The miracle of Maggie Lyons

Some people enter our lives in the best of times; some in the worst. I met Maggie Lyons in early 2018 in an attorney’s boardroom. At the time, a nonprofit whose board I served was facing a financial crisis of epic proportions. We had no idea how epic it would be when Maggie agreed to contract as our “fixer” while the legal challenges were in the early stages.

As board chair, alongside vice-chair Amy Evans, we focused on recovering embezzled funds of an undetermined amount. Maggie kept the day-to-day of the North Idaho Housing Coalition moving forward. Her capable, calm, no-nonsense approach steadied the ship and gave Amy and me room to forge ahead with the legal case.

Those were days and nights that no nonprofit volunteer can imagine. Maggie understood and supported our two primary goals — recover stolen funds and preserve the good and important work of the organization.

Amy and I were the last two board members standing at the NIHC, as is often the case when a crisis becomes public and brings criticism of volunteers who have jobs and personal lives. Maggie became a friend, valued far beyond her considerable financial acumen.

We survived and recovered not only the embezzled funds but also over $300,000 through a civil court summary judgment for triple damages. That judgment came on Oct. 1, 2019, nearly two years after the nightmare began.

At that time, Maggie had recruited a new board, and Amy and I officially stepped down to return fully to our lives, jobs and respective city council responsibilities. Over the next several years, I applauded from afar as I watched what a determined and passionate woman like Maggie could accomplish.

Our former organization, which over the years had helped over 100 local families become homeowners, became the Panhandle Affordable Housing Alliance, with incredible partners, volunteers and donors coming alongside.

Maggie is quick to deflect praise or credit, but as someone who benefited from and witnessed firsthand her passion, expertise and determination to find housing solutions, she is the miracle.

I took a quiet walkabout through the Miracle on Britton neighborhood in September, marveling at what PAHA’s visionaries had accomplished. It was an emotional full-circle moment. Families with first-time homes in a real neighborhood, built on the passion and generosity of so many good people in our communities.

I will be forever grateful for dreams that weren’t destroyed and for living in a community where, more often than not, good hearts and good people prevail.

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Happy Main Street Birthdays today to Midge Smock, Vicki Gehring, Mark Michalak and Erin Paisley. Tomorrow, Pat McGaughey, Dale Bennett, Craig Hampton, Suzanne DeTar, Laurie Rumore, Joel Elgee, Barbara Baltzell, Chris Nicastro, Josh Hissong and Jeff Hill will celebrate. On Friday, Randy Wells, Kathy Epstein, Greg Luraski, Lyn Harris and Ron Deering toast their birthdays. Saturday’s birthdays belong to Bill Everson, Nancy Kosonen, Jessica Moore, Steve Fitzhugh, Lori Gravelle, Bob Cox, Allan Knight, Lynn Jackson, Mollie Sommers, Marlea Kruger and Mike Way. On Sunday, Michael Pereira, Chris Pasquale, Greg Worley, Chad Anderson, Cindy Odd and Warren Anglin take another trip around the sun. Tom Elliott, Jeff Yates, Donnie Murrell, Alan Brown, Kathy Getchius, Kirk Hjeltness and McKade Brown blow out the birthday candles Monday. On Oct. 13, our nephew, Derek Scharf, Jeff Johnson, Margaret Eddings, Serena Pratt, Kathy Pierce and Judy Bennett turn the page on another year.

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Kerri Rankin Thoreson is a member of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists and a former publisher/editor with the Hagadone Newspaper division. Main Street appears every Wednesday in The Press. You can reach Kerri on Facebook or by email at [email protected].