Debbie Atterberry, a 64-year old woman and president of Resource has chosen to step down from the agency that currently overlooks the small program that she created as a way of helping thousands of individuals find the employment they have been actively seeking for quite some time. Atterberry has chosen to leave her position as president of Resource, which is located in the southern area of Minneapolis. She will officially leave her position as president by the end of October after having spent 35 years working with and for the agency. Back in 1977, Atterberry was first hired by Resource and was responsible for being the leader of a small program. At the time, the program was referred to as MRC-CETA and it provided employment services to people living in and around the area.

In nearly three decades, Atterberry ended up broadening the scope of this tiny program, making it much larger than it originally was. The Employment Action Center is now helping hundreds and thousands of people in areas all around the Twin Cities. Some of the individuals who are receiving assistance from the center include veterans, recently laid-off workers, youth, and teen moms and dads, all of whom share one thing in common, their want and need for a new job.

Atterberry has decided that she is not going to retire but does plant to do some contract work instead so that she can focus on her specific field of interest while also spending some time volunteering and helping children so that they can learn how to read. Atterberry said, “I have loved my work.” She also said, “I grew up in a very low-income family and because of that I worked my way through school.” Back in those days, she was working as an assembly worker in a factory and even spent time working as a waitress and hospital clerk. She is the type of person who definitely understands the struggles that other people face when they are trying to find employment.

She said, “I had knowledge of the work world, and I wanted to make sure people had opportunities.” Atterberry’s contributions have not gone unnoticed and she has even been recognized by the Jobs Now Coalition. Back in 2001, the Jobs Now Coalition gave her a community service award. She has received numerous other awards since then as well. The County Commissioner of Hennepin, Gail Dorfman, had nothing but kind words to say about Atterberry. Dorfman said, “She has touched hundreds of thousands of individuals and families in positive ways,” said Dorfman, “helping them to break down those barriers and find housing, get a job and get help for their treatment for mental illness.”