Amador County – Resource Connection seated its new Executive Director George Chimiklis March 1, and he hopes to see the good of his work first hand.

Chimiklis said Monday he was born and raised in Stockton and has spent years working for the Sacramento-based Rural Community Assistance Corporation, helping local rural communities expand their infrastructure.

Chimiklis said he came into the Rural Community Assistance Corporation “as employee number 18 and when I left we had grown into 130.” It was “established when I came along, but I was very much a part of its growth and maturing.”

RCAC helps small communities develop their own infrastructure by developing water and sewer and other special districts, mostly in the four-state area of New Mexico, Utah, Colorado and Oregon. It helped organize and set up agencies and train people to run them.

In California, Chimiklis worked with Mercy Housing in Jackson and Amador County on water line or sewer line extensions, about 10 years ago. RCAC did mostly California-based projects in the 1980s then expanded field offices in the four states. Chimiklis first did grant writing and fund development, was an out-of-state field person for three years, and then went into management for nine years.

At Resource Connection, Chimiklis said he “would not put infrastructure out of the discussions,” as affordable housing remains an issue. But he didn’t think Resource Connection “is going to be putting hammer to nail” anytime soon. He said “market dynamics are such that you don’t just go out and build a 40-unit complex.” It must start at a smaller level.

He said Resource Connection programs include Head Start, Early Head Start, Women Infants and Children and a crisis center. It runs a 24-hour intervention hotline, a safe house for escape from abuse, and counseling programs. It operates the Oats Thrift Store in San Andreas, and a food bank and emergency shelter in Calaveras.

Chimiklis said Resource Connection could not operate without its dedicated staff, achieving success with the “outrageous hardships” of economy, making it though the holidays with dozens of donations. He said the Calaveras food bank last year distributed more than 1 million pounds of food.

They don’t just write a check and it is paid by Washington D.C., he said: The “money comes from your neighbors and yourself,” people “doing good things for neighbors and friends.”

Chimiklis said: “It’s great to be here,” and he is often asked why he is here. He said: “It has everything to do with living among the people that we are serving, and seeing the results of what we are doing.” He “never got to see the end result of what we were trying to do” at RCAC, but he expects a different experience at Resource Connection.

Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.