who is Julia?

Julia Maulden was one of Charlotte’s pioneering public servants. She worked on the first Habitat Charlotte Region home and helped bring President Jimmy Carter to Charlotte for one of the first Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter Work Projects – helping to build fourteen homes in one week.

Julia was also instrumental in the founding of Habitat for Humanity of the Charlotte Region, serving as the first volunteer executive director of the organization. 

Julia borrowed and worked her way through Greensboro Women’s College during The Great Depression. Her public service began in Kannapolis with the local Girl Scout movement where she helped to build the Girl Scout camp called Camp Julia. In 1945 she was named Kannapolis’ woman of the year. In 1960 she moved to Davidson, North Carolina with her family where she became active in the school system for her kids. Her involvement led to her eventual service on the Charlotte Mecklenburg school board from 1966-1974.

Upon leaving the school board, she spent the next eighteen months in the Peace Corps teaching children in Zaire. In the next chapter of her life she brought her former students from Africa to the US, paying their way through prominent schools such as Columbia University and Davidson College.

In 1991 she told the Charlotte Observer’s Tom Bradbury that “asking yourself, “Am I better off,” is the wrong question. “Are we better off?” is the question.” Needless to say, Julia’s Café & Books would not be here if it weren’t for Julia’s commitment to the community.