MANKATO — Connections Shelter’s new executive director sees room for growth to meet the needs of people experiencing homelessness in Mankato.
Jennifer Echevarria started in the role Wednesday, coming in after co-founder and former executive director Erica Koser stepped away due to a family health situation in March. Koser and fellow co-founder Collette Broady Grund, who left before Koser, had led the nonprofit since its inception in 2017.
Echevarria said she plans to continue the work they started and is excited to see what the nonprofit can accomplish with expanded partnerships.
“With all the different organizations in Mankato we can really provide a wealth of services and benefits to our people,” she said.
Echevarria comes to Connections with 20 years of nonprofit experience, either as paid staff or volunteer.
“I’ve always loved the nonprofit industry,” she said. “I feel like nonprofits are the ones doing the work to solve our social problems.”
Many of her roles came during her time as a military spouse, including managing Catholic Charities’ Guadelupe Community Center in San Antonio, Texas. She served in a “mom” role there, she said, making sure bills got paid, grants were properly spent, and reports were filed on time.
The center had a food pantry, clothes closet, utility assistance, job placement and lunch programs, serving a target population similar to who she’ll work with at Connections.
“It’s a completely different environment, urban versus rural, but the problems that people face that get them into the situation of being unhoused are the same,” she said.
In the Mankato area, where she, her husband and their three sons moved to about 4½ years ago, Echevarria served as the development director at Twin Valley Council, Boy Scouts of America up until coming to Connections. The move gets her back into the managerial and administrative side of an organization, she said, which she likes. She has a master’s degree in human relations and nonprofit management.
Announcing the hire on its Facebook page, the nonprofit highlighted her depth of experience in the nonprofit realm.
“The wife of a veteran, she has lived all around the world during her career and she brings a range of professional and volunteer experience working with a diverse populations to Connections,” the announcement stated.
Her familiarity with Connections started as a volunteer serving meals. Connections Director of Development Liz Paul, who used to work with her at Twin Valley Council, told her about the executive director position opening, followed by others coming to her encouraging her to apply.
While her start date comes just after the shelter’s season wrapped up, it comes right in the middle of the nonprofit’s ongoing search for a permanent site. Connections started as a rotating shelter between local churches before landing at First Presbyterian Church in more recent years.
State funding for a proposed shelter near Cub Foods in west Mankato didn’t come through as hoped last year. Koser, before she stepped away, and Echevarria, ahead of stepping in, both expressed hope in a shelter site still being possible.
“Mankato has this incredible, generous population here, and I really feel like we can still do that,” Echevarria said. “It just may look a little bit different.”
The need is clearly there, she added, and serving people experiencing homelessness will remain at the forefront of Connections’ mission.
“They’re the population that needs help the most, and I feel like we have the capability in this town to house them,” she said.