Pueblo Rescue Mission seeking new executive director after former leader bounced by board

The Pueblo Rescue Mission, the city’s only homeless shelter, is looking for a new executive director.

Ken Wood, board chair for the rescue mission, told the Chieftain that now-former Director Melanie Rapier’s last day at the shelter was June 7. She had been the shelter’s executive director since late 2021 and took over for Kathy Cline, who assumed the role in 2020 when the facility first opened.

Wood called the separation with Rapier “amicable.” He said that the board “initiated” her departure but declined to elaborate further.

Rapier did not respond to a request for comment.

“What I really want to do is celebrate a lot of the great programming and passion that she brought to the mission and the focus on the Step Back In program and some of the things that she had brought to the mission that are really setting us up to make an even bigger impact in the future,” Wood said.

Lori Arabie, the shelter’s director of operations, is handling the day-to-day operations there until the board finds a new executive director, which it hopes to do “sooner than later,” Wood said. The board recently posted a job listing for the role and is accepting applications through June 24.

The board also may look to add another member as Brandi Adakai, who is listed as a board member on the shelter’s website, told the Chieftain she resigned June 7. Leroy Gonzales, former board chair of the rescue mission, left the board around May.

“There have been decisions made I cannot stand behind,” Adakai wrote in a text message to the Chieftain. “I wish Pueblo Rescue Mission the very best to continue its mission to serve the unhoused.”

The board is currently reviewing several applications from people seeking to join, Wood said.

The shelter’s leadership changes come just over a month after it held an open house ceremony for its new facility. Last fall, the city spent $365,000 from its Community Development Block Grant program to buy the building so the rescue mission could shelter the unhoused there during weather emergencies.

The building is located at 710 W. Fourth St. and is near the rescue mission's main shelter at 728 W. Fourth St.

After learning PRM had used the new building sparingly this past winter, the city originally planned to find a new organization to run a warming shelter there but changed its tune in recent months.

However, the city is still asking the nonprofit to sign over the deed to the building. Wood said the city and board are still ironing out the details of a potential agreement and classified the conversations between both parties as “productive.”

“I believe (the relationship with the city) is at a point of taking a turn for the better,” Wood said. “It’s been a little strained in the past, and I feel like just over the last few weeks, we had to work through misunderstandings that existed concerning the building and the city’s and mission’s goals, trying to clarify some of those things. But I would say that the board’s attitude is very hopeful and positive towards working with the city.”

The Pueblo Rescue Mission shelters people who are homeless year-round, particularly emergency clients and participants in its Step Back In Program. It usually shelters around 40 people on any given night, though that number can fluctuate.

“There would be 40 more people who are homeless in Pueblo if the rescue mission wasn’t open a day,” Wood said. “It’s a (daily) problem that we are striving to help with.”

Rapier fielded some criticism last year from former clients who claimed she and other shelter leaders mistreated them. She disputed many of those claims, and several rescue mission staffers and clients came to her defense.

At last month’s open house, she was optimistic about the new building and its potential as a “catch-all campus” that could help even more people escape homelessness.

“We’re excited,” Rapier said at the time. “We think it’s a great opportunity for the service-resistant client and client who is not so eager to seek services. We can break that wall down a little bit and gradually get them to step and lean in so that we can do things for them to get them off the street.”

A listing for the open executive director position posted to the Pueblo Rescue Missions' Facebook page states that the annual salary for the position is between $58,000 and $64,000. It also states that because the mission is a Christian nonprofit, applicants "must personally affirm and demonstrate the religious values upon which our organization is founded."

Those interested in applying can send a letter of interest/cover letter and a detailed resume to include work history for the past five years and three professional references with contact information to prmboard728@gmail.com.

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Chieftain reporter Josué Perez can be reached at JHPerez@gannett.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @josuepwrites. Support local news, subscribe to The Pueblo Chieftain at subscribe.chieftain.com.

This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Why the Pueblo Rescue Mission is looking for a new executive director