Martha’s Vineyard Community Services executive director Julie Fay will retire next year, the nonprofit announced Tuesday.
Ms. Fay has been at the helm of the Island’s unique umbrella social services organization since 2013. She has presided over a period of broad growth and reorganization, including expanded programs and services, and the recent launch — and partial completion — of a major $24 million campus expansion and capital campaign.
Staff were informed of the news on Tuesday morning, and a search has already begun for her replacement, a press release said.
The plan calls for hiring a new executive director by the spring of 2020, with Ms. Fay retiring by the start of next summer, it also said.
“Community Services has never been in a stronger financial position or extended our reach further to address the most pressing social and behavioral problems facing the Island community,” board president Bob Egerton said in the release.
Ms. Fay, who had a long and varied career in health and human services in both public and private sectors, took the job at a time when Community Services was heavily reliant on donor funding for its programs, which include an array of mental health, early childhood services, domestic violence prevention and the Chicken Alley Thrift Shop. The organization was founded in 1961 by a group of community leaders, including clergy, who recruited Dr. Milton Mazer to become Martha’s Vineyard’s first resident psychiatrist.
Under Ms. Fay’s leadership, the annual operating budget for Community Services has grown from $5.2 million to $9 million, including more long-term state contracts in place for funding. Expanded programs have included the Island Wide Youth Collaborative and the Island Intervention Center. Ms. Fay has helped to forge an array of partnerships with other community providers including the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital, Island public schools, the YMCA and the Substance Abuse Disorder Coalition.
The Community Services campus expansion will begin in November with the start of construction on a new early childhood center. The builder is South Mountain Co. of West Tisbury. The $7 million needed for the project has already been raised. The capital campaign calls for raising another $17 million for a new main building and increased endowment.
Ms. Fay lives year-round in Vineyard Haven with her husband.
The press release included many laudatory remarks for her work across borders within the Island community.
In a 2013 interview with the Gazette after her first 100 days on the job, Ms. Fay reflected as she settled into the rhythms of Island life. “What I’ve learned is that this is a very remarkable community,” she said. “There’s a generosity of spirit and time and energy from board members and community effort put into keeping Community Services running.”
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