TURNERS FALLS — A familiar face has been named the new Brick House Community Resource Center executive director. Dana Lee Mengwasser, who has been with the Resource Center for three years now, is the first executive director the Brick House has had for several years.
Mengwasser has been the youth programming manager since 2014 and is a graduate of Hampshire College.
“Over the past three years, Dana has expanded programming and the role The Brick House plays in the lives of youth and families,” said Meaghan Carr, president of the Brick House Board of Directors. “Teen center attendance has doubled during their tenure, and Dana has been instrumental in developing programs that focus on social justice and meeting the needs of youth in our community.”
Mengwasser said that when long-time director of operations Jared Libby decided to leave the Brick House to pursue other employment, the staff started looking at how to reconfigure positions due to how the Brick House’s needs have changed.
Libby’s position was part time, according to Mengwasser, and the hours limited the reach of what that position could do. Mengwasser will be serving as a full-time director.
During discussions about how address the needs, the idea of re-establishing the executive director position came up and the group pursued it.
Mengwasser said the promotion from youth programming manager was a collaborative, transparent decision within the Brick House management.
“It seemed like a natural fit for me to be in that role,” Mengwasser said.
Moving forward, Mengwasser said, the organization will start taking a look at all of its programs and evaluating if they still meet the community needs as well as seeing what programs need to be expanded or changed.
Mengwasser said that even though the center has a director now, it doesn’t mean it will change the way decisions are made.
“It’s really important still for all those decisions to be based on collaboration and based on the community,” the new director said.
Mengwasser added that the staff also plans to work on what the perception is of the center within the community, adding that it has changed a lot over time and started as a resource for domestic violence, which doesn’t reflect all of the programming it offers now.
Overall, Mengwasser is proud to have the support of the board and excited to continue serving the community.
Since 1990, the Brick House, according to a statement on its website, “has served over 2,500 residents with counseling programs, education, job training, employment resources and opportunities for building community. After a decade of providing a range of services to Montague residents, the Brick House “has concentrated its focus to address the underpinnings of social inequity by supporting individual and community well being through economic development, youth development, education and advocacy.”
The Brick House provides three areas of programming: Youth programs, family and parent services and space rental. The after-school youth program is free and runs from 2:30 to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday and currently has about 30 youth.
Reach Miranda Davis at
413-772-0261, ext. 280 or mdavis@recorder.com.