BELMONT, N.C. — The House of Mercy announced that Emily E. Chambers Sharpe has been chosen as its new president and CEO.
Sharpe brings to the House of Mercy varied experience working to support people affected by HIV/AIDS. She has worked for the U.S. Department of State’s Office of the U.S. Global AIDS coordinator, as the team lead for the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief in Southern Africa. Most recently she worked for the Swiss humanitarian aid organization, Medair, as a senior health and nutrition advisor, advising projects that provided community-based, primary healthcare services and therapeutic feeding for the malnourished in Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and Somalia.
Her first experience with HIV/AIDS was during a college volunteer mission in which she worked in a recovery home for women. There she saw people living with HIV without access to medication to keep their disease from progressing to AIDS.
“It’s been my privilege to serve many vulnerable people, including those with HIV/AIDS and those in severe crisis — such as wars or famines — through my work in global public health program management,” said Sharpe. “I’m thrilled to return to service of people living with HIV and AIDS, and to work with House of Mercy, where people are really treated with dignity and the standard of care is the highest quality. Medications for HIV have changed things for the better. But there are still many vulnerable people without means or access to quality care, and House of Mercy fills this gap in our area.”
Sharpe follows Stan Patterson who served in the position for 21 years and retired in October.
info: thehouseofmercy.org.