A new era at ECAA

Since the passing of Gervis LaFleur in July of this year, people have wondered who would be chosen to fill the shoes of the long time Evangeline Community Action Agency (ECAA) Executive Director. And, that question was answered on Thursday when Carleen Bellard was selected to fill the position.
According to the agency’s bylaws, before hiring someone the ECAA had to look from inside their organization for a person that could do the job. If there had been no one that met the criteria for the position that was already an employee then the ECAA could look outside of the organization for a new executive director.
There was no need for that however, after two ECAA employees applied for the job.
Before Bellard was named the new executive director, she and the other candidate -- Virginia Williams -- addressed the board in an open meeting highlighting their career achievements and capabilities.
When Bellard spoke, she gave the board a little background on what her tasks have been as an ECAA employee for the last 19 years.
Bellard said, “My executive director and assistant executive director gave me the task of being the Nutrition Specialist, ERSE (Eligibility, Recruitment, Selection, and Enrollment) Coordinator, and licensing person.”
Bellard then further detailed what these tasks entailed.
“As a nutrition coordinator, I was in charge of putting together menus for the five centers we take care of in the parish,” said Bellard. “I had to work cooperatively with the different school systems. I had to work with them to plan menus for our children. I also had to complete on-going monitoring of our staff as well as our children, and take in information from our children who have special needs.”
When it came to her job as ERSE Coordinator, Bellard said, “I had to ensure that all of our centers were four-year-old centers.”
Bellard then went on to say that as the licensing person, she “had to get on the system to make sure the licenses were in proper order for us (ECAA) to operate.”
The seasoned employee said, “Every month our teachers monitor different classrooms. When licensed individuals come in they monitor those things and those things are sent back to me and I have to evaluate them.”
Before it was time for the board to vote, Bellard closed out her address by stating, “Mr. Gervis set a strong foundation for this agency. I want to move forward with that foundation and provide services to children and families that we already have and build upon that.
“I want to provide services for the elderly that we don’t have but we need. Sometimes people have to make a decision on whether they are going to buy food or pay for their medicines, and we don’t want them to have to make those types of decisions. I would also love to have a program that provides tuition assistance to help students with books and tuition.”
When it came time to vote, 14 of the total 16 votes cast were for Bellard, while one board member abstained from voting and the other voted for Williams.
The board’s chairman Darwin Lazard then delivered the news to Bellard and congratulated her on her new position before giving Bellard her first duty as the new ECAA Executive Director.
Lazard said, “The first task that the board would like for you to do is explore what needs to happen to have the head start center named in honor of Mr. LaFleur.”