Editor's note: This article ran in print and online Wednesday misidentifying the new North Webster Community Center director as Erin Rowland Jones, with an accompanying photo of Rowland Jones. While both Smith and Rowland Jones have been associated with theUnited Way of Kosciusko County – Smith as community impact coordinator and Rowland Jones as board president –Rowland Jones remains with the organization and was named 2013 campaign general chair in June.
NORTH WEBSTER – Erin Smith recently began as the new director of operations for the North Webster Community Center. She was one of six people who applied for the position, replacing Leah Gamble, who resigned as director at the end of June. Smith was offered the position June 17 and began on the 24th. No stranger to non-profit organizations, her 20 years working with them includes United Way of Kosciusko County, having been hired as community impact coordinator in March 2012. She said Tuesday she sought the position because she wanted to be involved in something that her children enjoy and that serves as “a great central area in North Webster that can bring the community together.” She added that she’d like to see the younger generation embrace the center so it can continue for a long time, and in that spirit said she would like to bring back teen center programs for fifth- and sixth-graders. As an example of a new program she’d like to see, she said parents could benefit from an Internet and texting language class to understand what their kids are saying. She’d also like to see more activity in volleyball, shuffleboard and pickleball. She also touched on fundraising, noting that the center, which receives no taxpayer support, relies on donations brought in through events such as the fall “Heart of the Community” charity auction and raffle. Fundraising this year could help the center with needs such as a new roof and window work, she observed. “The building needs some TLC,” she said. Since starting, she said she has jumped into directorial duties like grant writing, making sure contracts are up to date for the building’s seven tenant businesses and organizations, and seeing that the tenants have what they need. Her office has a small staff, she noted, and there are always challenges with transitions, but “everyone is supportive.”
