Foothill Unity’s Whitenack retires

After sixteen years at the helm of Foothill Unity Center, the major source of food, health services and crisis assistance for over 4,000 low-income families in the San Gabriel Valley, the organization’s Executive Director, Joan Whitenack, has announced she will retire in early 2012.

Joan Whitenack

Under her energetic and passionate direction, the Center has grown from a small, respected organization that helped needy families in Monrovia, Duarte and Arcadia to a vital source of support for people in need in eleven San Gabriel Valley cities. In 2008, it was federally designated by the State of California as the Community Action Agency for the Foothill Area. Joan has been instrumental in generating many grants and donations in support of the Center. Under her guidance, the organization has expanded from 1 to 20 employees and 5 to 2,400 volunteers. Its facilities have also expanded dramatically, from a single 900‐square‐foot location to three sites, two in Monrovia and one in Pasadena, totaling nearly 20,000 square feet. It holds its annual back-to-school event to provide clothing, suppliers and services to hundreds of low-income kids at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia.

Inspired by Whitenack’s vision of helping people get back on their feet — and doing it with love and dignity — the Center has developed an ambitious and effective range of programs, including the distribution of food (over 4 million pounds in 2010); transitional help for victims of domestic violence; rental and utilities assistance; work experience; and large Back-to‐School, Thanksgiving and Holiday distributions. Its latest initiative, made possible by an endowment, is a client health services program in partnership with community healthcare allies.

Whitenack has been honored many times for her achievements. California’s 59th Senatorial District named her Woman of the Year. The Los Angeles Regional Food Bank chose her from candidates at over 800 charities to receive its highest honor, the Tony Collier Award, for her “leadership in the war against hunger,” and gave her its Community Spirit Award. She was also recognized with The Renaissance Award for merging the spirit of entrepreneurship with the spirit of volunteerism.

Whitenack has described her role in the community as “the catalyst … the people in the community are the ones who bring about the real changes, particularly in the war against poverty.” The California Hunger Action Coalition presented her with its Hunger Fighter Award “for dedication, service and deep personal commitment to end hunger in California.” She was named Executive Director of the Year by Pasadena‘s Women In Business and received the Community Achievement Torch Award from the 48th District Schools Involvement Program.

Foothill Unity Center’s mission is to help neighbors in crisis attain self-sufficiency by partnering with the community, using resources wisely to provide vital support services with love and dignity. The organization is currently conducting a search for an exceptional chief executive who can build on the organization’s past success and expand its capacity to provide resources to residents in need within the Foothill Area of the San Gabriel Valley.