Popular Yachats pre-school program lands experienced educator as its new executive director

 

By  CHERYL ROMANO/YachatsNews

YACHATS — It didn’t take long for the leaders of the area’s only public children’s center to name a local woman to lead the Yachats Youth and Family Activities Program.

After advertising the position in August, the YYFAP board welcomed Kristi Anderson to the program in September.

“She stood out by far” among the candidates for the job, including some from out of state, said board president Will Williams. “The search was much easier than I thought it would be.”

“It feels like home already,” Anderson said. “I believe 100 percent that this is where I’m supposed to be.”

Patricia Hettinger, a longtime teacher who had been YYFAP’s executive director since 2021, is moving to a farm outside Coos Bay with her family. She will continue as an adviser for a few more months, easing the transition for the new director and the organization.

Williams said Hettinger “is really stepping up to the plate” to aid in what he called a “knowledge transfer” to the new leader.

“We think she (Anderson) is a very good fit,” he said. “We’re quite surprised we had someone so close, and with her background. She pretty much fit every criterion we were looking for.”

Anderson, who lives “a couple of blocks away” from YYFAP’s quarters in the Commons, has over 25 years’ experience in nonprofit administration.

She and her husband, Chad, a coach and real estate agent, moved from Spokane to Waldport in 2018 and then to Yachats two years later. In Spokane they founded and ran a communications school for the hard-of-hearing and non-verbal. They have two daughters, ages 19 and 11, and a son age 13.

Anderson holds a degree in social work from Washington State University. She  received her teaching license from the University of West Florida. She is also a licensed K-12^th grade educator.

She worked as a health advocate in Waldport schools, doing social work with the homeless community. She also taught fourth and fifth grades at Crestview Heights School.

Anderson said she grew up vacationing at the coast — a place also marked by tragedy in 2016.

Her father, Michael Carosella, 69, of Spokane, went missing in the ocean while kayaking between Heceta Head and Waldport on Aug. 4, 2016. Multiple agencies searched for Carosella, whose kayak eventually washed ashore on the Alsea Bay inlet.

“They never found his body,” Anderson said, “but the outpouring of support and love we received from people here was overwhelming.”

“Build upon the foundation”

“This place is very special,” Anderson says of YYFAP, which offers free preschool care and education for low-income families. The decades-old nonprofit also provides paid slots for those at higher income levels, along with after-school programs and summer camps for children ages three through 12 from throughout south Lincoln County.

“To be able to serve the families is a gift,” said Anderson.

Anderson said she wants to “build upon the foundation already in place through the hard work of Patricia (Hettinger), the board and staff. They’ve really laid the groundwork, and I want to keep that going strong.”

YYFAP began over 30 years ago as “a way for homeschooled kids to develop social skills,” said Williams. It became a non-profit pre-school program in 2000.

The nonprofit is also an Oregon Pre-School Promise grantee that offers free pre-school education for low-income families. The state grant brings in over $400,000 for two years, renewable bi-annually. More income comes from paid enrollments for pre- and after-school programs, in addition to some funding from the city.

• Cheryl Romano is a Yachats freelance reporter who contributes regularly to YachatsNews.com. She can be reached at Wordsell@gmail.com