Martha’s Vineyard Community Services executive director Julia Burgess will retire next year, the board announced on Tuesday.
Ms. Burgess has held the top post at Community Services since 2006.
“The board extends its sincere appreciation and best wishes to Julia as she looks forward to the next phase of her professional and personal life,” Community Services board president Wiet Bacheller said in a press release.
Mrs. Bacheller said a search committee has been formed and a search will begin immediately for a replacement. Ms. Burgess has agreed to stay until June 2013. “I have thoroughly enjoyed working with the staff here,” she told the Gazette. “I’m not getting any younger and I’d like to be able to do some other things.” She said she plans to stay on the Island.
A longtime seasonal resident of the Vineyard, Ms. Burgess came to Community Services following a career in social work in Illinois and Washington, D.C.
“All of us reach retirement age sooner or later, Julia has grandchildren, and it’s a lot of work being at the helm of Community Services — a lot of time, not just office time, it sort of never ends,” Mrs. Bacheller said in a brief telephone interview. “She started thinking about possibilities late last year, it’s sort of been in her head, so we talked about it and wanted to be sure that we could conduct a search at our leisure, a nationwide search. And she was willing to be flexible and we appreciate that.” She added: “Julia has worked very hard all her life, and then she came here and worked hard some more.”
The oldest social service agency on the Island, Community Services marked its 50th anniversary last year. Mental health counseling, early childhood services and domestic violence prevention are among the programs in the unique umbrella organization founded by the late Milton Mazer, the Vineyard’s first psychiatrist.
Mrs. Bacheller praised Ms. Burgess for her work, and said the institution finds itself at a crossroad of change and in a current budget deficit.
“Health care is changing rapidly and drastically . . . if we didn’t have to worry about money I don’t think it would be that difficult to run Community Services, but of course we do have to look at the bottom line,” Mrs. Bacheller said. “We are looking for somebody who can take us into the next 50 years, somebody who is very knowledgeable about the new health care legislation, but number one we want to be sure we can meet the needs of our Island population.”
Ms. Burgess said the time is right for a change. “I will say the organization is really at a pivotal moment in its existence. It’s time to do a new strategic plan and look at future directions. So it really is time for new leadership,” she said.
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