Two Couples Share the Role of Neighborhood Coordinator in Fox Meadow 

Teamwork is central to the PORCH model, as volunteer neighborhood coordinators look to neighbors to donate non-perishable food – which the coordinators then collect and transport. 

In Fox Meadow – a neighborhood consisting of about 60 houses on large lots off Rogers Road in Chapel Hill – a team of two couples share the workload as neighborhood coordinators. 

Meryl Kanfer and Jon Engel are on an every-other-month schedule with Cathy Howes and Holly Holland. The four have worked in tandem for about six years, taking over for a neighbor who was ready to pass along the responsibility. 

Jon is a professor of physics at UNC, while Meryl is a social worker who runs a program for MSW students at UNC and has a private psychotherapy practice. They have one adult son and have lived in the neighborhood for 25 years.

Holly and Cathy have also lived in the neighborhood since 1999. Cathy retired from UNC Health as a pediatric physical therapist. She is now an adjunct professor at the university and still sees some private clients. Holly is a retired pediatric occupational therapist who now sees private clients and works as an adjunct faculty member at Duke. 

“We decided that by sharing [the neighborhood coordinator role], we could break up the workload a little bit, cover for each other as needed,” Cathy says. “Because life happens.” 

“The four of us have done this really well together,” Meryl says. “We’re a good team. We’re collaborative.” 

The Fox Meadow team was asked years ago to begin taking their 40 to 50 bags of non-perishables each month directly to the nearby Rogers Eubanks Neighborhood Association (RENA), a partner in PORCH’s Food for Pantries program – as opposed to taking it to PORCH’s leaders for distribution to PORCH families. In 2023, PORCH worked with 13 local pantries like RENA to provide 1,520 bags of the non-perishable items that families need the most.

RENA has a monthly food distribution, an after-school program, and a food pantry. 

“This works out great,” Holly says. “It’s closer to us, right around the corner. We have a nice relationship with Rosie Caldwell, who’s the director of programs. She welcomes us. … They are so receptive to what we do. If we show up with ten-pound bags of rice, they tell us it’s no problem and separate them into one-pound bags.”  

“It feels a little more neighborly,” Cathy says. “You are really and truly serving someone directly in your neighborhood. I like that.” 

Cathy, Holly, and Meryl have all separately volunteered at RENA to help them sort the food, move stock, and bag items. 

“RENA is an unbelievable place,” says Meryl. “The work they are doing – giving out eggs, milk, meat. One time I was there, and a volunteer showed up who goes around to discount stores and buys large quantities of food to donate for their food distribution. They are amazing. What we [collect] is a drop in a bucket compared to what they are doing there.” 

Meryl says that her work with PORCH – and RENA, by extension – helps her maintain a grateful attitude. 

“When I read the literature and the information that comes out from PORCH and RENA, it’s very clear that there are people who really need the food,” she says. “But they are invisible to me. … Doing this just grounds me in lots of ways. … I like the collective nature of it.” 

She adds that she also enjoys following up with neighbors to update them on how much was collected and to praise them for their efforts. About 20 Fox Meadow households contribute per month, and the team plans to recruit some new neighbors as 2025 gets underway. 

“I think this gives our neighbors an opportunity to be able to feel like they’re helping,” Holly says. “It doesn’t take a lot to put something on your porch. And that’s the whole idea. … I also enjoy it because it’s time I get to spend with Cathy. Whether it takes 45 minutes or whatever it takes. It’s a time we have to do something good, together.”