By Greg Fry

Change afoot at Kamloops and District Elizabeth Fry Society

Feb 26, 2018 | 2:15 PM

KAMLOOPS — After 15 years as executive director of the Kamloops and District Elizabeth Fry Society, Louise Richards has announced she’s retiring.

“I’m at the point where I’ve decided that’s the route I’m going to take, so after 15 years of doing work that I love to do I’ve decided to take a break.”

She concedes it wasn’t an easy decision to make.

“Yes. I still enjoy the job and the work but at the same time it’s good for organizations to have new energy and new ideas come in.”

Richards says there were a number of highlights that come to mind looking back at her decade and a half at the helm.

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“In the last couple of years, we opened transitional housing for women and children, the first of its kind in Kamloops. We also moved our office location. We bought a little house on Seymour and renovated it and added to it. It was a big change and it brought a lot of stability for us. We also started a law advocacy program.”

She says a country-wide recruitment process is well underway to find her successor and says she’s leaving the non-profit on strong footing.

“We’re just in the middle of our recruitment phase and I think that the new executive director will be able to come into an organization that is solid. There’s no big issues or crisis to take on. They’ll have some time to become familiar with the role and then decide which direction to go.”

Richards says her last day on the job is scheduled for May 15 and says the goal is to have her replacement hired by the beginning of that month.