PORT TOWNSEND — Olympic Community Action Programs has hired Holly Morgan as its executive director.
Brought on in late July, Morgan introduced herself to the Board of Jefferson County Commissioners on Monday.
“OlyCAP was without leadership for several months,” Morgan said. “That was both at an executive level and at a fiscal lead level. So, there’s quite a few things that just need to be firmed up. I worked immediately to bring in an outsourced organization to manage our fiscal leadership. Our finances are so incredibly complex with all of the different funding sources and reporting requirements, and all of that stuff.
“To have someone who is really knowledgeable and experienced in dealing with that kind of complexity, I think is important for us. The organization that we went with is CLA. They’re kind of big boys in the accounting world.”
OlyCAP also will be developing its 2025 budget with CLA, Morgan said.
“My priority for the first few months, I think, is going to be to fill all of the key positions that have been vacant for some time,” Morgan said, “and to really dial in on the fiscal side of things, to bring that around.”
Commissioner Heidi Eisenhour noted that, as a first-term commissioner, she has been amazed by how many projects OlyCAP is involved with.
“We have a really wide scope of service. We do,” Morgan said. “Part of my philosophy that I’m trying to bring to the community at large, every time I meet someone to speak with them for the first time, is really to emphasize the partnership side of the work that OlyCAP does. We don’t want to repeat services that are already being done well by someone else, if we can support them.
“Maybe we as a CAP agency have access to some money that they can’t get. We’re really about partnerships and collaborations and working together. We are here for the community and to help people.”
The organization has about 100 staff members, said Morgan, who added: “Our last financial statement had us at about $14 million, but that included a lot of COVID relief money that is no longer coming through.”
Morgan’s most recent work was as the chief operating officer at Easterseals Washington, a national 501(c)(3) that assists people with physical disabilities, mental disabilities and special needs.
Morgan also has experience working in community behavioral health, a service she said she would like to explore for OlyCAP moving forward.
Clallam-Jefferson Community Action Council was formed in 1966 and became OlyCAP in 2000. The organization serves both Clallam and Jefferson counties, offering a range of services including rent support, emergency sheltering, food bank services, energy assistance, home weatherization, senior nutrition programs and early childhood services.
The organization also manages the Brinnon, Quilcene and Tri-Area community centers under contracts with Jefferson County.
“It’s really cool to see first how the two counties do things differently, and then (ask), ‘How can we work together as a two-county region to really weave comprehensive services for everybody?’” Morgan said.
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Reporter Elijah Sussman can be reached by email at elijah.sussman@sequimgazette.com.
