It’s been three months on the job and Pattie Pichette is getting used to her role as the Executive Director of the Roudenbush Center and its variety of educational and community programs.
Before coming onto the job on April 22, Pichette was the Director of the Family Resource Center in Fitchburg, a role she had held for six years.
Although she wasn’t actively looking for a job, and had never been to Westford before, her experience in early childhood education and a background with organizational budgeting made her a good fit to take up the position permanently.
She takes over the role from Christine Coughlin, a board member who will now be the Roudenbush’s Director of Operations and Finance.
While Pichette was apprehensive at first, both she and her staff have become comfortable with the new arrangements now in place.
“I love it here, I really do. If I did not have a home In Leominster, I would certainly venture to move here. The people have embraced me, it’s really a nice, nice community,” she said. “The very first day I walked in here I felt like I belonged, I felt a spirit here telling me this was the place I was supposed to be.”
The arrival of Pichette and the transition of Coughlin also marks a benchmark in the stabilization of the Roudenbush’s finances according to Pichette, a trend she hopes she can continue, reversing morale issues brought forth by several lean years.
Still, the new role has taken some getting used to and Pichette has reached out for help, ranging from a new Fundraising Committee and Marketing Committee of the Roudenbush’s Board of Directors to direct assistance from former Roudenbush executive director Patti Mason.
It’s might be too soon to tell Pichette’s lasting impact on Roudenbush itself, but she has a range of ideas from an antique appraisal open house this fall to aiming to provide child care to larger corporations in town.
However, regardless of what the future might hold, she has come to appreciate the place that has given her a new job, and she hopes others do as well.
“This is a wonderful community full of treasures,” she said. “I think people take things for granted, but there are many who know they have a treasure here and I am thankful for that.”
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