Jim Clardy is retiring as the executive director of the Rape and Abuse Crisis Service (RACS).
After taking the helm of RACS in June 1999, Clardy's last official day is Oct. 24. He also has served on the Missouri Coalition of Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault board of directors for seven years, two of them as chairman.
"My plans immediately are to continue to work with the organization as a volunteer and maybe with some fundraisers next year," Clardy said. "Eventually, my wife and I will be spending more time in Florida. She has a mother in Florida so we plan to eventually relocate there."
Spending more time with his family was his chief reason for stepping down, and Clardy said he and his wife had planned to retire around the same time.
Under Clardy's leadership, RACS has obtained grant funding for the Outreach Counselor and Outreach Advocate, a program where staff travels to any of the nine surrounding counties for services such as counseling or court advocacy.
He has also overseen the installation of a new security system, the addition of storage units for donated furniture, and the implementation of a cafeteria plan, a retirement plan and better employee health benefits. Because of the outreach expansion during his tenure, the bed nights for the center doubled between 2000 and 2013.
Clardy will be succeeded by Alden Henrickson, whose first day was Tuesday. The two will work together until Clardy's last scheduled day.
Henrickson holds a master's degree in economics from the University of Missouri-Kansas City, and a bachelor's in economics from Bucknell University. He has chaired two United Way budget committee panels and served with the Strategic Management of Regulatory and Enforcement Agencies at the JFK School of Government for Harvard University in 2007.
He has served as the deputy director and fiscal manager for the Missouri Gaming Commission, where he started in 2005. Previously, he was the budget director and economist for the Missouri Department of Revenue.
"I was with state government for 33 years and felt like I had done what I could there," he said. "I wanted an opportunity where I could directly give back to the community that I have lived in since 1980, and when this came along, I thought it was good for my background and my expertise and talents."
Henrickson said his goals are to be a caretaker and maintain the level of quality established under Clardy's leadership. He also wants to extend the awareness of the program and the services offered, as well as diversify the organization's funding opportunities. In other words, try to find more ways for the organization to acquire money to its "shoestring" budget.