GREENFIELD — After seven years at the helm, Irene Woods is retiring from her position as executive director of the Children’s Advocacy Center of Franklin County and North Quabbin Inc.
Jeffrey Trant, a current member of the board of directors, will take over for Woods by the end of January. He will be the nonprofit’s first full-time director. Woods was hired as a part-time executive director, working out of the facility at 56 Wisdom Way.
“My goal was to have the house completed and the landscaping complete, to be able to hire a case manager and have mental health and medical services here, and we’ve achieved all that programming,” said Woods. “Now is the perfect time for someone to come in and decide where to lead the Children’s Advocacy Center to next.”
The Children’s Advocacy Center offers a safe, child-friendly environment for children who have disclosed physical or sexual abuse to be interviewed. Children and families are also linked to medical, mental health, victim advocacy and other services on a case-by-case basis.
Woods was hired after retiring from 32 years working with the Department of Children and Families. Since then, the budget has grown from $25,000 to more than $300,000, allowing for the transition to having a full-time director.
“I thought I’d work 10 hours per week,” she said, noting she never anticipated she’d still be in the position, all these years later. “It’s just a wonderful place to come to every day. You do things people are grateful for, and you can see an impact on children’s lives and families. It’s a great place to come every day, even though the stories are hard.”
She said the best part of the job has always been the ability to make a difference in the lives of children and their families. Hearing the sound of children giggling downstairs, she said, still brings tears to her eyes.
“When I worked at the Department of Children and Families, sometimes we’d have to go into schools,” she said. “We’d all leave, but those poor kids would remain in school all day not knowing what happens next. The fact kids don’t have to go through that anymore — it’s a safe, kid-friendly place — to me, that’s the biggest accomplishment. They start to heal from that trauma right away, instead of being retraumatized.”
That aspect of the work — “the potential to do good” — was part of what attracted Trant to the job at the Children’s Advocacy Center.
“What makes me really excited about this position is the opportunity to do good, and to be able to work with children and families in the aftermath of the disclosure of child abuse, primarily child sex abuse, and to really help support healing, justice and ensure children are not retraumatized through that process,” he said.
Trant, who said he has 20 years of experience in human services in western Massachusetts, currently serves as director of the Office of Safe Environment and Victim Assistance for the Diocese of Springfield.
“I really feel this is an opportunity to use all of my knowledge and skill set in the child welfare field and the behavioral health field to support the children and families of the County and the North Quabbin,” he said.
Having worked with Woods for as many as 10 years, both through the Children’s Advocacy Center and their respective work at the Department of Children and Families, Trant said he knows he has “tremendous shoes” to fill.
“There’s no way I can replace her,” he said. “At the same time, one of the greatest strengths of the CAC is the fact it is truly an organization that has been built and forged by a number of community and civic leaders throughout Franklin County and the North Quabbin. It truly is a community effort.”
Reporter Mary Byrne can be reached at mbyrne@recorder.com or 413-930-4429. Twitter: @MaryEByrne.