By Marisa Juarez, Communications Specialist
Caleb Sutton is the new Executive Director at the Hawthorne Community Center.
Q: Tell us a little bit about yourself.
A. Caleb has been working in the nonprofit sector for over 16 years and began his career at the Hawthorne Community Center in 2003. He was there for 13 years and worked as the Director of Programs and Services, before accepting a position as Deputy Director with the Coalition for Homelessness Intervention and Prevention (CHIP).
Q: What does Community Engagement mean to you?
A: Being present and at the table, ready to learn, listen, and support in any way I can. As a community center, our doors are always open as a safe space and community resource for residents and visitors to utilize.
Q; What is your vision moving forward for the center and how do you see that coinciding with the surrounding community centers?
A: Utilizing data to implement a Two-Generational Approach across the Near West. “[It] fits with the populations in the neighborhood so that we can support the entire family, whether it be with education, workforce development, and maintaining employment and housing.” This is while also providing the best client services from early childhood, to school-aged children, to supporting the entire family for long-term impact.
Q: What will it take for partnerships between community centers in the Near West?
A: Partnerships will need to share services in order to be more efficient, more willing to implement workforce development, and increase transparency and communication.
About the Hawthorne Community Center. The center is here to:
- Support the neighborhood/neighborhood association
- Support the Steering Committee
- Support the Quality of Life Plan
- Sustain partnerships with the entire Near West
- Haughville STRONG Neighborhood Association
- Hawthorne Neighborhood Association
- Stringtown Neighborhood Association
- We Care Neighborhood Association