BRUNSWICK

It has only been about a month since Laura Larson assumed her role as executive director of Family Focus, following Robert Parlin’s recent retirement, but she said the transition has kept her busy.

“The new part for me was making that transition from working with children to sitting behind a desk and pushing numbers,” she said on Tuesday afternoon.

Larson, who has been with the local nonprofit for 10 years, was the director of children services when she briefly stepped into the executive role after Parlin experienced some health issues this spring. She didn’t expect the transition to be permanent until Parlin retired in June.

“(Bob) is the most amazing man with a humongous heart for children — (he) just loves this,” she added.

Larson said Family Focus is currently in the process of making some changes, including selling the organization’s Davenport Circle building in Bath this fall, which has been on the market for about two years.

Not only has enrollment declined in Bath, but Larson added that building size was also a major issue.

“The building is just too big for us. It’s four levels, and we only take up one third of the whole building,” she said.

Merrymeeting Center for Child Development shared the building with Family Focus until it relocated to Brunswick Landing in 2013. Since then, Family Focus has attempted to sell the building due to financial challenges related to building maintenance and expenses.

As far as how the relocation will affect Bath area children, she said Family Focus is working with families to help them make that transition.

“We will lose some from Bath, but most of them are making that choice for what best fits their family, which is the right reason to make that choice,” she said.

According to Larson, Family Focus received the building at Brunswick Landing as a conveyance from the Navy, which has helped the organization expand and consolidate out of the Bath building.

She added that the facilities at the Landing are much more financially sustainable due to size and set up, although a significant amount of work went into the building before it opened in September of last year.

The organization hopes to merge classrooms from Bath to the Landing by this fall, with the addition of a fifth classroom. The new facility is expected to serve about 62 infants, toddlers and preschoolers, while the organization’s other Water Street location in Brunswick will serve 48 to 50 children.

Larson added that Family Focus’s partnership with the RSU 1 and their contribution to the CHOICES program — Children Having Opportunities In Collaborative Early Settings — for pre- K children will continue in Bath. The program will expand to five days a week this year, with 15 hours of service per week.

Regarding future goals for Family Focus, Larson said she and the board are working to ensure that the current changes support the organization’s mission statement — providing high quality care and education to children.

Gaining financial stability, hiring quality teachers and increasing enrollment are all short-term goals that Larson hopes to “(redo) and (revamp) … to make sure it fits the mission statement.”

She said another aspect of Family Focus’s vision is to collaborate with Seeds of Independence, Midcoast Hunger Prevention and other organizations to better support local families and children in need.

“I see that as being some of the next steps that I think quality care is going to get to, which is supporting more than just the education, but the family as a whole,” she said.

dkim@timesrecord.com