photo by: Austin Hornbostel/Journal-World

The Lawrence Community Shelter, 3655 E. 25th St., is pictured Monday, July 24, 2023.

The Lawrence Community Shelter’s newly appointed board of directors is hoping to issue a job announcement soon after it voted earlier this week to conduct a national search for a permanent executive director of the shelter.

Melanie Valdez has been serving as interim executive director since April 2022 after initially being hired as the director of finance and operations in September 2021.

“The board appreciates Melanie’s commitment and extended service in the interim role,” Charlie Bryan, president of the board, said in an email to the Journal-World.

Valdez told the Journal-World that she had not decided whether she would apply for the permanent position.

“I will make that determination once the position is announced and I have the full job description along with any qualifications or experience the Board is seeking,” she said via email. “My hope is that the most qualified candidate that is also fully committed to the success of LCS, the staff, the people it serves, and our community as a whole is the one chosen. My goal when taking over as Interim was to see LCS through very difficult times and to a better, more stable situation. I believe I have accomplished that.”

In July, Valdez had urgently appealed to the community to help keep the shelter open and financially afloat, saying at the time that funds were well short of the roughly $1.6 million per year it needed to keep running.

Bryan said the board seeks candidates who are experienced in emergency shelter operations “serving diverse populations with distinct needs.” He said this aligns with the community’s goal of achieving “functional zero in homelessness — ensuring sufficient shelter beds, services, and housing for everyone in need.”

The board voted to conduct the national search “expeditiously.” It plans to promote the position broadly, Bryan said, including by inviting the public to nominate prospective applicants through an online landing page on the Lawrence Community Shelter website.

The new board of directors was appointed recently after the shelter in September moved to a shared governance model with the City of Lawrence and Douglas County.