Beverly Farm Foundation employee named interim executive director

The board of directors of Godfrey-based Beverly Farm Foundation has announced that Sandra Ferris will serve as the interim executive director.

In a release, the foundation said Ferris has devoted her professional life to non-profit management, including the last 14 years at Beverly Farm where she has excelled in various capacities. This appointment acknowledges her expertise, her reputation among her peers and the board, and her commitment to support and promote Beverly Farm Foundation.

“We are confident she will provide strong leadership during this time of transition,” the board statement said. “Our commitment is to maintain our high standards during the transition, and to continue to offer Beverly Farm Foundation a promising future for our residents and employees.

A search to recruit a permanent executive director will begin in the “near future,” the statement said.

According to Beverly Farm Foundation’s website, Ferris has worked at the facility since 2005. She holds a Bachelor of Science Degree from Pace University in Political Science and an Associate’s of Science Degree in Engineering Science from Hudson Valley Community College. She has more than 30 years of work in profit and not-for-profit organizations. At Bevery Farm, she also volunteers on the Special Olympic Softball Teams, Variety Show, and Equestrian Program.

About Beverly Farm

Beverly Farm was founded in 1897 by Dr. William H.C. Smith and his wife, Elizabeth to establish a caring home, socialization, proper medical care, healthy diet, physical exercise, education, recreation and meaningful work for people living with developmental disabilities.  Today it is a planned community that looks and feels like a neighborhood. There are homes; a recreation center with a pool; an equestrian center; medical services; therapies, and much more. Nearly 400 individuals who live with intellectual or developmental disabilities call Beverly Farm home.

The mission of Beverly Farm is to provide a loving, caring home for adults with developmental disabilities, providing each individual with physical and emotional security and a dignified quality of life, with opportunities and challenges, within each individual’s functional capabilities.

Sandra Ferris photo from website