When Ana Quintela walks out of her Bayonne Economic Opportunity Foundation office on April 10 for the last time, she will be proud of her four years at the helm, where she brought BEOF into the 21st century technologically, raised the amount of state and federal grants received, and increased the services that the organization provides.
But more than any of that, the executive director will be happy that she made a difference to so many lives through the social service agency she headed. BEOF, a not-for-profit, runs a number of programs, including Head Start, senior meals programs, weatherization, and homeless prevention.
Quintela was brought on in 2011 to make changes, and change things she did.
What was only a one-computer operation, with email messages printed out and distributed by hand to dozens of recipients, became an organization that embraced the use of technology and prospered through that use.
In danger of losing money because of poor recordkeeping and other deficiencies, Quintela turned around that part of the operation too.
Quintela and her staff’s ability to write proposals for funding garnered sought-after grants that were highly competitive.
Quintela’s work did not go unrecognized. At the January monthly meeting of the Hudson County Board of Chosen Freeholders, her agency was praised for its outreach to the community to find residents eligible for the Sandy/Homeowner/Renter Assistance Program. In order to be eligible, an individual or family must have had financial distress related directly to housing as a result of Hurricane Sandy.
Freeholder Chairman Junior Maldonado said the ineffectiveness of the outreach to distribute funds to people in need caused the state to take back half of the county’s original allocation. But because the BEOF was so effective in reaching people even beyond Bayonne, the state agreed to send back some of the funds they originally took back.
“We wish her all the best.” – Andrew Casais
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“They are a model for how this should have been done,” said Freeholder William O’Dea.
Bayonne Freeholder Kenneth Kopacz, a BEOF board member for four years, credited Quintela with the effectiveness of the effort. “It was four years of hard work and a lot of fun,” Quintela said of her run at the organization.
“Going from 60 findings to zero and keeping the agency open was my greatest accomplishment,” she said. “Findings” are program deficiencies that could make the agency lose its funding.
But the most enjoyable part was the personal one, Quintela said.
“The best part of my job has been seeing the look of relief or happiness on a senior,” she said.
The organization runs the city’s Meals on Wheels program. When seniors heard about her impending departure, some of them cried, she said.
Prior to her BEOF post, Quintela worked for years in the private sector, and that’s where she will be returning as her time overseeing the organization draws to a close. She will head the human resources department at a major company she would not name.
Her resignation, submitted two weeks ago, set in motion a whirlwind of activity.
The BEOF board immediately formed a search committee and is seeking a replacement for Quintela, according to Andrew Casais, chief of staff for Mayor James Davis.
Casais said the city was hoping to make the transition as seamless as possible. An interim manager will be put in place to run the BEOF until a successor is chosen, Casais said.
Quintela’s work at the BEOF and her working relationship with Davis was lauded by Casais.
“We wish her all the best,” he said. “We’re looking forward to the future. And we wish her the best in her future.”
Quintela is married to Jose “Frank” Rodriguez and has two children, Irana Rodriguez, 16 and Nicholas Rodriguez, 10.
Joseph Passantino may be reached at JoePass@hudsonreporter.com.To comment on this story online visit www.hudsonreporter.com.