Guided by a devotion to helping others that began in her youth, Cathy Lance-Timmons has excelled as the program manager of community integration at Pee Dee Mental Health Center in South Carolina since 1992. In this capacity, she has overseen 13 different programs, demonstrating innovative approaches to bettering the lives of her patients, varying from children and adults to families. From 2021 to 2022, she was active as interim executive director at the center, where she managed daily operations.
Over the course of her career, Ms. Lance-Timmons has been an integral figure in launching and developing numerous initiatives, with her most significant achievement being the Alzheimer’s Dementia Day Treatment Program, now called Silver Years. Through the creation of this program, she worked with elderly patients dealing with Alzheimer’s or dementia, who engaged in various stimulating exercises designed to help maintain their cognitive abilities. She witnessed firsthand how effective the exercises were. For instance, those who consistently participated in the program maintained their mental sharpness and remained at the same level they had initially achieved, while those patients who could not attend experienced noticeable cognitive decline. In addition, she helped start the Cathy Lance-Timmons Mental Health Awareness Walk and has worked extensively for years aiding the homeless population through mental health challenges.
As a testament to her three-plus decades of impact in her field, Ms. Lance-Timmons was issued a proclamation in her honor by the center in 2025. She previously earned Employee of the Year and received the Champion in the Fight-Ending Homelessness for Persons with Mental Illness Award at the Mental Health America-SC 65th Annual Birthday Celebration event in 2019. Beyond her primary endeavors, she is a longtime member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., through which she serves her community in addition to volunteering at her local church.
In her personal life, Ms. Lance-Timmons relishes time with her family, including her husband and their five children and six grandchildren. Growing up in Georgetown, South Carolina, she watched her mother continually give back to the community, with particular engagement with such organizations as the Helping Hand Club, dedicated to feeding families in need. From an early age, her mother’s constant kindness, support, and motivation formed her own aspirations in life. Her father, too, provided a substantial amount of inspiration and always reinforced the belief that she could achieve anything she set her mind to. Ms. Lance- Timmons’ professional path was further supported by a strong educational background, starting with a Bachelor of Science in sociology from Morris College in South Carolina and a Master of Social Work from Clark Atlanta University.
Ms. Lance-Timmons aspires to continue working with the homeless and, within the next five to 10 years, secure a professorial position at a college in order to lend her expertise to the next generation. She wants to help others work effectively in the community with mentally ill patients, veterans, and homeless individuals. To those wanting to enter her field, she emphasized the importance of having a genuine desire to help. “You can’t be judgmental. You have to have the heart to want to help, because it can become challenging in many ways,” she said. Over time, though, Ms. Lance-Timmons has seen significant progress and innovation, including a growing trend of incorporating peer support specialists—individuals with lived experience of mental illness who now participate in decision-making and leadership roles—across various sectors and executive boards.