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On Oct. 10, about 40 key stakeholders in the ongoing success of  The Hanna Perkins Center for Child Development gathered at the childhood home of Board President Susi Meisel for a reception introducing them to new CEO Karen Baer. Three months after taking the position, Baer provided the group with her 90-day assessment of Hanna Perkins, her developing vision for the future, and personal testimony about why she accepted the job. She related her own experience with a sister who has special needs – and the impact it had on her entire family.

She told the group that she envisions developing an endowment fund to care for Hanna Perkins’ historic building, and to use the building as a center of social enterprise resource development by renting space to create a community of allied professionals consistent with the kind of work that already takes place in the facility. Other priorities, Baer said, include increasing aid for general operations in the form of scholarships and parent-support programs through the Reinberger Parent/Child Resource Center. Further, she is focused on building relationships throughout the  local community as well as the region’s child-development community to elevate HPC’s profile.

Hosts of the event were Meisel, whose opening remarks acknowledged the dedication of HPC’s staff and supporters; and long-time board member Lainie Hadden, whose closing comments emphasized the unique and important therapeutic aid that Hanna Perkins offers to children and families in need of help.

Another reception for the community at-large is scheduled Oct. 24 at The Hanna Perkins Center for Child Development. The invitation for that public event can be viewed here.