The Board of Directors for the SouthWest Kansas Area Agency on Aging (SWKAAA) and the Ford County Housing Authority has accepted the resignation of Rick Schaffer, executive director, effective Jan. 3, 2023, to begin his retirement.

A SWKAAA employee since 2008 and the executive director since July 2018, Schaffer has seen growth and development within the agency despite challenges.

“Perseverance by all the Board of Directors, Advisory Council and staff has been the reason for this growth to occur,” he said. “Game changers with a thing called COVID-19 changed the entire way we did business with housing inspections, CARE Assessments ADRC business and statewide meetings. Only a resilient staff like ours and Board of Director support who held together and learned together, willed us to survive.

“Our goal was to put life into the years of those we encountered in our programs, whether it be the OKEP Program, Aging Services or the HUD Program and make them our number one priority. We made that happen more times than not.”

Schaffer has no immediate retirement plans but does want to say active in his community and continue to be an advocate for the aging population and persons with disabilities.