BRUNSWICK — Tedford Housing’s Board of Directors has started its search for a new, permanent executive director for the 25-year-old nonprofit that provides people with shelter and supportive housing.

Joel Merry, Sagadahoc County Sheriff and chairman of the organization’s board, said they will look to have a new director by this fall.

That search, Merry told The Times Record in an email, will aim to find a candidate “with and understanding of the issues related to homelessness, from the root causes to the best practices in moving people, or transitioning folks into affordable housing where they can become self-sufficient” and who can deal with navigating the nonprofit in a tough economy.

Late last year, Don Knisely, who was executive director of Tedford for nearly a decade, moved on to the top spot at Thornton Oaks Retirement Community.

Craig Phillips, the former director of the Common Ties mental health program in Lewiston, currently manages Tedford as the interim executive director.

As Knisely departed his position at Tedford, he told The Times Record, “It’s a very challenging time for a lot of nonprofits,” and that the organization had lost two major sources of public funding — $35,000 from the U.S. Department of Urban Development and $60,000 a year in stimulus funding.

Tedford operates an adult and family shelter in Brunswick as well as two supportive housing programs in Lewiston-Auburn and in Augusta.

For more information about Tedford Housing and the position, contact Phillips at 729-1161, extension 102, or by email at [email protected].

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