Lina Lehecka received the best Christmas present she could have received—nearly a month early.
Lehecka, long time office manager at the Los Alamitos Youth Center, had wanted the executive director position for the five years she has been with the organization.
When Executive Director Tom Stretz announced his retirement at the end of the year, Lehecka went through the interview process along with several dozen candidates.
She got the call last week that all her hard work with the organization had been worth it, she would be the next executive director.
She says the hard work, which she says she wouldn’t have traded for anything, was worth it.
“I wanted this so bad and worked so hard since day one,” Lehecka said. “This hasn’t been just a job for me, but a passion.”
Lehecka said that after floating around at other jobs for her first two years in this country, she had found her niche within six months at the Youth Center, an organization that provides programs for youth and helps them grow.
The Youth Center helped Lehecka grow as well.
“Tom has taught me a lot,” Lehecka said. “He never micro managed me. He told me if I had an idea to run with it. If it worked, great. If it didn’t, it was treated as a learning experience. That gave me a lot of confidence and forced me to work on ideas and focus on what needed to be done.”
While working on projects, Lehecka said she asked a bunch of questions and found out a lot of information about the center and the community at large. Over time, she has grown to enjoy the kids that frequent the center and take part in the many programs.
“The kids here have been really good and very supportive of me,” Lehecka said. “When they found out I got the position, a lot of them were screaming for joy.”
Despite being with the organization for five years, Lehecka contends she still has things to learn, as would anyone coming into the position.
“Who wouldn’t (have something to learn)?” Lehecka asked. “I have always surrounded myself with good people and will continue to do so.”
In her new position, Lehecka does have some ideas on how to make things bigger and better for the organization. She says perseverance is one of her strong points and having worked there for five years, she has a firm understanding of what the job entails.
During her time at the Youth Center, she has been on point for a number of projects including the Every 15 Minutes program, which demonstrates the importance of staying away from drugs and alcohol to high school students.
While keeping everything that makes the Youth Center well known in the community, Lehecka is planning on going out for some grants to help fund the purchase of some laptop computers for their well used computer lab.
Many of the students that frequent the Youth Center do so for the homework help the organization provides. The five computers in the lab receive an extraordinary amount of use, Lehecka said.
Lehecka also sees a need to get the Youth Center more known in the community.
She plans on working harder with local schools to let people know what the Youth Center is all about.
“We have a good relationship with the local schools but we want to work harder to help make this the place to be,” Lehecka said.
Lehecka also wants to increase the number of board members for a more diversified group. Having the ability to work with a CPA would possibly help the Youth Center become more financially viable.
No child is ever turned away for inability to pay, a fact that Lehecka holds close to her heart. Kids at the Youth Center are treated as young adults with many of them coming back to volunteer upon graduation.
Improving the organization’s position in the community by speaking to civic groups is also on Lehecka’s to do list. Despite all the information on the Youth Center, many people in the community don’t know the organization exists.
“We have 221 kids registered at the Youth Center,” Lehecka said. “Half of them come from outside the Los Alamitos/Rossmoor area. We have kids coming here from Cypress, Long Beach all over but we can always improve our standing.”
Because of the number of children from outside the immediate area, expanding the Christmas Tree Lot into a second location is being considered, Lehecka said.
“I just want to be a good ambassador for the Youth Center,” Lehecka said.
