VCS Hires New Executive Director

VCS announced the appointment of Sarah Goforth of Portland, OR as the new executive director.  The agency’s board of directors said she will begin on August 19 and will take the place of Deborah Cary Murnion who retired on December 31, 2012.  Goforth has been the senior director of Integrated Behavioral Health Services for Central City Concern in Portland since 2006. 

Goforth said part of what drew her to VCS was its 40 years of service to the community.

“I chose VCS because I believe in their mission,” she said. “The agency responds to needs and gaps in services in the community as well as actively pursuing social justice for all people who live in the greater Rockland area.”

While at Central City Concern, Goforth helped expand chemical dependency and mental health services for low-income and homeless individuals and families. She earned a B.S. in Education from the University of Houston and an M.S. in Counseling from Portland State University.  Since Murnion’s retirement, VCS has been led by Interim Co-Executive Directors Dr. Gail K. Golden and Phyllis B. Frank.

“In Portland, Oregon, Sarah was affiliated with an agency that, like VCS, serves clients who are often overlooked,” said Dr. Golden. 

New City-based VCS is a family service agency with an anti-racist, social justice mission.  It provides child abuse prevention programs, services to older adults and their families, and low cost counseling to Rockland residents for life issues including separation, co-parenting children, unemployment, and domestic violence. 

VCS Board of Directors President Wylene Branton Wood said, “We think she has the expertise, creativity, compassion and collaborative spirit to help VCS continue its exemplary service to the Rockland County community.”

Additionally, VCS provides training and educational programs to address oppression and offers a counselor training program and administers the nationally recognized NY Model for Batterer Programs, as well as the federally supported Foster Grandparent Program.