Chester County Leadership: Jeanne Meikrantz, Executive Director, The Arc of Chester County

By

Jeanne Meikrantz, the Executive Director of The Arc of Chester County, spoke with VISTA Today about growing up in Schwenksville, working since she was 14 years old, playing lacrosse in college at Kutztown University, and the great advice her brother-in-law, a renowned attorney, gave her when she graduated.

Meikrantz also discussed her entry into the nonprofit world, as well as the challenges that The Arc of Chester County faces and the opportunities that lie on the horizon.

Where were you born and where did you grow up, Jeanne?

Jeanne, age 6.

I was born the youngest of five children in Northeast Philadelphia and moved to Schwenksville when I was two years old.

There are fifteen years between my oldest sister and myself. The joke is that my parents had two different families because of the age difference between us!

What did your parents do?

My father was a self-taught mechanical engineer who worked for Philco Ford. He worked for Philco for many years but lost his job when the company reorganized after more than 30 years of employment.

He finished his career at Peripheral Dynamics working well into his 80’s. He never missed a day of work or anything he committed to and lived to 92 years old.

My mother worked many different jobs, but mainly in the human service field when I was growing up. She spent time working as a home health aide for seniors and worked in the school district in a class as a special education classroom aide. I spent many days interacting with and playing with my friends who were my mothers’ students.

My mother lived with many health issues and disabilities as she aged and passed away right before her 87th birthday. She will always be remembered as a woman of great courage and the woman with 9 lives.

Jeanne with her older sister

What do you remember about growing up in Schwenksville?

I remember it being a very nice neighborhood. We knew all of our neighbors, whether they lived next door or a mile and a half away. Everyone went to the same church or synagogue.

Back then, we had no electronics, so you had to rely on personal connections and communications and a lot of walking, riding bikes and catching a ride from a neighbor or friend.

I spent my summers playing with the other kids outside and at each other’s homes. No one had much money in our neighborhood, but we had a lot of love and shared whatever we had with each other.

Did you play any sports when you were younger?

Playing Lacrosse for Kutztown University

I sang in church choir, played the piano and played a lot of sports when I was young. I was into hockey and lacrosse.

I played lacrosse through high school and in college at Kutztown University. Lacrosse was not that popular back then for women, so our budget for the women’s team at Kutztown was zero. We were on our own.

We had a few great players but a great team spirit and a lot of spunk.  In 1982, we had an undefeated season and beat Millersville and Lockhaven to win the state championship.

In a family with not a lot of money, you must have had to work. What was your first real job?

I have worked since the age of 14. When I was 14 years old, I worked as a waitress at a local restaurant called The Collegeville Inn. The Collegeville Inn was a local landmark that did a lot of wedding receptions and served a smorgasbord. I worked in the banquet part of the hotel. Because I worked weddings, I was always working very late on the weekends – Friday late in the day to late Sunday night – which was exciting as a fourteen-year-old.

What lessons did you take from that job?

11th Grade

I learned how to be a quick learner and to think on my feet, to always have plan B, and to multitask. We were turning over three or four weddings a day on average.

They had five wedding halls within that building and could have three to five weddings going on at the same time. We had to tear one wedding down to prepare for the next quickly.

The job relied on teamwork and hard work. Weddings certainly don’t always go off without a hitch! My staff now joke that I am Plan B Jeanne and I always have Plan A – Z. I learned a lot about responsibility in that job.

I worked that job in high school before volunteering at Pennhurst State School and Hospital in Spring City. I took a community service class my junior and senior year. The school district would let six of us go to the facility three times a week to volunteer our time.

I will never forget that experience or the conditions people were living in. Pennhurst was very controversial at the time, so it was a life changing to be there at that time. In two years, not one of us cut that class! I also was involved in a lot of volunteer work with my church.

You must have been an outstanding student to be this involved?

My father would always say that I was a smart young lady… who didn’t apply herself like her sisters. I was similar to my brother, smart but we had other priorities. My two sisters were straight-A students, but I was okay with making the honor roll to allow time for work and other things also important to me, like a teenage social life.

Where did you go to college?

Jeanne and her father at a Kutztown alumni event in 2007

I graduated from Perkiomen Valley High School in 1978 and went to Montgomery County Community College right after for two years before transferring to Kutztown. I wasn’t ready to go off to college at the time.

My father had a very candid conversation with me, saying he could not afford to send me to college, so I was paying the bill myself.

He told me I had to grow up a bit before going off to school, especially in the classroom. He suggested working and going to MCCC while I figured it out. It was a semi-threat, but it was good for me!

Why did you end up at Kutztown?

I looked around – Temple, Millersville, and some other state schools. Kutztown was close to home, which meant a lot to me because my parents were getting older and needed my help and they had a good curriculum.

I thought I wanted to be a teacher, but after two years at MCCC, I realized I was more interested in Sociology and Psychology, which I ended up majoring in at Kutztown.

In hindsight, was Kutztown a good choice for you?

It was a great choice. It’s an excellent University, and it kept me close to home. I was also able to keep my volunteer connections from the area and help my parents with the upkeep of our home as they age.

When I started at MCCC, they told me all my credits would transfer, which was not the case. I ended up having to double my credits to graduate on time so that it would not cost me too much extra money. I worked for the University doing research and working with data in the Sociology Department. I got great grades, and my father was right!

What kind of music were you listening to in high school and college?

I have always been a country music fan, especially Willie Nelson. At the time, a lot of my peers were listening to heavy rock, but that was never for me. I loved listening to country music.

You graduate college and launch your career, who gave you your first big break?

My brother-in-law was a well-known attorney in southeast PA and knew a lot of nonprofits leaders in the area, so I figured I would go to him. He did me a favor and said, no I’m not able to help you. If you’re going to make it in the human service industry, you’ll need to create your own path and carve out your own career.

I took his advice and began looking. In 1982, I saw an ad in the paper that Kencrest, in Montclair, was hiring entry level direct care staff. I volunteered at Kencrest through my church when I was younger, so I went in for an interview.

I interviewed with Nancy Thaler, the Director of Kencrest at the time, who went on to be the Deputy Secretary of the Office of Developmental Programs and the National Director for the Association of State Directors. She told me that based on my volunteer experience and my degree, she’d like to put me on a three-day trial before offering me the position at minimum wage. I took the opportunity!

What do you think Nancy saw in you, Jeanne?

She saw that I had some experience, and when I began working with Deb Kunsch at Kencrest, they both saw the passion that I had for the people and position. I was passionate about helping people with disabilities achieve their dreams, and they saw that I was kind, hardworking and respectful. They saw that I could grow into a strong advocate for the people we supported. I passed my three-day trial period!!

Where does that kindness come from, Jeanne?

Jeanne’s blended family

From my family! My mother was very patient and kind. She took anyone in at any time. She taught us that whoever needs your help, you need to give it to them. We have a very diverse family and were taught to be respectful of everyone.

At various times, we had people of all abilities, faiths, and nationalities in our house. Her example influenced me and my siblings.

My oldest sister was an English teacher and has taken in foster children and opened her heart and home to everyone in need. My brother graduated from Penn State and served in the Marine Corps for 33 years and retired as a colonel. He sacrificed a lot for our freedom. My other sister is a nurse by trade, teaches students with special needs and serves her family and community in many ways.

How did you get to Arc?

Back in high school, when I volunteered and they were closing Pennhurst, I reached out to The Arc of Chester County because they were very involved in Pennhurst’s closing. Part of my job at Kencrest was helping the people who lived at Pennhurst to make that transition from Pennhurst into homes at Kencrest in the community. I was working with advocates from the Arc during this time and continued that during my entire career.

I worked at Kencrest for five years before transitioning to the Chester County Mental Health and Intellectual Disabilities Department, working multiple jobs there before becoming the department’s Deputy Administrator of Intellectual and Early Intervention services.

I did not want to leave Chester County, but the state office that funded services for people with  Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities asked me to help them stabilize their Federally funded programs and join their policy and compliance division.

I prayed a lot about the decision to leave my current job and took a leap of faith to go to Harrisburg and work for the Commonwealth for five years to help secure the 2 billion dollar program supporting individuals with disabilities and their families and help address the concerns at that time.

Towards the end of those five years, I got a call from the Arc wondering why I hadn’t applied for the position of the open Executive Director who was retiring. I responded I was not looking to leave the Commonwealth and I was kind of busy helping to preserve services and stabilize the 2 billion dollar program, which is now a 4 billion dollar program.

After more prayers and thoughtful consideration, I applied for the position. I was fortunate enough to be selected in September 2012 for the Executive Director position. It was good to get back home working with families and individuals face to face again.

You’ve been at the Arc for over six years now, Jeanne. Looking forward, what are the challenges and opportunities?

Oddly enough, our challenges are always our opportunities! Funding is always a challenge. We rely on government funding, and the services we provide are very underfunded. When state budget season comes, the care we provide is not always a priority.

We always have an opportunity to educate our elected officials about our mission and the needs of individuals with disabilities and families that are not being met because of the lack of government funding in the state budget.

Recruiting and maintaining staff is a major issue in Human Services. Staff turnover is not only a problem for providers it has a negative impact on individuals with disabilities and their families. We also have an opportunity to professionalize the role of direct support professionals and fix this problem.

Adequate funding is a lifelong issue. We provide services from birth through the entire lifespan, which makes our work as a nonprofit unique. We find ourselves having to interact with multiple county and state departments and legislators in Harrisburg and Washington DC.

The Arc has elected to provide services to people who live in private homes and those services are chronically underfunded. In the state budget, human services funnel to the bottom of the state budget priority list many times and is behind education, infrastructure, etc.

The long-term effects on those we support are very real and hard. We try to educate our elected officials how important it is to invest early. The individuals who seek our care are living with family or independently at home, so if we support them well where they want to live and we can save money in the long run by maintaining someone or the family unit in their own private home that is a great outcome.

What do you do in Chester County to localize this conversation?

Our priority is to always advocate for higher government payment rates so the services we provide and for other non-profits for the valued services they also provide so we can all be adequately funded.

We will continue efforts to become less government dependent and more focused on working with our community partners to raise money and support to bridge the gap between cost and government funding.

Is that a new development?

We’ve been working on this my entire career. It was done at The Arc before I was here, but it wasn’t until I started at The Arc that most of our services changed to state-set reimbursement rates that were devasting to our government revenues.

Before that, a lot of our services were getting negotiated between the county government and us. When the state went to state set rates in 2007-2012, the rates were cut on average by 35%-40%. Those rates are still in place today and need to be changed. Also, the Early Intervention state set rates have not increased on over 11 years.

Our strategic plan is also focused on community support and fundraising. We went from raising a couple hundred thousand dollars a year to a goal of over half a million. The delta between what it costs to deliver the services and what we get paid keeps growing since the payment rates have not changed.

The cost of every aspect of the job continues to rise while the state set rates haven’t changed so we rely on our community partners for In-kind and financial support.

(l to r) Jeanne, husband Gary, son Cody and daughter Jessica.

We have a good number of loyal supporters who send contributions and we are very grateful for their generous and loyal support. We also know if we are going to sustain ourselves for another 67 years, we need to expand contributions and partners who will invest in our mission and will contribute financially and In-Kind so we can continue to serve as many people as possible at the high service levels they’ve come to expect.

We do a lot of grant writing and have many fundraising initiatives, but we’ve seen a trend over the last 7-10 years with other nonprofits struggling to survive financially too so there are many worthy nonprofits applying for and seeking the same support. That has resulted in additional challenges but opportunities for partnerships.

Are there program changes are coming in 2019?

One of the newest initiatives we are working on is getting out of paper and into the digital world! We want to transition to an automated system where all our record keeping is done and stored electronically.

Automating our systems will help reduce staff burdens and will minimize our need to hire more and more staff to process hard copy paperwork. This will be at least a two-year process and hopefully, will be fully implemented in two years. We will need financial support to make this become a reality.

Finally, Jeanne, what’s the best piece of advice you ever received?

I have been blessed with a lot of great advice but one of my mother’s favorite things to say was, ‘you have to take the high road Jeanne and keep fighting for what is right but do it with respect.’ My daughter hated it when I would tell her to take the high road, but now she finds herself saying it!

My mother was a real advocate who always rooted for the underdog. She knew some battles would be long, and she wouldn’t prevail unless she was persistent, professional and respectful. She was effective in her methods and was a force that guided me by her actions, love and wise words.

Connect With Your Community

Subscribe to stay informed!

"*" indicates required fields

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
Advertisement
Creative Capital logo