Gainesville-based nonprofit Center Point has named its new executive director following the departure of former executive director Mark Mobley in 2021.
A press release from Center Point states Barbara Hicks Fleming, 56, will lead the 55-year-old nonprofit. Fleming has served as the organization's interim director since Mobley's departure. This makes Fleming the ninth executive director in the nonprofit's history, following Mobley and longtime director David Smith, who served from 1992 to 2019.
Prior to serving as interim executive director, Fleming served as Center Point's director of program development. She also served as executive director of Teen Pregnancy Prevention, Inc., an organization that merged with Center Point in 2016.
“I look forward to carrying on the legacy that my dear friend David Smith established so many years ago to serve our community’s youth,” Fleming said. “Young people and their families need our steadfast help and support now more than ever during this exhausting pandemic.”
Center Point helps youth and families with mental health and teen pregnancy counseling, drug prevention services, mentoring and religious education classes.
The nonprofit was founded in 1967 by four area churches with the aim of broadening religion education for youth. The agency supports the Gainesville City and Hall County school systems and also operates as an AdvancED-accredited academic program. Center Point's original mission has evolved with the hiring of a team of educators, clinical psychologists, therapists and social workers.
Center Point works with over 10,000 youth and families in the community each year through its various support services and programs.
