Henrietta Norman, an African American single mother active in her church who became involved with the NVP, became one of VCC’s first aides.  At first she was skeptical about her ability to do the job:

"I have no patience [but] once I got involved I liked working with [the clients]. And the personal care involved, I didn't think I could do that, but I got the sense of knowledge and [that] I cared for people.  You know, you're working with people, you get to care about them and you want to see them doing the best they can and you try to work a little harder."

Henrietta Norman eventually became president of the NVP.  She continues to live in the NVP-created Brookside Cooperative.