When Christy Simmons hit a milestone birthday two years ago, she began to reconsider her job as a marketing specialist at a newspaper.

“I hit forty and just started doing some reflecting about where I wanted to go in my career,” says Simmons, now the manager of PR for the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina. Simmons liked her field, but wanted her career to fulfill some of her personal goals as well as pay the bills.

“I was just at that point in my life where I’d done a variety of things, and I felt very strongly that if I was going to be busy, I wanted to be working hard for something I was passionate about.”

A misconception?

The non-profit sector is a good way to merge professional and personal goals. In addition to getting a paycheck, employees gravitate toward causes and organizations that help others or are in-line with their beliefs or interests.

However, many forego looking for these kinds of jobs because non-profit organizations are thought of as less competitive than for-profit companies when it comes to salaries and benefits. But this may be a misconception.

Simmons didn’t take a cut in pay when she left the corporate world. In fact, she’s making the same money she used to, and she’s a lot happier and healthier. Her doctor has removed her from one hypertension medication already.

“I’m much more at peace about what I do from day to day and even about what I do when I’m not at work,” says Simmons. “Because of our mission, I know that we’re working hard to add a little happiness and a little sunshine to someone’s life by providing them with a meal.”

There are more than 400,000 people at risk of hunger in the 34 central and eastern counties the food bank serves. Simmons notes that 30 percent are children, 18 percent are elderly and 38 percent are the working poor. One of her roles as PR manager is educating the public.

“We’re working hard to change the misconception that those at risk for hunger are always the people who are homeless on the street.”

Defining success

Rochelle Galiotti was working at a bank in a tiny cubicle when she began to scour the Internet for something more to her liking. She ended up as a teacher/counselor for Eckerd Youth Alternative, Inc.. The organization, founded in 1968, has helped more than 80,000 at-risk youths. There are eight programs in North Carolina, specializing largely in therapeutic outdoor education.

After being recruited from out of state, Galiotti worked as a counselor, and now recruits would-be teachers herself, attending job fairs and posting ads. The teacher/counselor position is crucial to Eckerd’s success. Many of Galiotti’s recruits are recent college grads who aren’t ready to settle in at a desk job. “It’s the backbone of our organization,” she says. “The youth counselor/teacher position is the one that’s actually with the kids. They are there 24 hours; it’s a direct care position. It’s a unique position in that it’s outside so a lot of people find that really enticing.”

Counselors work five days and get two days off. The salary is $23,600 and includes room and board, even on the counselor’s off days. For those off work, a house is available for their use, equipped with modern amenities such as email.

Eckerd is a large nonprofit, employing more than 1,700 people, and the benefits are comparable to those in the for-profit sector, including healthcare insurance after 60 days and a 403b plan after one year.

Five years later, Galiotti is still with Eckerd. And she doesn’t miss the banking industry — or her cubicle — one bit.

“At the end of the day, I didn’t just want to earn money for someone else,” she says. “I wanted to make a difference in somebody’s life.”

Contact Christa Gala at www.christagala.com.