CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Jessica McGuire, the new Chief Executive Officer of Roark-Sullivan Lifeway Center is settling into her role in downtown Charleston but is already reaching for newly minted goals for the organization.
McGuire began in mid-March but was officially welcomed to Charleston by the board of directors there on Thursday in a ceremony. The 37-year old from Greenbrier County has worked in the behavioral health field for nearly two decades and feels her experience will help right away.
“Through the years, almost two decades, I have gained a lot of personal hands-on experience with the residential treatment facility centers. What I have gained, I am excited to share with everyone,” McGuire told 580-WCHS in Charleston.
The Roark-Sullivan Lifeway Center is an independent non-profit agency serving the Kanawha Valley and a provider of emergency shelter, transitional, and permanent supportive housing to those experiencing homelessness. The center features eight services for veterans.
The center has partnered with Kanawha Valley Collective and the United Way, and McGuire said more partnerships are on the way.
“I want to not only establish hope, purpose and growth within our homeless population, people experiencing homelessness but those I actually employ as well,” she said.
McGuire came to Charleston from Beckley where she had been serving as the Clinical Director of New Hope 4 You. She also has experience in client safety and welfare as a member of the Human Rights Committee.
She is a graduate of Mountain State University with a BS degree. She earned her MS from the University of Phoenix.
“I am thrilled for a new beginner and to provide more hope for the entire community,” McGuire said.