“If you need a conspiracy about it, I can come up with that for you.” That’s Holly Baumer Smith’s response when asked about her interests and she includes among them, “anything paranormal, cryptic, or inexplicable.”

For Holly, it seems to be more about her deep curiosity and keen interest than anything else. When she was at Murray State she studied sociology and anthropology because of her interest in “faraway places and cultures and why people are the way they are.” She spent a semester just outside Munich, Germany, taking classes at a university there. She still speaks German “but not as well as I used to,” and can read German fluently.

“Languages are fun,” she says with a laugh. That’s just one of many reasons Holly helps some of our clients learn English as a second language every Thursday afternoon in our ESL classroom on the St. Anthony campus. “I’m truly blown away by what these people are doing,” she says, explaining that some students don’t even know how to read their native language. “Imagine learning English with that obstacle. But they’re doing it.”

Last May Holly married her longtime beau, Chris, with whom she shares four cats: Princess Sydney, Princess Beatrix, Bill, and Wee Baby, whom she assures us is neither wee nor a baby. ”They are the rulers of the house.”

Holly likes to make miniatures from kits, enjoys gardening, likes to cook when she’s in the mood, visits at least five haunted houses a year, loves music and going to concerts, and plays the banjo. “Not well, but I play it.” She took lessons for a year, put it down during the pandemic, and recently picked it up again. Her music of choice is rock and roll and her dream concert would be Led Zeppelin. Wo years ago she came close when she saw Robert Plant at Bourbon and Beyond.

In her previous professional life Holly was in early childhood education in many forms, and for the six years before coming to Catholic Charities was director of a childcare center. “I absolutely loved what I did.” But she was also on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Staffing shortages made the work “an absolute nightmare,” and Holly opted for a change.

Holly’s favorite thing about Catholic Charities before she actually came to work here was what the agency attempts to accomplish. She believes in the mission. But her favorite thing since working here? “The people I work with. The best thing about working here is the people I get to know as they work to accomplish our mission. I couldn’t be happier.”