AUBURN - Elizabeth Werner, the new executive director of Unity House of Cayuga County, has dedicated much of her life to serving others. In her newest role, she plans to keep striving to do just that.
Jill Connor / The Citizen
The new executive director of Unity House, Elizabeth Werner, stands by a poster in her offices on Wright Avenue. The poster tells the history of Unity House that ends with her appointment on April 6, 2009.
The new executive director of Unity House, Elizabeth Werner, stands by a poster in her offices on Wright Avenue. The poster tells the history of Unity House that ends with her appointment on April 6, 2009.
Werner assumed her new post in April after serving as deputy executive director since 1994.
“I loved being deputy executive director,” Werner said. “I had a really tough decision to make. I loved being the deputy and being able to be very hands-on and involved. I worked very closely with the former executive director, Joyce Williams. But when she announced that she was resigning, I had to make a decision and I decided to apply for the position and went through the whole interview process. I loved what I was doing, but I was also looking for a new challenge.”
Werner, originally a native of Long Island, moved upstate to attend Keuka College, where she earned her bachelor's degree.
After graduation, getting married and starting a family, Werner said her family was looking for a good community to move to - and she discovered Auburn.
“We were a young couple looking for a good, affordable community to move to,” Werner said. “We've been here ever since. This is a wonderful place to live and raise a family.”
After moving to Auburn, Werner said that she wanted to find a job that would allow her the opportunity to work with and have a direct impact on the lives of people in her community.
“I always liked working with people,” Werner said. “I knew that I wanted to do something that would help people, especially people in the community I now was living in.”
This led her to the Seneca/Cayuga ARC, where she worked for more than four years in the organization's day treatment program.
Werner said that she really enjoyed her work at the ARC, but when she saw the opportunity to take a position at Unity House she was eager to apply.
“I saw an ad in the paper for a case manager,” Werner said. “At the time, I was at the ARC and I was looking for a new challenge and to grow myself. I thought this was the perfect opportunity to do a different kind of job.”
This would prove to be a definitive move in Werner's career.
After serving as a case manager, Werner worked her way up through various positions at Unity House.
Werner would go on to serve as a quality assurance specialist from 1996 to 1999.
“I really enjoyed that,” Werner said. “That position in a lot of ways helped prepare me for an executive position. It involved assuring that clients were receiving services and that we were meeting regulations and working with the program service directors to meet these goals and make sure services were getting to the people who need them.”
After this, Werner went on to serve as deputy executive director.
To help better meet the needs Werner saw during her time as a quality assurance specialist, she worked on the installation of a computer based program called Awards.
This program allows for better tracking and record-keeping of services and clients to help the agency not only keep good track of these items, but also to help with making reports to Medicaid - which helps support a great deal of Unity House's programming - a much more efficient process.
Werner said that this effort was one of the greatest accomplishments of her time as deputy executive director.
“You have to make sure your ‘Ts' are crossed and your ‘Is' are dotted,” Werner said.
“And this helped with that. It has really been one of my biggest accomplishments at the agency.”
Werner would serve under Williams for 12 years, learning a great deal about what it would take for her to one day step into the role of executive director.
“There is a lot of responsibility,” Werner said. “It is really enormous.”
But it is just the latest in a series of challenges that Werner is ready to face.
“I really believe in what we do here,” Werner said. “I think that what we do, we do really well and I am very proud of that.”
Looking towards the future, Werner will be striving to keep Unity House at the forefront of the human services field.
“It is changing,” Werner said. “I think things are going to change in the way we do things in the next five to 10 years. I think we are going to be doing a lot more in home services. But whatever the changes are, I want us to be on the cutting edge of those changes and to make sure that we are providing the best services we possibly can and that we are always looking for ways to improve and do that better.”
“I loved being deputy executive director,” Werner said. “I had a really tough decision to make. I loved being the deputy and being able to be very hands-on and involved. I worked very closely with the former executive director, Joyce Williams. But when she announced that she was resigning, I had to make a decision and I decided to apply for the position and went through the whole interview process. I loved what I was doing, but I was also looking for a new challenge.”
Werner, originally a native of Long Island, moved upstate to attend Keuka College, where she earned her bachelor's degree.
After graduation, getting married and starting a family, Werner said her family was looking for a good community to move to - and she discovered Auburn.
“We were a young couple looking for a good, affordable community to move to,” Werner said. “We've been here ever since. This is a wonderful place to live and raise a family.”
After moving to Auburn, Werner said that she wanted to find a job that would allow her the opportunity to work with and have a direct impact on the lives of people in her community.
“I always liked working with people,” Werner said. “I knew that I wanted to do something that would help people, especially people in the community I now was living in.”
This led her to the Seneca/Cayuga ARC, where she worked for more than four years in the organization's day treatment program.
Werner said that she really enjoyed her work at the ARC, but when she saw the opportunity to take a position at Unity House she was eager to apply.
“I saw an ad in the paper for a case manager,” Werner said. “At the time, I was at the ARC and I was looking for a new challenge and to grow myself. I thought this was the perfect opportunity to do a different kind of job.”
This would prove to be a definitive move in Werner's career.
After serving as a case manager, Werner worked her way up through various positions at Unity House.
Werner would go on to serve as a quality assurance specialist from 1996 to 1999.
“I really enjoyed that,” Werner said. “That position in a lot of ways helped prepare me for an executive position. It involved assuring that clients were receiving services and that we were meeting regulations and working with the program service directors to meet these goals and make sure services were getting to the people who need them.”
After this, Werner went on to serve as deputy executive director.
To help better meet the needs Werner saw during her time as a quality assurance specialist, she worked on the installation of a computer based program called Awards.
This program allows for better tracking and record-keeping of services and clients to help the agency not only keep good track of these items, but also to help with making reports to Medicaid - which helps support a great deal of Unity House's programming - a much more efficient process.
Werner said that this effort was one of the greatest accomplishments of her time as deputy executive director.
“You have to make sure your ‘Ts' are crossed and your ‘Is' are dotted,” Werner said.
“And this helped with that. It has really been one of my biggest accomplishments at the agency.”
Werner would serve under Williams for 12 years, learning a great deal about what it would take for her to one day step into the role of executive director.
“There is a lot of responsibility,” Werner said. “It is really enormous.”
But it is just the latest in a series of challenges that Werner is ready to face.
“I really believe in what we do here,” Werner said. “I think that what we do, we do really well and I am very proud of that.”
Looking towards the future, Werner will be striving to keep Unity House at the forefront of the human services field.
“It is changing,” Werner said. “I think things are going to change in the way we do things in the next five to 10 years. I think we are going to be doing a lot more in home services. But whatever the changes are, I want us to be on the cutting edge of those changes and to make sure that we are providing the best services we possibly can and that we are always looking for ways to improve and do that better.”
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