A community outreach center on North Clinton Avenue in Rochester will soon be under new leadership.
The Father Tracy Advocacy Center announced this week that Beatriz LeBron will be the new executive director.
LeBron also serves as vice president of the Rochester Board of Education.
The center provides substance abuse treatment, clothing and food for people who are homeless, and serves as a liaison for housing and career support in “La Avenida,” a predominantly Latino neighborhood.
LeBron plans to expand community services at the center to people who may not know it exists, she said, including addiction support and bilingual counseling.
“I'm not looking to reinvent the wheel,” LeBron said. “I think there are a number of community agencies and partners that can do this work ... so I am looking to be completely open to partnerships and collaborations, as long as they are culturally appropriate and responsive to the needs of that community.”
LeBron currently works at Common Ground Health as the coordinator of a children’s health initiative called Healthi Kids’ PlayROCs campaign.
LeBron has seen firsthand from a young age how addiction can affect whole families, she said.
“For some of our families that we serve in the district, these are their family members, and this is what they're seeing,” she said. “I do think it's an opportunity to serve the families as well.”
She plans to explore more ways the center can help people who struggle with substance abuse, she said, like passing out fentanyl test strips and the overdose reversal drug Narcan to people in the community.
“I also hope to meet with our state delegation and look at some of the work that they're doing at the state level,” she said. “Going to be meeting with our court system to look at how they're handling opioid crisis in the courthouse and how we can partner with them as well so that we can be a referral place for individuals who might need services.”
LeBron will replace Ciara McGillivray, who was serving as an interim role, on March 20.
