NATCHEZ &045; You might say Matilda Stephens’ career in social services began when she was in elementary school.

&uot;When I was in second grade, I told my mother I wanted to open an orphanage in Vietnam,&uot; Stephens said. &uot;I talked her into drawing the building plans for me, and I would cut furniture out of the Sears catalog and paste it in the rooms.&uot;

So when Stephens first heard a director was needed for the Sunshine Shelter, a nonprofit temporary home for abused and neglected children from several counties, her mother thought it might be a sign.

&uot;She said, ‘Maybe this is your Vietnam orphanage’,&uot; Stephens said.

For Stephens, starting as the shelter’s executive director this coming Monday is just the latest in a string of social service leadership positions.

Stephens, a board member of the Boys & Girls Club of the Miss-Lou since 2001, has most recently served as the club’s director of operations, helping secure funds need to keep its locations operating.

Prior to that, she spent several years as director of longterm services for Southwest Mississippi Mental Health, serving developmentally disabled and seriously mentally ill adults in a 10-county area.

In fact, when Stephens began working for SMMH, it was located in the building in which the Sunshine Shelter is located now.

&uot;Although it wasn’t anything like it is now,&uot; Stephens said with a laugh, referring to renovations the city has made to the facility in recent years.

Those who know Stephens’ high energy and passion for nonprofit work might not be surprised to know that one of the first things she wants to do as director is to reach out, forming strong partnerships with other agencies that serve children.

That’s so they can make sure agencies are meeting all the needs of the area’s children and youth and aren’t duplicating each other’s services.

Working in the nonprofit sector for 20 years, Stephens has seen firsthand that the pool of money available from governmental and other sources for such organizations is shrinking.

&uot;So it doesn’t make sense to duplicate&uot; services for children, Stephens said. Besides, she added, &uot;the Boys & Girls Club has shown me what partnerships can do.&uot;

Another way Stephens wants to reach out is to educate the public any way she can on the service the shelter does and why it’s important.

For one thing, she wants the public to know that, as of November, the shelter has had a specialist who is developing a pilot program to better find children who are at risk for fetal alcohol syndrome. The sooner such children are found, she said, the more effective treatment can be.

Why did Stephens choose the Sunshine Shelter position?

&uot;My heart is with vulnerable populations, groups that are in crisis or at risk for the very basics of housing, safety, things like that or, in the case of the mentally ill, quality of life,&uot; Stephens said. &uot;I have the ability to recognize what people need and to beat the bushes to fill that need.&uot;