Most days, the lobby at Crisis Assistance Ministry is a study in urgency and hope. Neighbors arrive with disconnection notices, eviction papers, and the kind of questions that keep people awake at night: Will the lights stay on? Where will we sleep next month? Staff do their best to offer calm in the middle of all that uncertainty, even when the volume of need never seems to slow.
Behind the scenes, there is another kind of work unfolding, less visible but no less transformative. It is the work of rethinking how help is delivered, so that every appointment, conversation, and decision is a little clearer, a little kinder, and a little more sustainable for the people offering care.
Meet Steven
Since 2023, Steven has served as an Executive Volunteer with Crisis Assistance Ministry, lending his expertise to strengthen the experience of both neighbors and staff. Long before he walked through our doors, he had already spent decades helping nonprofit and public service organizations support their people more effectively, especially frontline staff who serve communities facing housing instability, homelessness, and economic hardship.
“I see supporting vulnerable people and the organizations that support vulnerable people as an obligation that we all have to do something. I want every child to have the same experience that my children have. I recognized that I was privileged. I grew up in safety and a middle class home and I didn’t have to worry the same way. But every child should have that. I firmly know that no one person can change the world, but I do believe so strongly that if everyone does something, just something, that we can actually move the dial on these big vexing problems.”- Dr. Steven Rogelberg
Beyond his volunteer role here, Steven founded the CARE Conference Initiative, which gathers direct care providers from across Charlotte for a day of restoration, practical tools, and community. In January 2026, the conference welcomed 156 frontline care providers from 24 organizations, including Crisis Assistance Ministry, to focus on their well-being and effectiveness. His work has also included developing research-based tools and assessments that help nonprofits better understand and support their teams.
For all his accomplishments, Steven’s impact at Crisis Assistance Ministry begins in a simple place: listening.
Listening First: Taking the Pulse of Staff
Since 2023, Executive Volunteer Dr. Steven Rogelberg has partnered with Crisis Assistance Ministry to strengthen the experience of both neighbors and staff. His first major project was an Engagement Pulse Survey, launched to better understand how staff were experiencing their work and what they needed to serve neighbors well. Rather than guessing, he helped the organization ask focused questions about morale, communication, and workload, giving team members a structured way to share their perspectives.
Those responses led directly to the creation of a Learning and Development Committee, now building a framework for individual, team, and agency-wide learning opportunities. Instead of a one-time survey, the work has become an ongoing commitment to invest in the people who meet neighbors in crisis every day.
Designing a More Welcoming Customer Experience
In early 2025, Steven began working with leaders on a project to improve customers’ experiences. The goal was simple and ambitious at the same time: reduce the stress of waiting, honor people’s time, and make the first moments of asking for help feel more humane.
The team made immediate changes outside the building. A customer service team member began doing active triage each morning in the line, helping neighbors understand what to expect and what documents they needed before they reached the front door. Volunteer teams coordinated to provide food to customers in line, easing a very practical burden for people who might otherwise wait hungry for hours.
Steven was also instrumental in helping the agency move key parts of that experience online. He supported the development of an online eligibility screening tool and helped further define document requirements, with clear examples linked on the Crisis Assistance Ministry website. Today, neighbors can review who is eligible, what they need to bring, and how to request help before they ever get on a bus or into a car, making a stressful day just a bit more predictable.
Neighbors have noticed the difference. One customer recently shared, “The wait time was better this time … They started preparing outside with people who needed help so that when nine o’clock came you were able to go inside and get right to it … Wonderful.” That kind of practical, on-the-ground feedback reflects a simple truth at the center of Steven’s work: dignity lives in the details.
Caring for the Caregivers
Steven’s volunteer work at Crisis Assistance Ministry is part of a larger commitment to caring for frontline workers across our community. As founder and director of the CARE Conference Initiative, he brings together direct care providers from organizations across Charlotte for a day focused on their well-being and effectiveness. The 2026 conference welcomed more than 150 attendees from two dozen agencies serving neighbors facing housing instability and economic hardship.
“My own personal tagline is I want to help those that help others. When I think about the angels that work in our agencies, they’re not doing it for money, because there’s not much money to be had. They’re working so hard. They’re engaging in such emotional labor. They themselves are vulnerable. And yet we depend on them. To the extent that they’re thriving, our organizations thrive and we can help more people. But if they’re burning out, if they’re miserable, not only are they the victim of that narrative, but so are the communities they serve.” – Dr. Steven Rogelberg
Participants described the experience as deeply affirming and restorative, emphasizing how powerful it was to feel truly seen and valued in demanding roles that are often overlooked. For Crisis Assistance Ministry staff who attend, the conference offers both practical tools and a rare emotional reset — an echo of the same values Steven brings into his volunteer role with our agency.
He’s taken this commitment a step further with the launch of the CARE Institute of Leadership, which is a coaching initiative for frontline leaders in our community. These leaders receive full scholarships for six months of leadership development, a gift that cultivates their growth personally and professionally.
The Volunteer You Might Never Meet
Most neighbors who walk into Crisis Assistance Ministry will never know Steven’s name. They will not see the engagement survey he helped design. The improvements to the customer experience will be invisible. But they will feel the result of his work: clearer pathways to assistance, a more organized and compassionate appointment experience, and staff who are better supported to show up fully in the hardest moments.
For the staff who serve on the front lines, his impact may show up as a survey that asks how they are really doing or a conference that reminds them their well-being matters. Together, these threads form a quiet but powerful legacy. One that encompasses the spirit of the Governor’s Volunteer Service Award: sustained leadership, meaningful impact, and service rooted in care for the community.
Crisis Assistance Ministry is thrilled to celebrate Dr. Steven Rogelberg as a 2026 North Carolina Governor’s Medallion Award for Volunteer Service recipient. Congratulations, Steven!