As Karen Foley prepares to transition into her new role as head of HOTEL INC, she is looking to continue the work of the organization.

“I believe that relationships are so key to everything,” she said. “There’s a lot of things that I just need to learn and know more about, and so I’m going to spend quite a bit of time doing that to start.”

Foley has spent the past 29 years with the City of Bowling Green, much of which as Neighborhood Services Coordinator in the Neighborhood and Community Services department.

She is set to assume the new position on Jan. 1, filling a space left by outgoing head Rhondell Miller who stepped down this fall citing health concerns. HOTEL INC is a local nonprofit that provides services to underprivileged individuals, namely those experiencing homelessness.

“I really do care so much about this organization, the work that they’ve been doing, and I know I am joining in a legacy that way precedes me,” Foley said. “I just want to approach it with a sense of humility and learning.”

Leveraging relationships and experiences from the city are another focus for Foley, something she said is the “key part” of her entry into the job.

She pointed to different experiences she had working in the city, like the COVID-19 pandemic and the Dec. 11, 2021, tornadoes.

“I feel like this is a really very special place, this community,” Foley said. “I think we have a spirit of collaboration here … I feel like, before the storm hit under blue skies, we were intentional about building relationships with each other when it wasn’t a life and death situation.”

Foley said in entering this new role she is not looking to be a “disrupter,” although there are some things she would like to take a look at with the organization.

One is the LifeNav Collaborative Center, an entity located at the Salvation Army that houses services from multiple nonprofits – including HOTEL INC – under one roof.

Foley said she is interested in figuring out how her organization is “maximizing” that space.

“That’s one thing that I think is really important,” she said. “I want to have a good handle on, and knowing how are we as partners in that.”

Implementing what she calls “peer networks” is another focus.

“I really like that, and I like having that,” she said. “I feel like that makes me better (at) doing what I’m best suited for.”

To this end she said several individuals have reached out to her already asking to meet after the new year.

There are some challenges on the horizon, one of which is how best to fulfill the needs of those who come to HOTEL INC.

“It’s a very complex issue – it’s dealing with people and all the things that have brought them to that situation,” she said.

For this problem, Foley said, there’s no “one size fits all” solution. However, she sees the variety in solutions being a positive, since the folks that HOTEL INC serves “are all different.”

She said “preserving an individual’s dignity” can be a challenge in itself as well.

“It can be, especially because it’s so easy for us to judge,” she said.

Throughout her career, Foley said there is one thing she has seen happen time after time.

“I do not believe that humans are meant to walk any of this walk alone … whether that is a community challenge or something that’s happening in a family,” she said. “I believe that humans are designed to go together and work together, and I’ve seen that play out over and over and over again.”

Rebecca Troxell, HOTEL INC’s director of operations, believes working with Foley is “going to be amazing.”

“Her work with the city in community engagement (and) neighborhood engagement is going to be really instrumental in helping us move forward,” Troxell said.