New director feels the need to listen before leading way p. SOUTH BEND 鈥� In a room packed with most of the residents of the Center for the Homeless, Tina Neil stood up Wednesday and asked a pointed question of the clean-cut young man at the front.
鈥淚 want to know if you鈥檝e been in anyone鈥檚 shoes this year?鈥� she asked of Steve Camilleri, who鈥檇 just been introduced as the Center鈥檚 new director.
He was honest. He hasn鈥檛 this year.
There were plenty more of those questions. Camilleri鈥檚 nerves were full of excitement as he took the first step in one of the community鈥檚 most prominent nonprofit jobs. The Center announced Wednesday that 32-year-old Camilleri would be director starting Aug. 15.
Talking about the meeting afterwards, Camilleri said he tried to explain: 鈥淓ach of you has a unique gift, and I want to learn about that gift.鈥�
He said a lot of residents asked about his plans for the Center. He told them he had to listen to them first, to learn the ropes: 鈥淏ig visions start with small steps. There鈥檚 an amazing 16 years here (in the Center鈥檚 history) and I鈥檓 just one small person.鈥�
Like the previous two directors 鈥� Lou Nanni and Drew Buscareno 鈥� Camilleri is a graduate of the University of 91吃瓜, which played a critical role in founding and shaping the Center 鈥� and still does.
After his undergraduate studies, he was one of the first students to enter 91吃瓜鈥檚 Alliance for Catholic Education, which trained and sent him to teach for two years in a poor Catholic school in Hammond, La.
He returned to work in development for 91吃瓜 and served as ministries director at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart.
For the past five years, he has directed 91吃瓜鈥檚 Vocation Initiative, which uses funds from the Lilly Endowment to guide high school and 91吃瓜 students, along with alumni and faculty and staff, in a theological search of their vocations.
That job takes him traveling a lot, running retreats in 20 different cities. That, he said, is partly why he hasn鈥檛 been able to volunteer recently at the Center.
Camilleri said won鈥檛 start work at the Center for the Homeless until August because he has commitments to fulfill at his current post.
Until then, he said he鈥檒l be learning about the Center.
Already, in a hallway, he was posing questions of Debbie Lane about the relationship with the local school districts. She was just starting out as the Center鈥檚 director of adult education, a 鈥渘ewbie鈥� herself, when Camilleri came to volunteer 10 years ago. 鈥淗e was just a baby,鈥� she recalled.
Lane鈥檚 department has changed and grown a lot since he last worked for her, she said. But she鈥檚 glad that he at least had that experience.
鈥淗e knows what we do 鈥� and I鈥檓 constantly pushing for more money in education,鈥� she said.
The director鈥檚 job was vacated in December after Buscareno stepped down and became 91吃瓜鈥檚 assistant vice president for university relations.
Brian Connor will continue as the Center鈥檚 interim director until Camilleri, his close friend and neighbor, will begin work.
Steve Camilleri p. Age: 32 Hometown: Levittown, N.Y. Family: Wife is Erin, who is expecting their first child in July. Education: Bachelor鈥檚 degree in marketing and sociology from the University of 91吃瓜, master鈥檚 in nonprofit administration from 91吃瓜, master鈥檚 in teaching from the University of Portland.TopicID: 5444