A season is drawing to a close for Patricia Brock.
At the end of March, she’ll step down from her position as executive director for United Way of Lowndes County — a position she’s held since 2013.
In the wake of her pending absence, United Way — a fundraising and support arm for 18 community nonprofit organizations — has already started searching for her successor. Brock said search organizers hope to have the new executive director in by the third week in March to give them a week to work with her and ease the transition.
Brock told The Dispatch she has enjoyed her time with United Way, not only because of the work she’s done with the organization, but because of the people she’s met, within the organization and in the community.
“I came here really wanting to be able to help with community impact issues that I saw in our community,” she said. “By supporting United Way and being a part of United Way, I could impact agencies across a wide spectrum of aid and assistance they provide to the community in different aspects.”
‘Working smarter’
Brock has lived in Lowndes County for more than 20 years, most of which has been in New Hope. It was there that she raised her children, who have since moved on. Now, she plans to move to Texas, to live near her daughter.
While she plans to leave, Brock is proud of some of the successes United Way has seen under her leadership.
“I feel really good about the financial improvements we’ve made,” she said. “I’m kind of obsessive-compulsive about order and good procedure, so we’ve done a lot of process cleaning up — just doing things to make our work flow more smoothly so we’re working smarter and not harder, to use that cliche.”
The year before Brock arrived, United Way had $530,000 in revenue. In 2015, it had $626,000 and managed to reduce operating expenditures by $40,000.
In the same timeframe, United Way has increased donations to area nonprofit agencies by $60,000.
Beyond that, United Way garnered pledges for $644,000 — which Brock said is the highest in its history — for 2016.
“That’s just phenomenal,” she said, adding a $100,000 PACCAR gift and a $50,000 anonymous gift boosted that total. “Those were two really huge gifts that have made a big impact on our ability to exceed our goal this year.”
‘It’s time’
The way United Way works, Brock said, is by hosting an annual campaign to raise funds, and then reviewing those agencies through an allocation committee to determine how much funding to provide.
“That’s to let people know that we are looking and we are doing our due diligence,” Brock said.
United Way is also active in marketing for agencies, and in helping non-United Way affiliated agencies through its venture grants program, Brock said.
“Those are done for non-profits who maybe want to try a new program or start something they haven’t done before,” she said. “They’re eligible to apply for those venture grants when those become available.”
Glad to have left a positive mark on the organization, Brock sees a bright future for it in her absence.
“I just feel like it’s time,” she said. “My season has come and gone for here, and it’s time for me to move on and let the next person come and really take it to the next level.”
Alex Holloway was formerly a reporter with The Dispatch.
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