Robyn Dobyns has been the face of the Botetourt Resource Center since it was established in 2000 to assist county residents find help for a variety of challenges.
That will change effective July 1 when Dobyns retires.
Melissa Lucas has been hired by the center’s board of directors to take over as president and CEO.
Botetourt Resource Center Inc. has been Dobyns’ focus since she was hired when the center first opened at Buchanan Resource Center. In 2004, the name was changed to the Botetourt Resource Center (BRC) to accurately reflect the mission of providing advocacy, information and referral to needed resources for all Botetourt residents, Dobyns explained.
BRC has been housed in the old Buchanan Library since it was started— thanks to help from the Town of Buchanan.
It’s there Dobyns has built a program that has assisted thousands of county residents— most of them senior citizens with limited resources— maneuver through bureaucracies so they could get the assistance they needed to meet what are often just everyday needs.
In 1999, the Council of Community Services (CCS), viewed as a “neutral” organization, was approached by Blue Ridge Independent Living Center, the LOA (Local Office on Aging) and Total Action Against Poverty to facilitate the development of a resource center to meet the needs of residents in northern Botetourt County since many could not travel to Fincastle or Roanoke for services, Dobyns explained.
In 2000 the CCS was awarded a venture grant through United Way of Roanoke Valley to establish the Buchanan Resource Center (BRC) under their umbrella as a 501c3 agency program. That year a director and only staff, Robyn Dobyns, was hired to create the BRC.
During the past 18 years the BRC has housed programs and services of Blue Ridge Behavioral Healthcare, Family Service of the Roanoke Valley, the American Red Cross, Girl Scouts of America, LOA/Local Office on Aging, and Botetourt Parks and Recreation in addition to connecting residents to a multitude of resource partners in the Roanoke Valley.
During those 18 years, Dobyns said the BRC has operated with the support of the Town of Buchanan, churches, civic organizations, Botetourt County, The Fincastle Herald, businesses, non-profit agencies, and individuals and has been a valuable hub which has connected over 20,000 calls for assistance to needed resources as well as providing programs to help families and older adults.
Often, Dobyns reaches out to the community to find help for families and seniors who may need a refrigerator, a stove, help fixing a porch or a roof when there’s not help available otherwise.
Most often, though, she connected people to the resources that are available.
During her tenure, BRC was recognized as a National “Faith in Action” program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The BRC was s six-year recipient of the Foundation for Roanoke Valley Senior Belonging Initiative Grant and continues to receive FRV grants for the center’s Senior Programs.
Under Dobyns’ guidance, on September 23, 2014, the Botetourt Resource Center Inc. became a stand-alone 501c3 agency with its own local board of directors.
For Dobyns, who reluctantly notes she’s reached retirement age, it’s a bittersweet end to her career, although she’ll still be around to offer guidance and other help.
