The trustees of Episcopal Community Services Foundation announce that Executive Director Ariel Miller has asked to retire by the end of 2013. When the board finds the right next person, she hopes to transmit lore and pass the baton as soon as everyone feels ready.

An Ohio non-profit founded by Bishop Thompson and diocesan convention in 1991, ECSF's mission is "to serve God and neighbor in Southern Ohio by raising funds, awarding grants, and sharing what works to alleviate poverty and eliminate injustice."

"My specialty is finding ways to launch new work, especially for small non-profits with tiny budgets," said Miller. "When I took on this role, the decade of start-up funding from the diocesan operating budget and Procter Fund were quite appropriately coming to an end. My role was to help ECSF find a way to continue to make grants.

"Now, thanks to a steadily growing group of donors, ECSF has matured into the diocese's primary provider of grants and free consultation to help Episcopalians to respond effectively to poverty in Southern Ohio," said Miller.

"This is a perfect time to find a new staff person with skills to sustain this capacity and take it to a new level. I am ready for a new adventure and more time to spend with my husband and our two little granddaughters who live in Brooklyn."

Through Miller's leadership, ECSF has increased its grants budget from $52,400 in 2004 (with $20,000 from the Procter Fund) to $172,050 this year, all from donations. Fifty people donated to ECSF in 2003, but ECSF is now blessed by well over 1,000 different people who have contributed over the last five years. Thanks to these donors, ECSF made 50 grants this year. This year's grants are listed on ECSF's website at www.ECSFsouthernohio.org 

"This September, ECSF received 58 grant requests totaling $262,444, nearly $100,000 more than its 2012 grants budget," said the Rev. Fred McGavran, ECSF's board president. "The trustees are delighted that Ariel will work with them through 2013 to meet this challenge. Her services have been invaluable and a wonderful witness to Christ's love in our midst."