Episcopal Social Services of New York

December 2010 was the end of an era for Episcopal Social Services (ESS). Robert Gutheil retired as the Executive Director after six years at ESS and over 45 years of tireless efforts to improve the lives of vulnerable children and families. I am proud to succeed him as Executive Director and send him my sincere thanks for assisting me in the transition into my new role.

My first month at ESS has been a whirlwind. I committed to the staff that I would visit all 32 program sites in my first month here. I would have succeeded if it weren’t for the record amounts of snow, but by next week will have fulfilled the promise. I have thoroughly enjoyed speaking to staff and the people we serve as I make my rounds. One of the reasons I came to ESS was due to the agency’s reputation for high quality services, but what I have found has often exceeded my expectations.

Everywhere I have gone, from an early childhood center and therapeutic nursery in Brooklyn’s Brownsville to an adolescent Group Home in the Woodlawn neighborhood of the Bronx, I have met staffs who have dedicated their lives to serving others with compassion and professionalism. I have seen young children from some of the most disadvantaged neighborhoods of New York being educated in warm and nurturing environments, which truly have the potential to change the course of their lives. In perhaps one of my favorite moments, I was told by an adolescent in foster care who resides in one of our Group Homes that, “this is one of the best places I have ever lived.”

As you all know, we are in the midst of very difficult times for our clients, our agency, and our city, but I am heartened to see how well-prepared ESS is to weather these storms as we work together to continue the 180 year legacy of serving New Yorkers in need. We are fortunate to have talented staff, positive outcomes for clients throughout our programs, and loyal support from so many of you. I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to lead this excellent organization, and feel confident that, with your help, we will continue to transform lives. I look forward to meeting many of you in the coming months.

Sincerely,

Elizabeth McCarthy
Executive Director

I’m astonished by the fact that the time has come in my career to say hail and farewell. After forty-five years of immensely rewarding human services work, I’m retiring at the end of the year. I began as a parish priest (Lutheran variety) in the mid-60′s, when I got a first taste of how enlivening work among the poor can be. Then on to several years at the Lutheran agency here in New York, many years heading the social service work among children and families of The Salvation Army, and now the last six-plus years here at Episcopal Social Services. I was just honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Center for Children and Families, an outstanding planning and advocacy organization, and I could only reflect in my brief thank you how blessed I’ve been in having the opportunity to spend my life doing this good work.

Lifelong New Yorker and lover of this great city that I am, I’m looking forward to having some time to experience things here that a full-time job never permits. There are also a number of volunteer and consulting opportunities that have started to come knocking on my door, but my wife is insisting that I’m not to give up full-time paid work for full-time unpaid work. Good advice, but I do want to continue to make whatever contribution I can to the fabric of the city and to the human service field. So I’m about to become a “Senior Fellow” of the Child Welfare League of America, as well as continue service on at least two boards.

Meanwhile, of most interest to you, I’m proud to leave to my successor an agency significantly wider and deeper than when I arrived (and it was excellent then). There will certainly be challenges ahead, particularly in the area of adequate funding for our many necessary programs, but the agency is well-positioned to move forward. And let me give you a first introduction to my successor-Elizabeth McCarthy (the first woman and the first non-Episcopalian to head ESS!). She brings extraordinary depth and range to our work, after a twenty-year career of rising responsibility in the field. Our Board’s search committee had many outstanding candidates to consider, and made an outstanding choice. You’ll be hearing much more about her. She begins on January 1st.

So, as I began, I wish you hail and farewell. Your support of the children and families we serve down through the years has made our excellence possible-has provided talented and compassionate staff and has provided an important array of services to those most in need in our beloved city. We need your support more than ever in the years to come, and I know we can count on it.

Faithfully,

Robert H. Gutheil
Executive Director