MH Board Member Honored for 29 Years of Service
Since 1991, Vince Sawyer has played a key role in our work to end homelessness. As a charter member of the Miriam’s House Board of Directors, he worked alongside our founders, Rev. Bev Cosby and Mrs. Elizabeth Forsyth, to help guide our mission, open our doors, and ensure our future. Vince and his wife, Judy, have called Lynchburg home for over 50 years, and have been incredibly active members of this community. We sat down with Vince to hear more about him and his service to Miriam’s House.
Miriam’s House (MH): Vince, tell us a little bit about yourself!
Vince Sawyer (VS): I was born and raised in a small town in northern New Hampshire. I attended Dartmouth College and was in the Navy ROTC there. After college, when my active duty commission came, I was assigned to the Office of Naval Intelligence in the Pentagon and, later, as a civilian worked for the Naval Counterintelligence Office. Actually, one of the major historical events that happened during my time in Counterintelligence was the assassination of JFK.
While there, I met my wife Judy, who was working for the CIA at that time. Judy and I started dating in July of 1964, and we were married in Feb 1965 (and we’re still married!) After graduate school, I took a job working for Ford Motor Company in D.C. and later the Dodge Division of Chrysler. I was assigned to fill a field vacancy in Lynchburg in 1969. However, in 1970, cars were not selling and I was laid off by Dodge. With 1 child and another on the way at that point, we considered moving back north, but decided to stay in Lynchburg; we had fallen in love with the city and the more relaxed pace here. At that time I started working for Fidelity National Bank. Judy and I have 3 children—2 girls and a boy—and 7 granddaughters.
Vince and his wife, Judy at our Fall Gala in 2018
Bev Cosby, Elizabeth Forsyth and others at the MH groundbreaking in 1992.
MH: How did you become involved with MH?
VS: The answer to that is Bev Cosby. When we moved here in 1969, we started worshipping at the Church of the Covenant where Bev Cosby was the Minister. In 1984, I joined a mission group which started a nonprofit called New Land Jobs—it was a program that helped individuals who needed employment with things like job training, job readiness, and interview skills. We thought the people we were working with just needed jobs, but we learned that 25% of the people we worked with didn’t have a fixed address. We quickly realized we had a homeless problem. So that is when we created another nonprofit and launched The Gateway program for homeless men in October of 1992. Already a board member of Miriam’s House, on January 1, 1994 I began working at The Gateway and also assumed responsibility for Miriam’s House. In November of 1993 we had hired Krista Mills as the first Miriam’s House Program Director. Krista only had a month or two to prepare for the doors opening in late January 1994, and I continued to help provide support and oversight to Miriam’s House until Krista was named Executive Director. From then up until just a couple of months ago, I continued to serve as a board member.
MH: What stands out to you as the most rewarding or most impactful part of your service on the board at MH?
VS: The early days were very exciting—to see how it was all happening, to witness Mrs. Forsyth’s generosity and the connection through Bev to make this all happen. Also right now with the current staff and the impact Miriam’s House is making on the community—it is the best time; it’s amazing! I know I spent many years of service on the board, but I am still in awe of what has happened here. We were blessed with Krista Mills for a number of years to get us started. Rhonda Ford was our director for a long time after that and she was wonderful. But since we’ve had Sarah, the current director, it’s blown up! I always looked forward to coming to the board meetings to hear about a family or individual that Miriam’s House was working with and the resources that they brought together to help solve that person’s homelessness. I am in awe of the impact that Miriam’s House is having on the community.
MH: How have you volunteered in the Lynchburg community?
VS: When you work at a bank, many organizations want you to be on the board as the treasurer! And I was on many—the board of United Way for 6 years (4 as treasurer), the many ministries through my church (Camp Kum-Ba-Yah, Interfaith Outreach, and Lynchburg Covenant Fellowship), Elizabeth’s Early Learning Center, my weekly mission group meetings, and of course, Miriam’s House.
MH: When not giving back to your community, what can we find you doing?
VS: I am a big baseball fan. My wife and I have had season tickets to the Lynchburg Hillcats for years and years. In 1981, I started researching and writing stories about the teams and players who have been part of Lynchburg’s professional baseball history and have continued to do that every year. I work with the Hillcats to provide information from my years of research, and my goal is to compile all the stories and publish a book at some point.
And, spending time with my family.
MH: What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?
VS: I was encouraged by my parents (who were encouraged by our family doctor) to explore Dartmouth College because they offered scholarships to families who needed financial aid. I had planned to go to the University of New Hampshire—my mother and father went there as well as many others from my family. I applied to Dartmouth and that changed my life. Probably the most eye-opening times in my life were my times at Dartmouth as part of the class of 1959.
MH: What advice would you give to someone looking to engage with or serve their community?
VS: I am reminded of a Howard Thurman quote from a book titled “Finding Our Way Home” that has always stuck with me: “Find out what makes you most alive and do that, for what the world needs more than anything else is people who are fully alive.” So I would say the same—find out what moves you, what you love and do that.
Vince with MH Board President, Kate Sigler and MH Director of Housing Services, Kristen Nolen
MH: How do you define success?
VS: To me success is when I feel good about how things turn out—things that I’ve been working on, like Miriam’s House; it turned out beautifully. That is what success means to me. And I was a part of it.
MH: Who inspires you?
VS: Bev Cosby. I’ve learned so much from him. Other than my mother and father, he has had a greater impact on who I am than anyone else. And people inspire me. People who are working to make the world a better place, like the people who are working at Miriam’s House.
MH: What do you consider to be your greatest accomplishment?
VS: One of my greatest accomplishments is to have helped my wife, Judy raise our 3 children. I love our children, I’m very proud of them. It is such a gift to see them doing work that they are gifted in that brings them joy.
MH: What is something about you (a fun fact) that not many people know?
VS: In 1961 when I was on active duty at the Pentagon, my boss, a Lieutenant Commander, was in a barbershop chorus called The Fairfax Jubil-Aires, so I got into singing! There was a novice quartet contest in a small town a few hours away that I had never heard of—Lynchburg. So four of us drove down to Lynchburg to sing in this competition held at the E C Glass auditorium and we even stayed at the Virginian Hotel. The city was still segregated. We didn’t win, but I remember thinking that the auditorium was one of the best places we had ever sung acoustics-wise. I had no idea I’d be moving here with my wife and child 8 years later!
Also, I drink a lot of lemonade because it is the one thing that the medical folks know will counter-act and destroy kidney stones. I had one and I hope to never have one again!
MH: What do you wish all of Lynchburg knew about MH?
VS: I wish everyone knew the impact that Miriam’s House has had and the even greater impact it is having now. I wish more people knew about it. I think what Miriam’s House is doing is fabulous.
In his 29 years of board service, Vince oversaw our work to serve and house more than 2,500 homeless individuals. In 2012, he was presented with the Elizabeth M. Forsyth Community Service Award in acknowledgement of the significant contribution he has made to the community by recognizing local needs and supporting solutions to meet them. In honor and celebration of the many years that Vince devoted his time and energy to ending homelessness in the Lynchburg community, he has been established as an Emeritus Member of the Miriam’s House Board of Directors, and the dining and meeting space in our home on Magnolia Street has been dedicated in his honor as “Vince’s Room” —in recognition of his compassion and generous spirit.
