mid 90’s, Brown returned to WOI as Follow-Along Coordinator for those in the supported employment program. “Watauga Opportunities has a manufacturing component which provides packaging of items such as sewing/craft supplies. Also, everyday many of our clients are working at establishments across the High Country, with trained staff assisting them in locating, preparing for, and learning to work these jobs to the best of their ability,” Brown said.

Brown describes her job as “the fun one,” making sure the individuals have easy access to community resources and the opportunity to become thriving participants in their community. In her role, Brown assists them with such things as personal banking, budgeting, paying bills, shopping, and doctor’s appointments.

Part of living and working in a community, according to Brown is “making it a better place in which to live.” She adds, “It is important for these individuals to participate in their community, especially through volunteer work with the Hunger Coalition, Meals on Wheels, Adopt-A-Street, Humane Society, Santa’s Toy Box, Christmas Sharing Tree, and Relay for Life. Our group has also raised money which was donated to the American Red Cross to help victims of hurricanes and floods.”

Nearly a decade ago, Brown and a co-worker took the group’s volunteering to a new level by forming the Happy Hearts Extension and Community Club, part of the state-wide Extension and Community Association (ECA), organized in 1920 as Home Demonstration Clubs, working through the local Cooperative Extension Service, providing leadership opportunities, educational programs, and encouraging volunteer services.

Last May, Brown received the distinguished NC State ECA Leadership Award, nominated by Sue Counts, Director of Extension in Watauga County. Referring to Brown’s leadership with Happy Hearts, Counts states, “The club and the work it does is an extension of the mission of Watauga Opportunities. Dianne is the ‘special mentor’ who gives the leadership necessary for this very special group of people. They are known for volunteering-from Relay for Life to ECA Beautification Project and the Holiday Fair.’ Counts states that the club records over 700 hours of volunteer time each year, a value of over $8,000 per year, adding, “Brown is an excellent example to this group, leading it in volunteer hours.”

Brown has been involved with church and her community most of her life. She is presently Director of Woman’s Missionary Union at Howard’s Creek Baptist Church where she also facilitates a ladies’ Bible study group, serves on the Women’s Ministry Council, and plays keyboard. She serves as Missions Involvement Coordinator with Three Forks Baptist Association and coordinates all the churches in the Christmas gift-giving for 275 rest home residents in this county. Currently, she is organizing events for a rest home ministry for “Operation-In-As-Much,” a project in which her church is also involved with sewing projects that she is also coordinating.

She participated in the Disaster Relief trip to Awendaw, SC in 1989 and in Rocky Mount, NC in 2000. She personally has been involved with volunteer work with the Hospitality House, OASIS, Meals on Wheels, Grace Home, Hunger Coalition, Hospice, Adopt-A-Street, Hope Pregnancy Resource Center, Operation-Christmas-Child for Samaritan’s Purse and Martin Luther King Community Volunteer Day.

Brown said, “Both parents came up through the Depression, and hearing their stories of family life here in Watauga County during the 30’s and 40’s helped shape me. I heard about their hard work, their close calls, the importance of family, fun-times, and the value of a church community. Music was a treasured diversion. I am also very grateful for my Christian heritage—it was important for my ancestors and they have left me quite a legacy in that realm, growing up as a preacher’s daughter.”

Brown majored in Home Economics at ASU; her mother suggested she buy a good sewing machine. “She was an excellent seamstress, and encouraged me greatly. My sewing machine is still going strong after 36 years.” And, so are her efforts to make life better for those around her and help them become the best they can be.