OUTLET: The Beacon
No doubt Addie Thomason got her passion for helping others from her mother.
“My mom was always known for her hospitality,” said the president and CEO of the Virginia Beach Community Development Corporation and Second Act Communities. Both nonprofit organizations work to creative innovative solutions to housing needs.
Thomason grew up on the Eastern Shore. She and her three sisters were raised in the close-knit community of Accomac.
Christmas dinners were unforgettable, Thomason said. Her mother would often invite as many as 60 guests, some they barely knew, to their modest-size home.
They were friends of friends, or simply someone her mother had met in the grocery store, Thomason said, smiling. Neighbors looked out for each other, and would often drop vegetables off on each other’s porches, she added.
“I don’t remember anyone being hungry or homeless,” she said. “My mother always taught us we had to share.” Lorraine Kellam passed away last year at the age of 89.
Thomason traveled south for her post high school education, and graduated from Duke University. After earning a law degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, she taught legal, research, and writing courses at five North Carolina law schools. Eventually she worked from home for the global information firm Thomson Reuters.
The single mom found time to serve on the board of directors for numerous charitable organizations.
“Serving people is really important to me,” she said.
About 11 years ago she decided to try working full time in the nonprofit sector, and accepted a position with a national child welfare organization in Chicago. She learned a lot, and headed back east about two years ago to accept her current position, which she called “an awesome opportunity, just really a blessing.”
Throughout her life she’s befriended and worked with people of varied races, religions, and income levels. That diversity “prepared me to serve people at all levels across the United States,” she said.
Second Act develops housing for communities nationwide, while the Community Development Corporation focuses on Virginia Beach. The organization is self-funded through rents and new property development. Affordable housing opportunities for low and moderate income families are provided, as well as educational programs and outreach services, such as the back-to-school “prep” rally scheduled for Aug. 6.
The free event is geared to energize students and families for the upcoming school year. Prizes will be given away, including tablets, event tickets, and gift cards, plus high school and college bands, cheerleaders and dance troupes will perform.
Thomason said it’s about building healthy neighborhoods.
“We are not about sticks and bricks; we are about changing lives forever,” she said.
What do you enjoy most about what you do? Helping others live their best lives.
What is the greatest challenge you face doing what you do? Our greatest challenge is making the community more aware of how we can benefit them and their neighbors.
What do you love most about the people you work/volunteer with? Our staff and volunteers are world-class and are passionate and committed to our mission.
Who or what inspires you to do what you do? My faith.
Who or what in your background best prepared you for doing what you do? Everything in my life and career has prepared me to be in this place and at this time, small lessons and large ones, successes and failures.
If a snapshot was taken of you enjoying a perfect day, what would it look like? No matter what I am doing, it’s near the water.
Hobbies: Gardening and traveling
First car: Dodge Charger
Favorite Virginia Beach spot: Town Center
Of what achievements are you most proud? Raising my children
If you could invite three famous people, living or dead, to dinner, who would they be? Jimmy Carter, Barack Obama, Harriet Tubman
If you could choose your theme song, what would it be? The hymn “Great is Thy Faithfulness”
The song you’re most likely to be caught singing along/dancing to: “Uptown Funk”
What is your personal motto? “Preach often and if necessary, use words.” St. Francis of Assisi
The most memorable words of wisdom you received and from whom: Start addressing a problem by acknowledging that “every person brings their best self that they can to school/work every day.” — The late Harriet Webb, Wake County School Board
The words of wisdom you’d share with someone interested in doing what you do: The most “important thing” is always the people who work with you and the people you serve.
