Southern Frontenac Community Services New Executive Director Ken Foster

Nov 16, 2022

When David Townsend was making his succession plan, as he prepared to retire from the role of executive director of Southern Frontenac Community Services (SFCS), the original plan was for Heather Rogers to work as the director of operations, with David continuing to work part-time, until David retired, when she was to assume the full leadership of the agency.

But as the time came near, she decided she wanted to maintain her role as director of operations and not to take on the extra responsibilities of an executive director.

That opened up the job for an open competition.

Meanwhile, Ken Foster was working as a marketing and management consultant in Kingston with a range of clients including tech giants, such as Google.

“I got a call from a headhunter who said this job is available in Sydenham with Southern Frontenac Community Services, and I said, why are you calling me? I don’t work in that sector. He said I should look at it.

“I didn't think much about it at first, but when I mentioned the call to my wife, she looked at me, and said, 'are you happy doing what you are doing. Is this enough for you.' I said, sure I was happy, but she said, 'are you happy in your working life' and I said 'no, I'm not.' So I called the headhunter back.”

When he went to be interviewed by the SFCS Board's hiring committee, he was honest about what he would bring to the agency.

“I told them that we need to learn how to promote what we do, we need to let the community know what our services are all about, what we are all about, but I did not know a lot about how the place runs. Heather Rogers was there with the interview team, and she knew everything. So at one point I stopped the interview, and said to them, why are you interviewing me. You have the person that you need right there. That's when they told me she had turned down the job.”

Something about Foster's candor, and enthusiasm for the agency, must have rubbed off on the committee, because he got the job.

He has been learning the ins and outs of the agency from Rogers, and the rest of the SFCS staff, and a couple of months into the job, he is even more impressed with the agency than he was when he first started.

“I ask staff members what they do, and they start talking about the food they cook, or the seniors that they work with, or how they maintain the inventory at the food bank, and I stop them. That's not what you really do, I say, what you really do is make a difference in people's lives.”

Among the major items on Foster's agenda are bringing the building expansion project, at the SFCS Grace Centre, to fruition, which includes a continuing fundraising piece as well as the construction project in 2023.

He also committed to working with the agency’s partners in healthcare, to make sure that the outreach that SFCS does in the community can extend beyond offering their own basket of services, such as meals on wheels, community programming, diners clubs, the adult day program for frail elderly and the South Frontenac Food Bank.

“It’s up to us to make connections for people, in order to access all of the healthcare services they need, so they can thrive at home as they age. The system needs to be able to respond to then, and all of the agencies have to figure out how to work together to do this. I am learning how complicated the system is, but I come from a world where you identify problems and then find solutions, and then test the effectiveness of those solutions. That's where I come at this from.”

Southern Frontenac Community Services is running its annual Vision Soup event at the Grace Centre this Saturday (November 19). It is a take-out only event again this year, due to lingering COVID concerns.

Tickets are $25, plus a food bank donation for a bowl of soup in a handmade bowl, and you keep the bowl. To order email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. are $25 plus a food bank donation for a bowl of soup in a handmade bowl, and you keep the bowl. To order email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.