Region Ten local director Don Lewis takes new post

By Susan Gibbs, Record Reporter
Published: November 20, 2008

After four years as Greene County’s Director of Region Ten Community Services—and eight with the agency overall—Don Lewis will be leaving his office this month to assume the executive directorship of the Valley Community Services Board in Staunton.
“I feel like I’ve done a good job here in Greene. I’ve gotten The Region Ten office on target,“ Lewis says.
He’s proud that he’s helped build relationships among offices here. 
“Instead of being a remote office that people get to once in awhile, we’ve become an integral part of a whole team in the county.”
His career with Region Ten started in Albemarle where he was first assigned to work with those on probation or parole; he was then moved to Social Services. There, he put needy families on the employment rolls, screened people for domestic or substance abuse, and worked with those with mental health issues.
As director of Greene’s Counseling Center in Stanardsville, Lewis is responsible for, crisis and case management, outpatient therapy, and coordinating with the educational support services, among other things.
And he has become a part of community action groups.
“I’m proud to have taken part in a number of cooperative efforts - not just responding to issues but actually getting proactive,“ Lewis says.
He helped to get GRACE - the Greene Alliance of Church and Community Services - off the ground when it was founded in early 2006. That organization sees to the needs of residents who do not qualify for specific agency benefits; and, it ensures that there is no overlapping of services.
Sheriff Scott Haas describes Lewis as an integral part of the County’s network.
“His department and mine, and the Department of Social Services, work very well together,“ Haas says. “He is the go-to person in dealing with mental health issues. I have (even) called him in the middle of the night to get feedback.“
Haas continues: “If somebody had a problem (that could not be handled by any existing agency), he’d say, ‘Let’s get a group together.‘“
ACT - Agencies Coming Together - is one of those groups. It consists of representatives of, among others, the County’s Department of Social Services (DSS), Health Department, Sheriff’s Office, Jefferson Area Board for Aging, and the Greene Alliance of Church and Community Efforts (GRACE).
James Howard, director of Greene’s DSS, says Lewis’ departure is “a loss to both the citizens of Greene and its agencies.
“(Lewis) works tirelessly. During his tenure at Region Ten he strengthened the agency and its programs within the constraints we all encounter,“ says Howard.
One of the “constraints” Greene’s network of agencies has been encountering is the need to see to the County’s at-risk youth.
When ACT approached Bishop Michael Jackson of Lifeline Community Services, asking him to turn his long-term plans for the development of a mentoring program into short term plans, Lewis was ready to lend a hand.
“He has been very supportive of the mentoring program,“ Jackson says.
In an age when it could be said the term “at risk” has become cliché, Lewis is good at putting those words in context.
The “at-risk” youth Jackson’s Impact Mentoring program is aiming to help, Lewis explains, are those who are, or are about to, commit “what in my father’s generation was called mischief.“
Young people who will become part of the program might be “skipping school, trespassing on construction sites, or getting bad grades,“ Lewis continues. “There are no violent kids, or kids with serious mental health or drug abuse issues in the program. No child that is out of control will be chosen for the Impact Mentoring program … these will be children who can do well with a little support.“
Lewis has been schooled enough to know what works and what doesn’t: he is seminary trained, having earned a master’s degree in divinity before earning another master’s degree in public health. He received his PhD from the Institute for the Advanced Study of Human Sexuality.
“We’ve tried (for example) anti-drug programs and anti-pregnancy programs; they don’t work. What works is building self-esteem,“ Lewis says. “When adults form relationships with young people they help them develop self-esteem. There’s no study that refutes that.“
A self-described “deeply spiritual man,“ he believes firmly in helping all to be all they can be - which is perhaps why he spends between six and 10 hours a month sitting down with other groups.
“We’re already beginning to see the benefits” of working together,“ he says of the community groups that he has been a part of. “We’ll see more in another year, and in another year, even more.“
As for any loss to the community his departure might cause, Lewis says no worries.
“I’ve got one of the best staffs you’ll find anywhere,“ he claims. “I’ll put my staff against anybody’s.“