Sheryl Brissett Chapman, the 61-year-old executive director of the National Center for Children and Families in Bethesda, has spent 20 years bringing to light the plight of Montgomery County’s poor and its victims of abuse. Her agency has provided them with shelters, counseling, adoptive homes and a respected voice. Brissett Chapman spoke with The Washington Examiner about her lifelong work on behalf of the underprivileged, and its foundation in her Christian faith.
Do you consider yourself to be of a specific faith?
I am a Baptist Christian. I grew up in the faith — my great-grandfather was a Baptist preacher in South Carolina. As a young girl, my mother would drive around with him and he’d tell her, “You need to be real close to God, because it looks like colored women always seem to need him.” So I grew up with a mother who always prayed for discernment, who had a strong personal relationship with God — she is a kind, devout, forgiving woman.
