Important Announcement!

Thank you Klara! ♥

LONG-TIME DIRECTOR OF THE CENTER FOR WISDOM’S WOMEN TO RETIRE

LEWISTON–The Center for Wisdom’s Women at 97 Blake St. in downtown Lewiston is preparing a transition to new leadership in 2020. Executive Director Klara Tammany who has led the Center since 2008 has announced her intention to retire.

The Center was founded in 1999 by the Roman Catholic religious order the Daughters of Wisdom, to offer women in downtown Lewiston a space to heal and thrive in community. In 2008 when the Sisters determined they were no longer able to maintain it, Tammany, convinced it was a deeply needed resource, quit her job at the time to keep its doors open and became the Center’s first Executive Director under its new secular status. 

In her eleven years as head of the organization, Tammany has spearheaded a range of programmatic growth, deepening the Center’s ability to pursue its mission of offering opportunities for women in community to heal, thrive and enrich each other’s lives. Realizing the impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) on virtually all of the Center’s guests, she facilitated the introduction of popular art therapy and other programs designed to address the needs of ACEs victims. In 2017, she led the organization in launching a new herbal-based social enterprise called Herban Works. At the same time, Tammany pursued the bold new project she named Sophia’s House, a residential community built for women healing from experiences of addiction, trafficking, and incarceration. In December of 2017 the Center was awarded a $500,000 Affordable Housing Grant for the Sophia’s House project. St. Mary’s Health Systems generously donated a former convent building at 143 Blake St., just two blocks from the drop-in center, as the site for the new residence. Well over a million dollars in finances was needed to renovate the aged building. Tammany set to work aided by a dedicated team of volunteers and a growing network of community partners. The successful fundraising campaign was completed by the end of 2018. Work on renovating began in February this year and the Sophia’s House opening ceremony is planned for December.

This is a benchmark moment for the organization, and the right time, Tammany feels, for new leadership to step in. She is committed to having the transition be a smooth one, with transparency of process and a chance for her to overlap for a few months with the new Executive Director once that person is hired. The Center for Wisdom’s Women Board has formed a search committee and will be initiating a nation-wide search process soon. In the meantime, the Center invites members of the community to reach out to Tammany to share thoughts and appreciation for her work.

She will leave behind a profound legacy of love and appreciation among the Center’s guests and volunteers. “I have never seen anyone more passionate for what a ‘hurting’ woman needs,” commented one guest. “She is willing to stop what she’s doing and truly listen when someone needs to be heard.”

Tammany will be recognized at the YWCA’s Women of Achievement Awards Brunch at the Hilton Garden Inn on November 17 where she will receive the Tonie Ramsey Service Award for “exceptional, long term commitment to improving communities and the lives of others through service.”

Happily for Lewiston, Tammany’s plans for retirement include being active in Lewiston’s downtown neighborhoods.  She hopes to launch an Urban Confessional “Free Listening” project in the city to create opportunities where people can share the thoughts of their hearts in a non-judgmental environment. “All it takes is a park bench and a sign,” says Tammany. And, of course, her exceptional, always-ready-to-listen presence.