Arguably few people in Washington County have had the impact on low-income housing that Jim Baker has had over the last 18 years as the director of planning and development for Washington/Morgan Community Action.
As the man in charge of writing grants and assuring those grants are performed properly by Community Action's programs, Baker, 62, of Marietta, is largely to credit for the grants that help 380 families a month and 45 housing units with special needs get some kind of rental help.
"Rent subsidies keep people in stable housing year after year," Baker said, "so that you don't see as many homeless situations. There are homeless people, but not as many as there would be otherwise. That's probably the most important thing we've done."
Starting Sept. 11, that institutional knowledge will be moving on, as Baker retires after 18 years with Community Action, and 12 years as the community development director with the city of Marietta. Baker said he's looking forward to traveling with his wife, Juanita, to visit his granddaughter and spend more time on a few hobbies.
Dawn Rauch, the assistant planner for Community Action, will be taking over for Baker.
David Brightbill, director of Community Action, said the organization would miss Baker, but Rauch is certainly capable of getting the job done.
"He's certainly a terribly important and invaluable member of our staff, just him personally and with his sense of humor and caring about people," Brightbill said. "He's done a lot to help low-income families in our community. Dawn will be the person taking his place, because you can't replace him, but that helps a great deal. He did a really good job of mentoring her and bringing her along. He's been very patient with her and has helped her learn the intricacies of the things we do."
Other aspects of the job Rauch will have to assume responsibility of include grants for public transportation, planning for replacement buses and schedules, local Head Start programs and low income housing grants.
Baker said the organization would be in good shape after he leaves because of the wealth of quality people there.
"We have a fine group of volunteer people on our board of trustees, and they work hard to keep the agency going," he said. "There isn't a person here at Community Action without two or three jobs, so everybody has to work hard, and I'm very pleased to be associated with that. It's been fun and interesting work.
