Making an Impact

Brunswick County native Velva Jenkins, CEO of YWCA Lower Cape Fear in Wilmington, encourages donations to the YWCA Courage and Commitment Capital Campaign.

Velva Jenkins, chief executive officer at YWCA Lower Cape Fear in Wilmington, admits she didn’t expect her biggest challenge to arise three months into the job.

She began the position January 1, 2020, and in March, COVID hit. The pool, the childcare facility and all the programs were shut down. Since the YWCA is nonprofit, she explains, “You have to have donors. You have to have grants.”

Welcoming, genial and articulate describe this Winnabow native, who grew up on a farm the youngest of 10 children. When she reached out to community members for donations, many remembered her dedication and determination from her 32 years at Brunswick Community College, so they responded with support. She succeeded in receiving enough funds until the COVID pandemic subsided.

“I love what I’m doing,” Jenkins says, despite citing her second greatest challenge as CEO: the Capital Campaign.
The YWCA, which is celebrating its 111th anniversary as of July, bought the property on College Road in the 1970s and has no debt, but the building needs renovations.

After digesting the feasibility report, the board decided it needed $9.8 million for renovations and expansion:
• $5.2 million for the Health & Wellness Center
• $4.1 million for its Empowerment Programs
• $500,000 for Sustainability

The campaign has raised about $4.9 million since the campaign began in the fall of 2022.

“I make relationships and tell them the impact we’re making in our community,” Jenkins says. “What we’re doing in our community is empowering women and families. We’re getting ready to go public. We’re going to try to motivate the community to write checks.”

Jenkins emphasizes the motto for the campaign, Courage and Commitment, and expresses enthusiasm for the YWCA programs. YWCA charges an annual membership fee, which varies depending on which programs the members use. The childcare center is open from 7 am to 6 pm and has 85 children attending with a capacity for 110. Among the aquatic programs are swimming lessons, water aerobics for women, Flow Motion for women recovering from breast cancer and Welcome to Water, a program introduced in 2024 for moms and babies. The aquatic center is also the site for swim teams at high schools that don’t have a pool.

Jenkins explains they have partnered with the YMCA and developed a pilot program to teach second graders how to swim.

The Endowment granted funds, and the program is now available to all second graders in the Wilmington public schools. “We get out in the community,” she says. “We get the word out of what we are doing.”

Trina Buoniconti, front desk coordinator, says she has been empowered by working at the YWCA for the past three years. “I speak up and am assertive now,” she says. “It has built my confidence. [Velva] is a great role model.”

Jenkins understands the YWCA and its mission. When the previous CEO retired in August 2019, Jenkins was on the YWCA board and was asked to serve as interim CEO. After five months, the board offered her the permanent position. She thought she’d hold it for two years because she had retired from BCC as vice president of Continuing Education, Economic and Workforce Development. Now she is committed to the YWCA. She writes the grants, and the YWCA has received more than $11 million in grants since her tenure began.

Nonprofits, business and marketing were not Jenkins’ dream jobs growing up.

“My talent is art, but no one knows about it,” she says. “I love to do pencil and charcoal drawings. I really wanted to be a fashion illustrator. Someone talked me out of it.”

She was told artists receive money and acclaim after they die. She switched from pursuing her degree in art and art education at University of North Carolina at Wilmington to business and marketing. Her role models were her sister, who had a successful business as a certified public accountant, and her brother, a retired full colonel, who was chief financial officer for military hospitals across the United States.

“I tell young people today, ‘Don’t let others change your mind about your goals,’” she says. “I didn’t have the knowledge of how to pursue my dreams. When I was young, you had to go to New York to do fashion design. I didn’t have the knowledge to get there.”

Jenkins received her MBA from Webster University in Myrtle Beach. “I realized my options for career choices were enormous,” she says. “My professors told me I should work for Fortune 500 companies.”

She accepted a job with a local hair salon supply company, but when she saw an ad in the Brunswick Beacon for a director of the new small business center at BCC, she told herself, “This is me. I can do this.”

She got the job and served over the years at BCC as assistant dean, dean, marketing manager and vice president of economic development.

While at BCC she introduced the Brunswick County small business awards, the Brunswick County leadership program, which still exists today, and a Hispanic workforce program.

“I am most proud of that,” Jenkins says. “Fernando Trulin and I put together one of the most popular Hispanic workforce development programs in the state. It offered bilingual training in machine technology, electricity and construction.”

In 1988 Jenkins married Brunswick County native Ronnie Jenkins. He served as teacher, coach, assistant principal and principal in Brunswick County schools.  Jenkins says her husband is special because he is always happy, always smiling and has beautiful green eyes. The couple has two daughters. Monique, 43, works for a tech company and is studying for her Ph.D. Rowanty, 35, is a nurse practitioner in Greensboro.

Jenkins’ unique name came about by accident and was a surprise to the entire family. When her parents received her birth certificate, rather than Valerie Rae, it said Velva. It was the now-defunct hospital’s mistake, but her parents never changed it. Her family members call her Rae.

Jenkins enjoys gardening, planting flowers and sketching. “Sketching calms me down,” she says. Her dog, Elle, and her grand-dog, Chloe, also keep her busy.

She is grateful to have a chance to praise YWCA but adds that she has another message:  “Don’t give up on your dreams and don’t let people talk you out of your dreams. Follow your heart.”

LEARN MORE OR DONATE TO THE YWCA:
YWCA Lower Cape Fear
2815 S. College Road, Wilmington
ywca-lowercapefear.org
(910) 799-6820
velva@ywca-lowercapefear.org
campaigncoordinator@ywca-lowercapefear.org