CHARLOTTE — Don Meanor, a social worker and case worker for Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte’s Transition Out of Poverty program, was recently named one of Charlotte’s “Top 40 Over 40” by the Charlotte Ledger. The winners, selected from among hundreds of nominees, were chosen because they help make Charlotte a better place.
In his nomination letter, Don Meanor was described as “a life coach for people who can’t afford life coaches.”
When a rare degenerative condition took his eyesight, Meanor left a successful corporate career and went back to school for a master’s degree in social work. Then in 2016 he went from being a supporter and board member of Catholic Charities to working as its first Transition Out of Poverty (TOP) case worker.
The people Meanor and Catholic Charities’ other TOP case workers serve are often homeless and hopeless. Meeting each week with 25 to 30 TOP participants, Meanor uses his business acumen – listening, problem-solving, mentoring – to guide them to self-sufficiency. Food, housing, healthcare, transportation, child care, education – the TOP case workers get to know what’s keeping each person trapped in poverty. Then they help them set measurable goals, “walking alongside” them for up to a year as they strive to meet those goals.
“It’s fun to watch people learn to believe in themselves,” Meanor says of his work.