Christy Motley: Growing a Mission Through Collaboration and Community

Cabarrus County is a place shaped by people who notice a need and decide to do something about it. When Christy Motley moved from Ohio to Cabarrus County seven years ago, she saw neighbors experiencing homelessness, families struggling to make ends meet, and individuals who needed more than a temporary solution. Most of all, she saw people who needed someone willing to listen and help them find a way forward.

That commitment grew into Christeas, Inc., a nonprofit organization that helps people who are often overlooked find stability, access resources, and take their next steps toward independence. Today, as founder and CEO, Christy is establishing Christeas, Inc. in Cabarrus County with the help of local agency partners and the Greater Cabarrus Foundation's Cabarrus Spark program.

A Heart for Those Often Overlooked

For Christy, helping others has never been just a job or a title. In Ohio, she organized community outreach, served meals to seniors, hosted back-to-school events, and ran a catering business that gave her another way to serve while supporting her family.

Her work as an administrator for a home healthcare agency deepened that sense of purpose. She met seniors on fixed incomes who struggled to afford basic necessities alongside their medical expenses. She also saw the challenges facing people returning home after incarceration and young adults aging out of foster care, who often must navigate housing, education, and employment without the knowledge or resources they need.

Those experiences shaped a conviction that guides her work today: people should not be defined by their circumstances or their past.

"Everyone has a story," says Christy Motley, Founder and CEO of Christeas, Inc.

Learning Before Leading

Although Christy was not new to nonprofit work, she was new to Cabarrus County. She understood that effective service requires relationships, local knowledge, and collaboration, so she began by listening.

An introduction from Spencer Swain, Executive Director of Families First in Cabarrus County, opened the door to the local nonprofit community and, eventually, to the Greater Cabarrus Foundation. Those relationships helped Christy learn what resources already exist, what other agencies are doing well, and where Christeas, Inc. can contribute without duplicating services.

"There's so much that needs to be done that I don't think one organization can do it," she says.

For Christy, a thoughtful referral can matter as much as a direct service. She wants Christeas, Inc. to be one thread in a broader network that helps people find the right door, even when that door belongs to another agency. Christeas, Inc. serves an important role in Cabarrus County as a connector, by pointing those in need towards the resources and organizations that can help.

Strengthening Christeas, Inc. Through Cabarrus Spark

When Christy first connected with the Foundation, she assumed grant writing and funding were her nonprofit’s most pressing needs. Conversations with Jenn Delaney, Director of Capacity Building Services at the Greater Cabarrus Foundation, helped her see that strengthening the organization itself needed to come first.

That realization led her to Cabarrus Spark, the Foundation's capacity-building program that helps nonprofit projects and agencies strengthen their ability to serve the community.

Through Cabarrus Spark, the Foundation is raising funds on behalf of Christeas, Inc. to support the professional services the agency needs to grow stronger and more sustainable, including financial management, marketing, and board development.

Christy is also taking part in training opportunities and building relationships with people who can help her navigate the complexities of nonprofit leadership.

"I need to surround myself with people who know things I don't know," she says.

She values that Cabarrus Spark looks beyond immediate needs to address the underlying challenges that can make a mission difficult to sustain. The program is also helping her sharpen how Christeas, Inc. communicates who it serves, why its work matters, and how partners and community investors can help. Her goal is an agency that can stand on its own, build strong community relationships, and serve its neighbors for years to come.

Helping People Take Their Next Steps

At the heart of Christeas, Inc. is a belief that people can move forward when they have the right information, support, and opportunities. Too often, people miss opportunities not because they lack potential, but because no one has shown them how to navigate the next step.

For young adults leaving foster care and individuals returning from incarceration, that next step might mean building workplace skills, exploring educational options, completing applications, or discovering careers in skilled trades such as HVAC, plumbing, and bricklaying. For seniors, it might mean finding ways to reduce the cost of prescription medications through partnerships with pharmacies.

When someone's needs fall outside Christeas’ services, Christy wants that person to leave with a useful connection and a clearer sense of where to turn. Her approach is rooted in inclusion and dignity: a closed door at one agency should never mean every door is closed.

"Everyone is valued. Everyone is loved. Nobody is left behind," she says.

Looking Ahead With Hope

Christy believes the future of Christeas, Inc. depends on relationships, collaboration, and a willingness to keep learning. She has already experienced the value of being welcomed into Cabarrus County's nonprofit network, discovering resources she did not know existed and new ways Christeas, Inc. might connect people with services.

She hopes that sharing people's stories will help others recognize needs they might otherwise overlook, and that more of her neighbors will consider how they might become part of the work. For her, building Christeas, Inc. is about more than establishing an agency. It is about creating a network of support that helps people know they matter and that they do not have to face life's challenges alone.

Christy's story reflects what makes Cabarrus County great: people who see a need, reach out to one another, and build something together that will strengthen our community for generations to come.

How You Can Help

Community investors can support Christeas, Inc. through Cabarrus Spark. To learn more or make an investment, visit: greatercabarrusfoundation.org/cabarrus-spark/#christeas-inc

Christy has also written a book, While I Wait: How Much Weight Can You Endure?, with all proceeds supporting services at Christeas, Inc. The book is available on Amazon.

To learn more about Christeas, Inc., visit: christeasinc.org