GREENFIELD — Debra Weber was a longtime stay-at-home mom when she started volunteering for Love INC fielding phone calls in 2015.
She never guessed she’d one day become the nonprofit’s executive director, yet that’s where she found herself when the former director stepped down for health reasons just as Weber’s youngest child left the nest for college in September.
Weber immediately took over as interim director, then made the title official at the start of the year.
She credits the outgoing director, Karla Whisenand, for being readily available to help with the transition, despite fighting an ongoing battle with cancer.
“Karla is just a very loving and compassionate person. She has set a great example,” said Weber, 53, who lives in Greenfield.
“She has done just great work with community relations, and she has been so supportive. I can call her anytime, email her anytime, and she ends every answer with ‘just let me know if there’s anything else you need.’ She’s just been invaluable to me in this transition,” she said.
Weber was thankful for the opportunity to follow in her footsteps, and is excited about the future for Love INC, otherwise known as Love in the Name of Christ of Hancock County.
The nonprofit serves as a clearinghouse to connect those in need with what they need — food, clothing, shelter and more — thanks to a network of local churches and service agencies.
As a longtime volunteer with a degree in social work from Ball State University, where she met her husband, Chris, Weber seemed the perfect match to lead the organization.
“The board thought she was a great fit for the role. She’s a good testament to Christ, she has compassion, she’s very intelligent, and she’s very approachable,” said Larry Hof, pastor at Faith Baptist Church in Greenfield, who serves as chairman of the board for Love INC.
At the start of her career, Weber worked about six years in Marion County before becoming a stay-at-home mom. She spent 25 years volunteering at various organizations in Hancock and Marion counties before returning to the workforce at Love INC, after serving three years there as a board member.
“I had always thought it was a wonderful and very needed ministry, so I had always followed their progress. I always really liked what the ministry was doing, and how compassionate they were with the individuals they served,” said Weber.
“I loved that the volunteers had an opportunity to pray with the individual on the phone, and to be able to not only figure out what their physical needs were, but also their spiritual needs,” she said.
Weber said the future looks bright for the organization.
“One thing we are working on is our transformation ministry, where we have classes on life skills like finances,” said Weber.
The ministry was set to launch last year, but had to be postponed due to the pandemic. Now, Weber is looking to hire a full-time transition ministry coordinator to lead the program.
“We’ve had people calling in with financial needs, so we see a big need out there to be working with individuals on handling their money and even understanding what God has to say about our money. We’re doing what we can to help individuals with what incomes they do have,” she said.
Weber can empathize with the need to balance a budget and live on a strict income, like when she and her husband were raising three kids on one income.
“All along we were just thankful that the Lord has provided for us, that I didn’t have to work full time,” said Weber, who did work occasionally in child care and as a substitute teacher in the Southern Hancock schools, which her children attended.
When she was a young mom, she and her husband suffered a tragic loss when their first-born child died as a baby, but they went on to have three more kids. One son lives in Seattle; their daughter lives in Terre Haute; and their youngest son is a freshman at Purdue University.
Now that she’s officially an empty-nester, Weber is embracing this next stage of life and her executive director’s role at Love INC.
“I’m really looking forward to what the future holds,” she said.
