SALEM — Andrew Oliver stepped down last night as Lifebridge president after helping guide the city's homeless shelter through a dramatic transformation over the past decade.
Oliver, president of the board of directors for nine years, was at the helm in 2004 when the former Crombie Street Shelter acquired the closed St. Mary's Italian Church complex on Margin Street.
The nonprofit organization, which was later re-branded as Lifebridge, turned the former youth center into a large shelter and converted two small apartment buildings into 22 studio apartments for the homeless, launching a campaign to "end homelessness" in the city and region.
A recent effort to build more housing on Margin Street failed after triggering widespread opposition.
Oliver, 64, told the Lifebridge board of his plans in August.
The new president, Lynda Fairbanks Atkins of Lynn, was elected at the annual meeting last night at Finz restaurant on the waterfront.
Fairbanks Atkins, a former Topsfield resident who has been on the board for three years, first came to the shelter to serve dinner with a church group. She has a background in nonprofit management and fundraising, according to a news release.
Although he resigned as president, Oliver will remain a board member.
"I think we were ready for the next stage of our development to have a different style of leadership," Oliver said. "I think there are some areas where we need to build more than I have done, and I think somebody else, particularly Lynda, will be a better person to do that."
As president, Oliver launched a major capital campaign, raising more than $4 million in public and private funds for the reconstruction of the youth center and apartment buildings. The Marblehead resident and former investment banker pledged more than $100,000 of his own money.
Oliver said the credit for the transformation of Lifebridge and its mission should go to Executive Director Mark Cote and the staff he has assembled.
Lifebridge currently has paid nurses, a volunteer physician, men's and women's weekly support groups, art therapy and knitting groups, AA meetings, and a job search program and recently began a course for residents with Salem State University.
Oliver said the biggest change is that "when people move out they're able to sustain their independence." He said about one person a week moves from the shelter into housing.
"It's Lifebridge and the staff that has made these changes," he said. "It's not the board. The board has the vision.
"I think I've made a contribution to the public debate and the understanding that homelessness is a solvable issue. To talk about ending homelessness is feasible because we've demonstrated we have a model that works, but the achievements are the achievements of the organization."
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