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Publications
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Dia DuVernet, 622-7017, ext. 135
EDWARD J. WELP AWARDED THE EXCELLENCE IN NONPROFIT
LEADERSHIP PRIZE
NORFOLK, Va. – (February 2008) – The Excellence in Nonprofit
Leadership Prize will be presented to Edward J. Welp, president &
CEO of The Up Center, at the 7th Annual Hampton Roads Institute for
Nonprofit Leadership Conference on February 27. The award was
established by the Ted Clarkson Fund of the Virginia Beach
Foundation to recognize outstanding nonprofit chief executives.
Nominations are evaluated and the award recipient is selected based
on criteria such as fiscal management, information and
communication, organizational development, board development,
personnel and volunteer development, resource development, risk
management, technology, diversity and evaluation. Welp will receive
$1,000 for professional development and $1,000 will be presented to
The Up Center.
Welp has been with The Up Center, formerly Child & Family Services
of Eastern Virginia, for 17 years. His leadership has made the
agency the “go to” agency when community needs arise. As a result of
the recent closure of Big Brothers Big Sisters of South Hampton
Roads, The Up Center was approached by United Way to fill the need.
Welp and the leadership team responded immediately, and within two
weeks a program manager was in place along with a staffing plan and
a process for offering continuity of service through a new program,
Team Up.
Other new initiatives include a new foster home program for adults
with intellectual disabilities and a new mental health facility in
Suffolk.
In 2004, Welp saw an opportunity to merge Family Services of
Tidewater and Child and Family Services. He believed a merger would
create a larger regional organization with greater economies of
scale and better capacity to grow and thrive. The two organizations
successfully merged to become Child & Family Services of Eastern
Virginia. At the time of the merger, the combined budget of the two
organizations was $4 million. In the past three years, the budget
has more than doubled to a projected 2008 budget of $9.5 million.
Welp’s leadership has been instrumental in helping the organization
grow exponentially from a $300,000 annual budget when he started in
1990. The organization currently employs 195 full and part-time
employees.
In 2008, The Up Center celebrates 125 years of service in Hampton
Roads. The name of the agency was changed in January to position it
for the future.
The Up Center is a nonprofit social service agency that provides
uniquely personal services to more than 10,000 children, families
and individuals each year. Services range from adoption to financial
counseling, foster care, health and wellness programs, housing
counseling, services for people with disabilities, violence
prevention and much more. The agency was established in 1883 and
currently has locations in Norfolk, Franklin, Portsmouth and
Suffolk. For more information, call 622-7017 ext. 135.
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