Longtime social service coordinator’s retirement from NECAC is ‘bittersweet’

HANNIBAL, Mo. — Gwen Koch is calling it quits after 20 years with NECAC.

Koch was working in real estate and didn’t have a clue about NECAC when she heard of a job opening at the agency. She knew that it was a chance to make a difference in people’s lives.

“You know how sometimes you just feel a Godly nudge to do something, and you can’t quite explain it, but you know it’s the right thing to do even though you know nothing about it?” Koch said in a press release. “Well, it was like that, and here I am 20 years later.”

Koch calls it a “humbling and rewarding” job that “has made a difference in my life.”

“I’d say being a coordinator has allowed me to be in a position to impact peoples lives in more ways than just financially,” Koch said. “I’ve been able to interact with individuals and families on a personal level, sometimes just being the person that hears them. I’ve had the opportunity to be the one who can make a difference in their lives, which is an indescribable feeling.”

Koch joined NECAC in 2005 as Ralls County service coordinator. She was laid off in September 2011 after a delay in federal funding forced the agency to consolidate operations. Koch was brought back as Marion County intake assistant five months later and named Marion County service coordinator in September 2012.

Koch has helped with the Toys for Tots program, worked on initiatives such as the Project Community Connect homeless count and developed services such as a diaper distribution and Christmas stockings giveaways. She’s particularly proud of being a facilitator at poverty simulations conducted throughout NECAC’s 12 counties.

“It’s enlightening to hear how the experience impacts the participants,” Koch said. “That emotional experience left them with a greater understanding of the support struggling families need.

“It’s been an honor to actively represent this agency and its mission for 20 years. I truly appreciate the new leadership, which is supportive and positive in nature and values its employees. It is bittersweet to retire, and I will miss being a part of NECAC. “