BRATTLEBORO — Youth Services Board President Rachel Selsky smiled at the crowd gathered in front of the kitchen bar of Duo Restaurant.
“It's a testament” to Vickie Case's work in Brattleboro, the number of people, from all aspects of the community who came here on a Wednesday night, she said.
“Brattleboro is so lucky to have Vickie on our side,” Selsky said.
Youth Services inducted former board member Vickie Case, into the organization's Hall of Fame in an intimate ceremony on Dec. 4.
Case joked that she'd never received such a nice reception, pointing to the VIP badge on her name tag.
“I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for showing up,” she said. “I'm humbled, I'm so humbled.”
Case served on the Youth Services board for 15 years. She stepped down last year.
With a smile, Case said she joined the board without knowing how to be an effective board member or fully understanding Youth Services' work.
Former board member Liz Richards invited her, “and you don't say no to Liz,” Case said.
But what started as a “don't say no,” quickly turned into a venue for passionate advocacy.
“They have saved so many families and done so much in the community,” she said. “And I'm so proud to have been associated with them, and I will always be associated with them.”
For Case, the experience serving on the board of directors went beyond showing up to meetings. It also became about developing herself as a board member in service to a human-services organization.
“This is a serious board,” Case said. “This is a board that teaches you how to be on a board and what boards are supposed to do.”
She continued, “And I listened and I learned, and it took me a couple of years to do it, but I worked with some of the most amazing people.”
“It is by far, one of the most amazing boards I have ever been involved with,” she said.
Case said the board taught her how to raise funds and how to talk to people about donating by simply sharing the narrative of Youth Services and the role it plays in the lives of young people and in the fabric of the community.
Youth Services Executive Director Russell Bradbury-Carlin thanked Case for her commitment and support.
“Vickie is a magnet,” he said. “And she's a magnet for people and for people's interests. And I think this is what makes her such a great asset in the community, because you take your magnetization and you connect people, you connect resources, and you bring all these people together.”
Bradbury-Carlin said that, as an executive director, he appreciates board members who are “out in the community and thinking about your agency while they're doing other things.”
“Out of all the board members I've ever worked with, out of all the agencies, Vickie is at the forefront of doing that,” he said.
That's why the organization has dubbed her “the Envoy Extraordinaire,” he said.
Joining the Hall of Fame
Case is the fourth inductee to the Youth Services' Hall of Fame.
Nanci Leitch, the nonprofit's director of communications and development, explained that the honor is open to anyone in the community, not only former board members.
“Usually [the inductee] is someone who has devoted many years of service to our work,” she said. “So far, it has been three board members and a court diversion volunteer.”
Along with Case, the Hall of Fame includes the late Ben Underhill, a former board member who was honored with the MVP Award; former board member Liz Richards, who was recognized with the Community Ambassador Award; and court diversion volunteer Marilyn Buhlmann, was also inducted as the Restorative Justice Advocate.
Case, who also served on the committee that hired Bradbury-Carlin, said it was a hard decision for her to step down from the board.
“I miss the people,” she said.
Case, part of the team that launched the annual BrattRock youth music festival in 2015, said helping with events represented the most fun for her as a board member.
She also enjoyed persuading her friends to help with the organization's annual appeal.
“Youth Services is an amazing and outstanding organization, and I was very proud to represent them,” Case said.
While she left the board last year, Case still serves on the organization's marketing committee.
“I'm so happy to help because their mission is unbelievable, and I hope you all support them,” she said.