After more than 38 years as President/CEO, I am preparing to pass the torch. It feels like a good moment to reflect on the journey.
Last fall, I notified the Executive Committee of my plans to fully retire in 2027. Together we developed a succession plan: I will remain as President/CEO until a new President is named this summer, then continue as CEO for one year before he or she becomes President/CEO.
I began this journey in December 1983 when then Executive Director Karl Kucab hired me for part-time security. I was at my parent’s home in St. Clair Shores on Christmas break from WMU when Mr. Kucab called and offered me the job. I told him about my Christmas plans and said I would return to Kalamazoo on January 2. He told me if I wanted the job I would have to report to him the next day. I got in my car, drove to Kalamazoo and started working 3rd-shift security on December 21, 1983.
In less than a year, I was promoted to case manager and, in September 1986, the new Executive Director, Wally Kipp, promoted me to Program Manager, his second in command. The following spring, Wally told the board of his plans to resign, and the search for a new Executive Director began. It came down to two candidates: someone from the outside and me. I believe the personnel committee was split 2-2. At the end of the day, the board decided to roll the dice and make a then 25-year-old the new KPEP Executive Director.
When I took over on October 1, 1987, I had two priorities. We needed a retirement plan if we were going to attract and keep quality employees. Our 403b launched in January 1988. More importantly, we needed to change the culture — from use to sobriety. We worked with Gateway Court Services to bring two therapists on site two to three days per week.
Over the next 30+ years, we focused on growth and service expansion.
Between 1988 and 1998, we outgrew the former convent of St. Joseph Catholic Church and moved to our new headquarters at 519 S. Park; made the transition from pen and paper to PCs and a customized database system that helped facilitate future expansions; purchased the former Brookhaven Nursing Home on Olmstead Road and launched a program for women serving 10 Michigan counties; and continued to grow and renovate our Park St. facility, adding 20 beds and improving outpatient and administrative space.
We then opened facilities in Battle Creek (1999), Benton Harbor (2001) and Muskegon (2002). By 2010 we needed more space in Kalamazoo and acquired the 121-bed Borgess Nursing Home on Chicago Ave., and in 2015 purchased and renovated a building adjacent to our Park St. location to expand outpatient services.
That same year, the KPEP Board held a Strategic Planning session that sparked the idea for a vocational training program. We launched our hospitality program with culinary arts in 2016 and custodial services in 2017. In 2017 we opened the Walnut & Park Café and launched a building trades program. By 2019 we had 24 students in hospitality and 12 in building trades. We also partnered with the Kalamazoo County Land Bank to renovate foreclosed homes and return them to the tax rolls — our first two east-side properties each sold in less than a week. In 2018, we purchased and renovated a Portage St. property, converting it into a restaurant to provide more hands-on experience for our growing hospitality program.
In early 2020, we expanded into Van Buren County, purchasing a transitional living facility in Paw Paw with plans to serve parolees and probationers countywide. Then the pandemic hit.
As a designated essential service, we stayed open throughout COVID-19, but our bed-based funding model made every empty room a financial blow. Federal relief through the Payroll Protection Program and Employee Retention Credit helped us weather the crisis without laying off a single employee. We held onto our people and our properties, hoping for a recovery that was slower than expected. By 2023 it was clear we needed to right-size, and we made the difficult decisions to consolidate — closing and selling several facilities, including our Benton Harbor location, and ultimately selling our transition homes in Kalamazoo and Muskegon because they have become too hard to insure. It was hard, but necessary. Today, our program is leaner and stronger, with a growing federal resident population and some of the best staff we’ve ever had.
Throughout everything, we have never wavered on the standards that made KPEP successful: accountability, structure and personal responsibility. Our residents are expected to meet clear behavioral standards and engage in at least 60 hours of structured activity each week. We have always believed that employment is essential to long-term success, and we require it for graduation for all eligible residents.
I am proud of what this organization has accomplished over nearly four decades, and I feel very blessed to have worked for a great board all these years. I am also deeply grateful to our staff and community partners who made it possible. KPEP’s best work is still ahead.
President & CEO