Lynn Roberts, executive director of the Greater Maple Valley Community Center, has announced that she is retiring on March 31.

Roberts said when she turned 65 she decided it was time to step down.

“I had that golden birthday,” she said. “Most people don’t think it’s a retirement age anymore.”

Although she lives in Auburn Roberts says Maple Valley has become a second home for her.

“I spend way more hours here than I do in Auburn,” she said. “This has been my community for the last nine years. I can’t see myself not being a part of the group.”

Roberts first began her work in human services in the late 1980s although she said it has always been a part of her personality.

“I think everyone has that ‘aha! moment’ in their lives where they realize what their passion is,” she said. “For me, my passion at an early age was helping people.”

While she and her husband ran a CPA firm, Roberts was volunteering at the Washington Women’s Employment and Education (WWEE), a non-profit which helped low income women find livable wage jobs. She had also been a part of Soroptimists, an international organization for business women.

Finally, Roberts decided to get involved full time and became an employee there in 1990 and helped bring the program to King County.

“We had an extraordinary rate of employment,” she said.

She eventually became the King County program manager, a role in which she served until 1999, when she worked in community relations. In 2002, she was forced to step down due to her husband’s health problems. After his health improved, she stayed to serve on several boards, one of which was the South King Council of Human Services (SKCHS). It was there she met Lori Guilfoyle, a former executive director of the Greater Maple Valley Community Center, who knew that the position had just opened up.

“I was saying I got to start looking for a job,” Roberts said. “She (Guilfoyle) said ‘I’ve got the perfect job for you.’”

After applying, Roberts landed the job and started in March 2003.

Incidentally, Roberts said when she arrived at the Community Center there was a similar economic situation as there is now. The effects of the dot com crash, which occurred in 2000, was still affecting the center’s budget which relied on outside funding.

“The center was in dire financial strains,” she said.

On the other hand, the center was also much smaller. It had a budget of only $400,000 and two full time employees there, in addition to a handful of volunteers.

“There were lots of opportunities for new beginnings,” Roberts said. “But also to embrace what was good going in.”

Doing her first year, Roberts said, she focused on certain ways to help build the center’s support which she said was considered by the community as a “treasure.”

“There were no services here,” she said. “It was very rural and the long arm of Seattle didn’t reach here.”

One way she tried to bolster the center’s financial status was by restructuring the way grant proposals were sent out. Certain philanthropic organizations, such as the Seattle and Medina foundations, were emphasized due to the wide scope of their grants.

“When you’re writing grants, it’s good to know the organization fits the guidelines,” she said. “The challenge was we have so many diverse programs that you can’t write one grant.”

Other things the center did was develop a fundraising plan in order to circulate more awareness about the needs of South King County residents.

“This was an underfunded part of King County,” she said. “We needed to be that voice, that agitating voice that said there are people here who need help.”

Roberts credits the board of directors, as well as the staff, for much of the success.

“I can’t say enough about the staff,” she said. “We have an incredible staff here.”

Among the high water mark moments for Roberts as executive director include the completion of The Den, a building designed for youth, which was built in 2008 thanks to grants and funding from the city of Maple Valley.

“The city at the time was very receptive,” she said. “It has been a marvelous partner. We’re very lucky to have a city who cares so much about its residents.”

Although she says she hopes to become a spiritual councilor eventually, for the moment, she plans to enjoy her newfound free time.

“I have three perfect grandchildren who are going to see a lot more of me,” she said. “And a daughter and a husband, as well.”