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About The CARes Project

The CARes Project, Inc.

Begun as an initiative of the United Way of Davie County in 2016, The CARes Project is a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit corporation. Operations began in 2017 with individual financial counseling and group home budgeting classes offered in Davie County. The first vehicle loans were made at the beginning of 2018. With an expansion into Forsyth and Davidson counties, The CARes Project, Inc. is now a certified Community Financial Development Institution (CDFI) funded in part by the US Treasury, to address the financial service needs of low and moderate-income residents of these North Carolina counties.

Our mission is to help people become financially secure through car ownership, by making community-funded vehicle loans, and by building skills through financial and credit coaching. 

Our financial coaches are certified as CFEIs® through the National Financial Educators Council (NFEC) and employ best practices for teaching financial literacy and promoting financial wellness. 

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About
Staff
Our Team
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Scott McLaughlin, Chief Executive Officer

Scott@TheCaresProject.org 

336-840-1555 ext. 101

Scott McLaughlin, D.Min., is the Chief Executive Officer of The CARes Project, Inc. With over twenty-five years of leadership experience in educational, faith-based, and community nonprofit organizations, his mission is to build the organizational and fiscal foundation of the CARes Project, integrate the agency into the region's collaborative community development efforts, and lead the Project's growth into other counties in North Carolina. Scott also enjoys working with applicants to help them become skilled in money management and takes pride in every person who graduates from the car ownership program.

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Melinda Beauchamp, Director of Strategic Initiatives 

Melinda@TheCaresProject.org 

336-840-1555 ext. 107

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Heidi K. Eddy, Financial Coach and Certified Financial Education Instructor℠

Heidi@TheCaresProject.org 

336-840-1555 ext. 103

Education has been at the heart of Heidi K Eddy’s career for 22 years. Her passion for helping people find self-confidence and self-motivation and then engage them in making changes for the better led her to pursue advanced degrees in education, with an interest in transformative education and social change.  Heidi has taught and coached at both the community college and university levels. She has mentored at-risk students, taught in a correctional education university degree program for incarcerated individuals, and led conferences and workshops. She has also coached individuals on topics such as life skills, success skills, financial wellness, and personal growth.  At The CARes Project, Heidi is excited about helping people uncover money stories that have kept them trapped in negative financial circumstances, learn the value of budgeting and good credit, and take action steps that move them into better financial situations.

Melinda has been in nonprofit work for over 35 years. She worked for the American Red Cross, SECU Family House, Family Services, Second Harvest Food Bank, and United Way.  She served as the CEO for United Way of Davie County for 9.5 years before retiring June 30, 2020. Melinda took the plan of meeting the transportation challenges of Davie County residents with her when she took the position with United Way. The dream of a program to address the transportation issue took 7 years to create. With the help of David Roddick, who volunteered countless hours to help develop The CARes Project, United Way of Davie County was able to launch this program in 2018. CARes was Melinda’s passion and when she retired she knew she wanted to help CARes to expand across the state of NC using her connections with the United Way network. She began working with CARes January 6, 2021 as the Director of Strategic Initiatives.

Board of Directors

List of Current Board of Directors

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Andrew LaRowe, Board President

Marketing Committee Chair
President of EduCon Energy
Forsyth County

 

Tamara K. Taylor, Board Vice President

Executive Director

Habitat for Humanity of Davie County

Davie County

Michelle Younts, Board Treasurer 

Governance Committee Chair
Market Manager

BB&T
Davidson County

Rick Hall, Board Secretary

Adult Division Director

Forsyth County Department of Social Services 

Forsyth County

Neal P. Cheek
Independent Business Owner
Davie County

Fred Bazemore

Director of Programs and Operations

Experiment in Self-Reliance

Forsyth County

Renee Griffin

Executive Support Manager

Senior Services of Forsyth County

Forsyth County

Marcia Phillips

Retired

Advocacy Center of Davie County

Davie County

 

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