History of the Henry Fork Service Center

The story of the Henry Fork Service Center starts with Charlotte Seegars.

Charlotte was a very small woman, but had a lot of faith and determination. She was sent to Franklin County, Virginia as a missionary. She was a General Board of Global Ministries Church and Community Worker. She began work in the community in Christian education. She assisted local churches in any way necessary. She typed sermons and bulletins for many ministers. She helped start many of the United Methodist Women units at local churches. Many of those churches still “claim” her as one of their own.

Charlotte became concerned about the large number of students dropping out of school. She rented a vacant service station. Henry Fork Service Center was started in 1967 in that service station below:

Charlotte Seegars saw many needs of the rural community about two miles south of Rocky Mount. Fighting, neglect, unemployment, broken homes, abuse, truancy, low incomes, illegitimacy and running moonshine were a few of the problems.

The program started with preschool children three mornings a week and after school activities three afternoons a week and was expanded to a five- day per week program quickly. The service bay pit was filled in and the service bay was turned into a classroom. The building and a few acres were purchased.

The center was closed briefly after Charlotte Seegars retired due to illness. It reopened under the direction of two consecutive young Methodist missionaries (US-2s). In 1985, a full-time director, Julie Gibson, was hired and the center assumed responsibility for the operational costs. The program was expanded to include many of the current programs and services. Eventually, mission teams added two offices and two more classrooms to the service station building. This space quickly became too small due to the large numbers of children attending the Center.

Donna LePrade became acting director when Mrs. Gibson moved. The center applied to the General Board of Global Ministries for another Church and Community Worker. Susan Putnam was assigned in July 1996. Susan Putnam is currently the missionary and executive director of Henry Fork Service Center. The Center has continued to grow under the guidance of Susan Putnam. She is looking forward to seeing the dream of more space for the children realized.

An endowment fund was started in Charlotte Seegar’s memory. The interest from the fund is used for programs. There is a banquet held each November to raise money for this fund and recognize someone in the Danville District that emulates Charlotte’s spirit.