HIGH POINT, N.C. (WGHP) — Vicki Miller’s long career in education was inspired by her first-grade teachers.  

“I wanted to become a teacher to do what they had done for me for other children,” Miller said

She brought that attitude and determination to decades of teaching in High Point and eventually became a principal. It was during those years that she really noticed the many needs of so many families.

“We’d hand them a piece of paper and say, ‘Here are all these agencies, the numbers, the contact. Everything is there. Just reach out to them, and they’ll be able to help you.’ And we’d sit back and feel pretty good that we had done something to help this family,” Miller said. “A couple of weeks later, we’d have another encounter with the family and find the family had reached out, they had made contacts, but nobody had ever followed up with them.”

When she retired, she knew there was more work to do.

“There was always just this nagging desire to do more of a wraparound with families, really get in there and figure out why they’re having the issues they’re having instead of just offering them services and putting a band-aid on the situation,” said Miller.

She launched Community Collaboration for Children, C3, in 2020. It connects families with local agencies and support services to overcome poverty, violence and conflict.

“We basically put the family in the center of the table and then decide how we’re going to interact best and bring about the best results,” she said.

Since its inception, the 501c3 has served more than 88 families and 220 children. Miller knows it’s a labor of love and there’s plenty of it. The organization has only one paid part-time staff member and the rest, including Miller, volunteer their time.  

“When it works and when there is change and when our families are safe and happier, it makes all the difference in the world,” Miller said.

As for being nominated as one of Nexstar’s Remarkable Women, Miller is humble and shies away from taking credit for her organization’s life-changing work. 

“I know remarkable people. I am not remarkable,” Miller said. “I am just really trying to be the hands and feet of Christ as I’m called to do in my faith.”