Shelter founder Olson stepping down

Susan Olson, executive director of Pajaro Valley Shelter Services, enjoys a light moment with some kids Wednesday. (Photo by Tarmo Hannula/Register-Pajaronian)

WATSONVILLE ­— After a career spanning two decades working with women, children and families to end their homelessness, Pajaro Valley Shelter Services Executive Director Susan Olson will be retiring at the end of June.

Olson, 69, has built up the organization, helping to create a network of 20 houses throughout the city, establish a strong board of directors and develop a strategic plan for the future.

Now, she is ready to let a new director take the helm.

“I see opportunities in front of the organization, really good ones,” she said. “But I’m not sure I have the energy for it. It needs to be someone else’s baby.”

Olson, a sister of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, was working in Washington, D.C., in 1981 when she got a firsthand glimpse of the extreme homelessness that plagues the area.

There, she saw people huddled over heater grates to stay warm during the frigid winter months.

“The poverty in our nation’s capital is astounding,” she said.



For the complete article see the 06-07-2012 issue.

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