Regina Lawrence, STOP’s CEO, To Retire After 50 Years

By Leonard E. Colvin
Chief Reporter Emeritus
New Journal and Guide 

Established in 1965, STOP Inc. is Hampton Roads’ oldest Community Action Agency (CAA) and  its leading anti-poverty agency.

Regina P. Lawrence, has been an employee for 50 years, 14 of them as President and CEO of STOP Inc., formerly known as “STOP Organization of Hampton Roads and the Southeastern Tidewater Opportunity Project.”

As of September 30, 2024, Lawrence will retire.

She is STOP’s longest-serving employee, having worked in or with every department within the agency

Past employees and leaders of public and private organizations who have partnered with STOP say she is loving, hardworking, and dedicated to uplifting the disadvantaged.

Combine these traits with brutal honesty and deep faith, Lawrence says it drives her personally and professionally.

An aspiring sociologist and psychologist, she left college to support her family after her mother’s death.   It appears she did not need a degree to write the resume she now owns.

She arrived at STOP in 1974, nine years after STOP began operation, as an assistant to the third Executive Director, Harvey Johnson, Jr.; both Johnson and Lawrence are products of Portsmouth. By then it had created a massive footprint in Hampton Roads.

“He was a father figure for me and a mentor,” she said. “He taught me the philosophy of what is to be expected and yielded from work. He also told me to be authentic in everything that I say and do.”

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During a recent interview for this article, Lawrence said shortly before Johnson died, she told him how grateful she was for what he taught her and the work ethic that he had instilled in her.

But Johnson responded, “Regina, I taught you only the basics and you have been teaching me ever since I retired many years ago …,” she said.

Lawrence’s first leadership challenge was administering  a thirty-two-bed nursing home in Portsmouth that STOP had acquired. She successfully brought the facility into compliance with state regulations.

Under her leadership and previous leaders, STOP has stretched money from local, state, and federal public agencies with support from private ones and similar agencies to achieve its mission.

  Lawrence said she has witnessed STOP planting nurturing seeds in other public agency gardens to create programs that followed  several STOP success stories.

For instance, in 1997, STOP provided a heating system for a poor, elderly couple in Smithfield from the Atlantic Shores Heating and Cooling company. In 1999, STOP partnered with Norfolk Public Schools to launch  the  “Mama, I Want to Read” program in the Park Place and Lamberts Points neighborhoods.

The “Norfolk Works” job support program was born from a job training program launched by Lawrence.

The Foodbank of South Hampton Roads and the Eastern Shore was based on STOP’s community food and nutrition program that Lawrence and a former supervisor developed.

Head Start, weatherization, the first paramedic and nursing training programs, affordable housing in urban and rural areas of the region and clean drinking water for poor rural communities were pioneered by STOP.

In 2010, due to the passing of the STOP CEO, Lawrence, then Central Records and Public Relations Director, was appointed as CEO.  STOP faced a fiscal crisis caused by a mishandling of federal funding for its Head Start program, causing the agency to relinquish it.

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In 2011, during this financial crisis, former Norfolk Skill Center Director, Dr. George F. Reed, who was also the Vice Chairman of the STOP Board, was named Acting Chair of the STOP Board of Directors.

Reed helped Lawrence restructure the organization and develop policies to put STOP back on track.

During a recent interview with the GUIDE, Lawrence said,. “I could not have gotten through that crisis without Mr. Reed’s advice, counsel and leadership on the Board as well as his influence in the community.”

“Regina showed a great deal of leadership and commitment to service in the community during that period of crisis,” said Reed. “I helped the best I could. But I watched her put out fire after fire with honesty and professionalism. It wore on her.  The more people gave up on her, the better she fought! I don’t think anyone else had the faith, skill, and institutional knowledge to get through it.”

For two years, afterwards, the two worked to acquire Council on Accreditation (COA) certification and the first Certified Evidence-Based Organizations (CEBO) recognition for abilities and accomplishments in the area of evidence-based policies, programs, and practices.

Sharon Waters, an Alabama native, now retired from STOP, said STOP ran an educational program at Norfolk Public School’s (NPS) Madison Skill Center and hired her as an instructor in 1996.

“This connection between Regina and me lays the foundation for a relationship that has endured to this day,” said Waters, who later taught at TCC and Hampton University.

“Teaching was something I had yet to consider.  Regina saw something in me I had not recognized.”

“Regina is the most resilient person I know, her legacy is a testament to the Community Action Promise of changing lives, embodying hope, and improving communities,” Waters said.

“Her focus on community development and individual empowerment has left a lasting mark on every program,” said Waters. “This includes   projects like STOP’s first Weatherization Program, the Technology Bus for at-risk youth and a Mobile Telehealth Clinic   in the Western Tidewater region.”

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Bruce Watts worked with the Norfolk Economic Development Department twenty years ago when he first met Lawrence.   Since 2012, he has been Ohio-based Woda Cooper Companies’ Assistant Director of the Department of Housing and Community Development.

STOP and Woda will partner to provide financial skill programs to residents living in two affordable residential communities: the Banks in Berkley in Norfolk and Holley Point in Portsmouth.

“Mrs. Lawence has become an icon in her field,” said Watts. “The stars aligned for her over the years, and she has empowered many people. She is an example of ‘it is not what you say…but what you do to succeed!’”

Marleisa Montgomery is Executive Director of The Genieve Shelter, a non-profit that provides Suffolk, Franklin, the Isle of Wight, and other Western Tidewater locales with services for victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, and human trafficking.

Montgomery said her agency was denied a grant to establish safe housing for victims.

Shortly after, during a phone conversation with Lawrence, the two established a partnership which afforded The Genieve Shelter a sub-contract from STOP for the project.

“That was a blessing,” said Montgomery. “Because of her history and legacy of knowing the need…she helped us provide support for many women who are victims of abuse and homelessness.”

James Church said he “grew up” in STOP. He has spent 30 years with Priority Ford and is now General Manager. He was a board member when Lawrence became CEO.

“Some people are born leaders, and I realized this about her when we first met,” said Church.  “She is honest and straightforward.  She always reminded me of the mission of the agency: ‘it’s all about the kids and ensuring their future.’  That will be her legacy.”

Norfolk Mayor Kenneth C. Alexander, running for his third term as Mayor of Norfolk, has known Lawrence for most of his life.

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“Lawrence is leaving a legacy of dedication, leadership, and commitment to bettering individuals, families, and communities,” said the Mayor.

“As President and CEO, she guided STOP in creating lasting opportunities and meaningful impact through programs like housing counseling, employment training, and veteran (prison to home) reintegration services.”

William Curtis, who replaced George Reed as the Chair of the STOP Board, is the Assistant Director of the Department of Housing and Community Development.

“Having vision … that is the key to her legacy,” said Curtis. “I do not know if she would have lasted 50 years if she did not have that.  She is steadfast in her commitment, pays attention to detail and holds everyone at that Agency accountable. It is not about personal gain; it is about helping people move forward and become productive. That is Regina Lawrence.”