Unbeknownst to many, Lexington's homeless population is nearly 1,000 strong. It's a number that Claudia Blaylock knows all too well. As director of regional services for Volunteers of America of Kentucky, a position she has held for 13 years, Blaylock has made it her life's work to serve this and other homeless populations in the region. Responsible for regional human service programs in Kentucky, West Virginia and east Tennessee, Blaylock oversees the staff in each of these places. Her day-to-day work runs the gamut from budget implementation and program development to community outreach and overseeing a staff that works to improve the lives of homeless men, women and families and other at-risk populations.
Blaylock first realized that she belonged in a "helping profession" soon after graduating from Western Illinois University's undergraduate education program. After her first year of graduate school, Blaylock's mother-in-law was diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer, and she and her husband at the time moved to Lexington to take care of her. Blaylock enrolled in a master's program at the University of Kentucky (educational psychology and counseling), where volunteering with a community agency was part of a class requirement. In no small part because of her personal experience taking care of a cancer patient, Blaylock chose to volunteer with the McDowell Cancer Network on the Cancer Hopeline, a telephone information and referral service for cancer patients and their families. She soon moved into the position of director of volunteers for the program, eventually becoming the program's director. Though it was an early milestone in her career, Blaylock emphasizes the importance of taking as much as you can from each step along the way.
"Every experience builds on the next one," Blaylock said. "Sometimes it's not that easy to see it while you're in it. It's much easier to see it in hindsight and say, 'Oh, that's why I was there; that's why I did that.'"
Much of Blaylock's career path can be framed with that philosophy. For example, her work with veterans at both the VA Medical Center and the Lexington Vet Center was not only preceded by a personal connection (her husband and ex-husband are both vets), but the work continues to inform her work today. And she still carries with her the influence of the first female supervisor she ever had, Mildred Cox, who was the chief of library service at the VA when Blaylock worked there in the '70s. Cox instilled in Blaylock the importance of caring about your staff not only as employees, but as people.
"I worked my butt off for that woman, because I knew that she cared about me as a person, and not just when I was at work putting in my eight hours," Blaylock said. "Mildred is now 90 years old, and we still get together once a month for dinner or lunch."