Staff Profile: Meet the SJHP Go-To Person

By Carole Hawkins

Cheryl VanLandingham has managed offices for auto sales, health insurance, and residential building companies.

But St. Johns Housing Partnership is the first job where she had to learn not to cry after every phone call. 

“My empathy level just went to 1,000, seeing the kinds of things people have to overcome,” she said. “In any other office job, you’re working for people who are there to make money. Here, you’re helping a little old lady whose husband is gone and she’s living on $775 a month Social Security—you’re making sure she stays safe in her home.”

She has become the glue that keeps everyone else at SJHP organized, productive, and on track. She spends her days doing light HR work, routing vendor invoices, monitoring progress for home rehab projects, and supporting the executive team.

She’s the go-to person everyone counts on to know what everyone else is doing.

VanLandingham developed her multitasking skills, not only at her former jobs, but by raising four kids with four different schedules from the time of T-ball through high school.

She’s now worked at SJHP for 15 years—her longest stretch anywhere.

A degree from St. Johns River Community College with a degree in organizational management also prepared her for the role.

“This will be my only job, until I’m not working anymore,” she said. “I’m happy where I’m at, the people I work with, and the mission. Much happier than I would have been in the corporate world.”