Rescue Mission executive director announces retirement

James G. Echement announced his decision Monday

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

James G. Echement, executive director of the Rescue Mission of Mahoning Valley, will retire after five years leading the organization, the mission announced Monday.

Echement began working at the organization in 2003 as a learning center instructor, according to a news release. He later became development director and was named executive director in March 2012.

Echement has been at the helm of the “Move the Mission” campaign, an effort to relocate the facility on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard on the North Side to a site on the city’s South Side. The mission had raised approximately $7 million in pledges for the $10 million project as of a May ground-blessing ceremony that took place at the site at East Delason Avenue and Erie Street.

The 50,000-square-foot facility on which Mission officials hope to soon break ground will allow the organization to better accommodate the people it serves, a number that has increased over the last decade or so.

John Muckridge III, Rescue Mission deputy director, will take over the top job effective immediately.

“John has been groomed by Jim Echement for the role of CEO for the past three years so the transition will be very smooth,” said Marisa Volpini, Rescue Mission board president, in a statement. “Based on John’s commitment to serving Jesus and knowledge of the ministry, we are confident that he is the man called to this role.”

The announcement thanked Echement and his family “for the love and dedication they have given to the Rescue Mission of the Mahoning Valley over the past 14 years.”