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Open Arms Inc. names directors

Joshua Brown

ALBANY — Interim directors for Open Arms Inc. can take the interims off their titles following action Tuesday by the organization's board.

Executive Director Fonda Strong and Associate Executive Director Rosalynn Fowler have been serving in their respective position on an interim basis since March 2007. The 13-member board unanimously voted to make the appointments permanent, board chairman Larry Cook said.

Former Executive Director Beth McKenzie and Associate Executive Director Rita Ellis left the organization in December 2006. McKenzie cited attacks by Dougherty County District Attorney Ken Hodges, the Albany Journal and Lorie Farkas in her resignation letter as her reasons for leaving.

Strong said when she was appointed to the interim position that she hoped it would become permanent. Now she plans on staying for a while, she said.

"I feel great. I mean, I've been here 11 years and I'm looking forward to 11 more," she said Tuesday in a phone interview.

Because she served as the interim director for the last year, the organization will have a virtually nonexistent transition, she said, calling the organization's operation "business as normal."

Under her direction, Open Arms was re-awarded transitional living and runaways/homeless program grants. It also implemented an in-house training program for its managers and directors, she said.

Strong has more expansive plans for the organization's programs.

"Coming in as interim directors, we made some changes, so now pretty much everybody is stable. The only changes I see are adding some new programs or just making the programs we have better," she said.

Among the changes Strong said she would like to see are an improved teen pregnancy program and improving the organization's efforts at raising awareness about child abuse in general.

"I don't think we talk about child abuse enough," she said before pointing out that the agency is beginning to get more involved with middle and high schools in Dougherty County to raise awareness about child abuse.

Fowler said she was ready to hit the ground running, and was already working to find more grants the organization could apply for.

"I'm eager for the challenge and I'm just thankful for opportunity to prove ourselves," she said. "Our goal now is to expand our scope because there are so many facets to how child abuse affects children, and our hope is to address those issues.

"They don't just carry those issues while they're children."

Fowler echoed Strong's statements that the organization had spent some time stabilizing itself after the former directors resigned, but said Tuesday it had built enough momentum to add some programs.

"Now I think we're very stable. We're getting into the community doing what we do best, and that's fight child abuse," she said. "We're taking on a whole lot. The momentum is there now. We're going to go on and serve kids to the best of our ability."

Fowler said one program the organization was working to implement a program, pending a grant award, to be able to provide emergency transitional shelter for abused children, reducing its dependence on motels for the service.

The operation of Open Arms though, isn't contingent upon the quality of its directors, Fowler said, but upon the employees.

"We've go a great team – that's important," she said. "We can't do it alone. We're the directors, but all of us here at Open Arms makes it what it is."

Cook said he was looking forward to Strong's and Fowler's permanent direction of the organization.

"Obviously, I think it's a good partnership," he said. "Fonda and Rosalynn have been in the interim positions for a year now and have really done an outstanding job.

"They've been with Open Arms for several years. They're dedicated employees – they have the background and expertise that is needed for those positions. The board has confidence in both of them in doing the duties they're required to do."

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