City Angel
A special missi H
A special mission
e’s no longer hunkered down in the Green Zone of Baghdad, but Dr. Jerry Powell is still serving the men and
women in uniform – this time from a much safer location in Haymount. There, tucked on a side street, next to
the Cape Fear Regional Theatre, is the Fayetteville Family Life Center. Many folks in Fayetteville have probably passed the unassuming brick house without realizing that it is a counseling center with 18 therapists on staff, three satellite offices and all serving men, women, children and families, military and civilian. Powell is the center’s new director.
He is a licensed counselor, retired Army colonel and ordained minister, so his move to faith-based counseling seems to be a perfect fit. But Powell is quick to correct one of the common misconceptions some people have about faith-based counseling – the goal is not to change anyone’s faith, he says, but to treat people who come from a variety of cultural and ethnic backgrounds. The Texas-born Powell joined the
Army after spending 18 years as a pastor in Kansas City. He was 35 when he signed up to serve as a military chaplain and 48 when he decided to go through Airborne School. “You can’t be at Fort Bragg and not be
Airborne,” he says. He’s a newcomer to the center but has
been a part of the Fort Bragg community for almost 10 years. He served as a chaplain at the Watters Centers for
By Cindy Hawkins
CityViewNC.com | 63
