Mission House’s Executive Director, Lori Anderson, recently announced she is beginning a new chapter at another local non-profit, Beaches Dial-A-Ride.
Anderson will be taking the role of Executive Director after 10 years of making Mission House the top provider of compassionate homeless care at the beach. Carina Saladino will be taking her place as the new Executive Director of Mission House
“[Ten years ago] I had no nonprofit experience whatsoever,” Anderson said. “I had a good management background, however, and that’s what Mission House needed.”
During her tenure, Anderson helped create a day facility where local homeless individuals could have access to resources, over doubled their budget and team, expanded the Mission House building and created an endowment that ensures the basic life services provided by Mission House would never be threatened — even in an economic downturn.
Anderson credits a hard-working staff for Mission House’s success over the years.
“My motto is 'I hire good people and then get out of the way,'” she said. “Together, we built something amazing.”
Anderson will start July 6 providing much-need transportation assistance for the area’s elderly population at Dial-A-Ride.
“When [seniors] lose their driving privileges, they lose everything,” Anderson said. “They lose their freedom and their independence. Sometimes, they even lose their will to keep going.”
Dial-A-Ride is the flagship service of the Beaches Council on Aging and has been providing eldercare for seniors and people with disabilities since 1975. During her time with Dial-A-Ride, Anderson said she hopes to make the program a household name at the Beaches.
“I've told some of my friends where I'm going and they say, "What's Dial-A-Ride?,'” Anderson said. “We are going to let this community know a valuable resource that we have, and that people's grandparents, mothers and fathers can use. We are going to get the word out.”
For more information about the Beaches Dial-A-Ride, visit www.beachescoa.com.
