Two of the community’s longest-serving leaders in the human services field are retiring Thursday. Michael Crinnin has been executive director of ACR Health, formerly Aids Community Resources, for more than 26 years. Before that, he served as founding executive director of Arise for 10 years starting in 1979. Meanwhile, Tom McKeown has been executive director of Arise since 2002. Both men have spent their careers in human services, and both have seen significant, perhaps monumental changes concerning those with disabilities and HIV/AIDs during their long careers. But what some may not know is these gentlemen have much more in common than their careers; they’ve been friends since they were kids. We had the chance to talk to McKeown and Crinnin, who told us how their organization's have evolved, how advocacy brought their clientele out of the shadows, and how early life experiences geared them toward careers in human services.
Point of disclosure: Scott Willis' wife, Kathy O'Connell, serves as a board member of Arise.
