A total of 13 people came out to Affirmations April 30 for two community chats with returning executive director Dave Garcia who had just returned to the center the day before. Eight people, mostly members of the Senior Koffee Klatch, came out to the morning session and five to the evening. Four members of Affirmations' staff were present at each meeting and there were two board members at the morning section and three in the evening.
Board President Mike Flores started each meeting with a quick update on the center's operations. Flores beamed as he announced that the center's Spring Bash had raised approximately $120,000 and netted $75,000 of that.
"For every dollar that we raised, we only spent about 37 cents of that dollar," Flores said. "It was one of the best Spring Bashes that we've had in a long time."
Flores also reminded the small crowd of what State Sen. Jeremy Moss had announced at Spring Bash, that Gov. Gretchen Whitmer will be hosting a town hall meeting at Affirmations sometime in June. The meeting will mark Whitmer's second visit to the center in her first six months in office. Whitmer had also previously stopped at the center while campaigning.
When he did take the floor, Garcia delivered a hopeful message.
"I wouldn't be an executive director with 20 years [of] experience if I wasn't telling you that we need to concentrate on fund development," Garcia said, outlining his first priority. "We need to raise money. And that means me reaching out to every single donor from the past, every center partner. I'd love to see us get that center partner list doubled."
Garcia credited the strength of the board for his return to the center.
"The stronger our board is the stronger we will be," he said. "I would have never come back if I didn't believe in this board. They are small but they are mighty, and we have the opportunity to grow. There are many board seats to fill and we are working diligently on that to fill them with people that make sense."
Garcia spoke about increasing services for seniors and youth and said he wants to see the center bustling with activity again.
"It's not just about seniors and youth as important as they are, as critical as they are. We need to do more things in this beautiful 17,000-square-foot building of ours that relate to everyone. If that is a wine reception tasting on the sky deck, or an open mic night or a trivia or a bingo. All of your ideas are extremely important to me. Whatever you think may be fun here.
"We need to create a feeling when you come in this building," Garcia continued. "It's got to be a vibe, an energy you get when you come in. You look around and you go, 'Wow. What's going on here today? What's going on?'"
While the center celebrated its 30th anniversary at Spring Bash, Garcia said there were more celebrations to come.
"I don't know exactly what that means or is going to look like," he said. "The board and I have to talk about that. But we are going to be doing more events here to celebrate the 30th. We should all be very proud that we are still breathing 30 years later. I'm going to remind people over and over and over again. No matter how mad they might have been 10 years ago at Affirmations or me, personally. You name it. We should be proud that we're still here because many organizations, thousands of organizations, have failed over the years."
If his plans sounded ambitious, Garcia reminded those in attendance of his credentials.
"When I left five years ago, we were at $1 million in revenue and about $900,000, I think, in the bank at that time," he said. "I'm going to try really hard to get us back there and go beyond that. Yes, we have a lot of work to do. I'm not naïve."
And as he closed, Garcia said he was glad to be back home.
"I learned a lot in Los Angeles," he said. "I think I left things in pretty good shape five years ago. But the truth is I'm a better executive now after being out there for five years. I always knew I was coming back home. I wasn't sure it was going to be this soon. But I think the time is right."
Reflections on week one on the job
As previously mentioned, the community chats took place on Garcia's second day on the job. So what did he do on the first?
"I met with a couple of board members, got my keys and started looking at the numbers and started making some phone calls to donors," he said after one week on the job. "The center wasn't open so there were no community members coming in and that was interesting."
So Garcia said he walked around the building, took inventory and "tried to wrap my mind around everything from the bills coming into our grants and started setting up some meeting with our grant funders and our donors."
While he admitted to being surprised by the small turnout for the chats, Garcia said he was not at all discouraged by it.
"From what I understand, the first community chats they called back in November were very well-attended and they gradually have been going down in attendance since that first chat. I think part of that is people are starting to see that we're starting to turn things around and that things are starting to get better."
Garcia said a lot of people had already heard him speak when he appeared at the Spring Bash.
"They heard what I had to say there or have subsequently heard about it or seen it online. The rest of the community knows who I am. I'm kind of a known commodity."
