LEBANON — Rob Roy McGregor wasn’t exactly looking for a new job in the nonprofit world when he moved to Canaan to start a farm a couple years ago.
Then, he heard that Listen Community Services was looking for a new executive director.
“When I saw this was a position that was open it was, ‘wow, this is a dream come true,’ ” said McGregor, who’s first day on the job was March 13. He described it as “truly just a synergy of my experience and my passions,” which include addressing food insecurity. “The element of what Listen does is related to the thrift stores and being able to utilize the revenue from the thrift stores to be able to support the organization’s needs is a really passionate and meaningful message that’s important to me.”
McGregor, who spent decades working for the YMCA and whose great-grandfather founded Goodwill, is one of a handful of new leaders at Upper Valley nonprofit organizations amid an increase in demand for social services. He replaces Richard Green, a board member who was serving as interim director after Kyle Fisher resigned in September.
In January, Judi Caprio began her role as executive director of Headrest, a Lebanon-based nonprofit organization that assists people struggling with substance misuse, in addition to running at 24/7 crisis-suicide hotline. Last summer, Cameron Ford, who had led Headrest for five years, died unexpectedly.
Caprio, who previously worked for state governments in Rhode Island and Delaware, has been working remotely and is in the process of relocating to the Upper Valley.
Headrest’s mission statement is what drew Caprio to apply for the job.
“No one should feel shame in getting help in the recovery process,” Caprio said, summarizing the statement. “When I saw that statement, (I thought) it would be nice to lead an organization that really believes you don’t need to have shame when you’re addressing recovery behavioral health issues.”
Both leaders are joining organizations that have seen increases in demand for the services they provide. The number of people who use Listen’s food pantry continues to increase, McGregor said.
“The good news is people are finding a place to get food,” he said. “The bad news is that there’s food insecurity in our world and in our community.”
Last month, Headrest had more than 1,000 calls come into its hotline, said board Chairman Matt McKenney.
“Call volumes as it were last month were probably the highest on record for our organization,” he added.
One of the reasons Caprio stood out to the board is her expertise in financial and strategic planning.
“From a business acumen perspective, Judi brought some strengths that our organization hadn’t had prior,” McKenney said.
While some nonprofit organizations have added new leaders, others are preparing to lose them. Laura Perez, who currently serves as executive director of the Special Needs Support Center in White River Junction, will be joining Visions for Creative Housing Solutions, a nonprofit organization that provides housing for adults with developmental disabilities. The Special Needs Support Center has started advertising for applicants for the executive director job.
Perez will start her role as development manager in June, said Sylvia Dow, executive director of Visions, which has locations in Enfield and Lebanon and is working on building a third location in Hanover. Lucinda Brown, who has served as interim development manager since last May, will continue on at Visions as co-chair of the Hanover Capital Campaign.
Once the Hanover location is built and the new residents are settled, Dow plans on stepping back from Visions’ day-to-day operations.
She and the board have been working on building up the nonprofit’s management team in preparation for that transition “so the next executive director not only will have a wonderful management team but also that the organization is running smoothly and it can just go from there without me,” Dow said. “It’s a well-oiled machine that can keep running even if someone steps down and someone new comes in.”
Liz Sauchelli can be reached at esauchelli@vnews.com or 603-727-3221.
