Cote to head Salem Mission

By Tom Dalton
Staff writer

Tue, May 13 2008

—

SALEM — Mark Cote, the interim head of the Salem Mission, has been named the executive director.

"Mark has done an outstanding job since he stepped in last December," board president Andrew Oliver said in a press release. "He has demonstrated his leadership skills in many ways and impressed us all with the enthusiastic way he has taken charge of the organization."

Cote, the former deputy executive director, took over the top job after George Delaney left in December. Delaney, a former Catholic priest and missionary, had been executive director for two years

Before coming to Salem two years ago, Cote spent eight years as the assistant and later executive director of The Lowell Transitional Living Center, a 90-bed homeless shelter. Under Cote's leadership, the organization purchased and renovated a home with 12 rooms of permanent housing for the homeless.

In related news, Christine Cericola has been named deputy executive director of the Salem Mission. A Salem resident, she is a former street outreach worker at the Pine Street Inn in Boston. She also worked at Help for Abused Women and their Children (HAWC) and most recently was a case manager for high-risk patients at North Shore Medical Center.

The Salem Mission runs a 34-bed (52 in winter) homeless shelter for men and women and also has 22 rooms of supervised apartment living.