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Affirmations' changing face

The recent retirement of CEO Leslie Thompson and the hiring of interim CEO Kevin Howley are just two of the changes taking place at Ferndale-based LGBT community center Affirmations. The organization has seen many new faces in the staff, the management, the board and even the clientele in the past year or two. They have also struggled to grow into their new 18,000-square-foot building in the wake of a failing regional economy.
No one seems to know what that means for the future of the center, but Communications Manager Cass Varner says they are determined to figure it out and come up with a plan.
Affirmations has hired an interim CEO known for his ability to transition organizations through short-term leadership and evaluation. Howley, who will begin the job Nov. 1, said that he's not in the position to speculate what direction the center might take.
"I am looking forward to my work with Affirmations," he said. "As an interim CEO, I'm simply there to work with the board and the stakeholders as they shape their goals for the future. I bring no particular agenda or views to the table other than a focus on good governance and quality operational management."
Since retiring from a successful business career in 2003, Howley has dedicated his time and efforts toward working with nonprofits in transition. Rather than serving as a consultant, he takes over the leadership of an organization for a limited period of time, not intending to take on a permanent role.
He served in this role at several organizations in Pennsylvania, including needle-exchange program Prevention Point Philadelphia and the city's Hispanic center, Centro Nuevo Creacion.
Howley came to Michigan in 2008 to serve a similar purpose at the Ruth Ellis Center. Since then, the center has hired a new executive director, Laura Hughes, as well as secured several grants to continue to grow its outreach to at-risk and homeless LGBTQ youth.
Howley then went on to serve as head of Friends School of Detroit in October 2009, where he helped them restructure financially.
His job at Affirmations will be similar. "Howley's job will be to really look at the organization and do a thorough assessment of the organization to make recommendations so when we do hire a permanent CEO they can have a good, fresh start," Varner said.
A search committee, which has been meeting since Oct. 1, will work to find a permanent CEO while Howley delves into the various parts of Affirmations that work together to keep the center functioning, such as the staff, volunteers, board, donors, members and other supporters.
The Affirmations Board of Directors is another area that is seeing new faces. Mary Rose McMillan moved to the position of president at the beginning of summer after serving on the board for less than three years. Vice President Brandon Jones joined the board earlier this year. Two longtime board members and supporters of the center, George Westerman and Nancy Katz, also resigned within the past year.
"A lot of board members were long standing," Varner said. "We've had high turnover, mainly because of a lot of personal issues happening at once. But now we've got a whole new set of ideas, opinions and areas of expertise. We're excited on staff to see what their areas of interest are."
McMillan said she is looking forward to working with Howley during the transition. "Kevin brings a tremendous amount of experience in nonprofit management with him which will allow Affirmations to remain strong through this transition," she said. "His financial and operational expertise will support the organization while we search for a permanent CEO."
The center has also seen changes and reductions in staff, even though the number of people who use the services continues to grow. Affirmations has reduced hours of operation and relies heavily on volunteers to keep the building clean, the helpline answered, and the various classes, workshops and social events going. Yet despite the struggles, they have seen programs flourish simply from the care and passion of the volunteers and staff.
Varner is particularly proud of the Youth Enrichment Program. "It encourages the youth not only to be participants, but to be involved," she explained. "There is a membership program with lots of opportunity for leadership. They can do facilitating groups and trainings or become a junior staff member."
The youth make up just a part of the ever-changing flow of volunteers and clients who come in to use Affirmations' services and programs. Those programs also happen to fall under the purview of Affirmations' newest staff member, Kim Phillips-Knope, who has been the director of programs since spring. Varner said that providing services has always been a focus of Affirmations, noting that they have maintained programming by reducing staff and hours.
Affirmations moved into their current location three years ago, which has been more blessing than curse for the most part, although there have been some growing pains.
"I don't think anyone understood the gamut of challenges we faced moving into a new, bigger space," Varner said. "There are building maintenance issues we didn't foresee, code issues, staffing issues and things like that. But the new space is great. The best part is its accessibility. It's nice to see so many people come in who just couldn't get to us before.
"We ultimately want people to know we're here for them and feel it's an open place."
The center is always looking for volunteers, and there are open seats on the board. For more information on how to get involved, go to http://www.goaffirmations.org.

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