In Memory of Project Dignity WNC Founder, Barbara Morgan.

Barbara Jean “Barb” Morgan, long-time resident of Hendersonville, and Founder of Project Dignity of WNC, Inc, passed away on Pentecost Sunday May 23^rd at Elizabeth House, after a long illness. With her husband Tom at her side, she was welcomed with the angels to a new place without disease or pain.

Born in Independence, Kansas, Barb grew up in Wichita, attended East High School, and Wichita State.  Barb joined Federal Express at a sales professional in 1986 in the Wichita area after a brief career with Dale Carnegie. During her long FedEx career, Barb served in several professional and management positions in sales, sales training, and project management, and earned the prestigious President’s Club Sales Award. Barb met her future husband Tom at FedEx in Memphis, where together they volunteered as mentors at Youth Villages.  

In retirement to the glorious mountains of western North Carolina, their new lives centered around their service to the community, their church, the Free Clinics, Meals on Wheels, and Catholic Social Services. Barb served as a Guardian ad Litem.

In 2011 Barb was diagnosed with Myelodysplastic Syndromes or MDS, a blood disorder which prevents the body’s bone marrow from producing healthy blood cells.  During her initial treatment, Barb created the “AAMDS Community of Hope” support group as an empathetic resource for others with this disease. 

In 2013 Barb co-founded with Tom, Carolina Fiduciary Services LLC, to provide a daily money management resource for seniors in the area who may have lost their ability to manage daily financial decisions such as paying bills, and also providing life-transition services.   

In late 2016 Barb got a call from her son who was struggling with mental health issues and on SNAP assistance, and who complained that his benefits didn’t cover necessities such as toilet paper, nor could his female friends even buy feminine hygiene products. Barb reacted by getting some friends together to find resources. In March 2017 Project Dignity of WNC, Inc. was incorporated as a nonprofit with the single mission of providing free period products to women and girls who might be homeless, low-income, or victims of domestic abuse. Starting with the Henderson County schools, Project Dignity has now grown to 148 schools and 56 social services agencies in ten counties in WNC.   Project Dignity provides free access to period products, honoring the dignity of those whom it serves each month.

Barb was recognized in May 2019 with the Athena Award, which honors individuals who strive toward the highest levels of personal and professional accomplishments, who excel in their chosen field, devote time and energy to their community in a meaningful way, and forge paths of leadership for other women to follow.

Barb’s surviving Wichita family includes two sons Matthew and Eric (Misty), and her stepdaughter Catie Blackwood (Ben) in Knoxville; eight grandchildren, as well as a sister, Rebecca Deuser of Platte City, Mo.

In lieu of flowers, Barb may be honored with donations to Project Dignity of WNC, Inc, PO Box 6104 Hendersonville NC 28793; to St James Episcopal Church in Hendersonville, or to a charity of the donor’s choice. 

Services are planned at St James Episcopal Church 766 N Main St Hendersonville NC on Saturday June 26, 2021 at 11 am.