The following is a press release written by Justin Crossley for City of Bloomington.
Bloomington, Ind. – Beverly Calender-Anderson, head of the City of Bloomington Community and Family Resources Department (CFRD) has announced she will retire May 17.
A Chicago native, Calender-Anderson began her service with the City of Bloomington in 2006 as the Safe and Civil City Director. During her nine years of leadership, the Safe and Civil program focused heavily on diversity and public safety education. The program also responded to a variety of community issues to remediate noise, graffiti, and the town/gown divide.
Following the retirement of the previous CFRD director, Pete Giordano, then-Mayor Mark Kruzan appointed Calender-Anderson to the director role, where she served an additional nine and a half years. In this role, Calender-Anderson has annually overseen 39 programs as well as the work of seven commissions, the Council for Community Accessibility, and the Monroe County Domestic Violence Task Force. She’s provided leadership to collaborative efforts supporting agencies who provide services to the community’s unhoused residents and managed three City grant programs and the Local Income Tax Economic Equity Fund.
“Beverly is a legend in our community, both personally and professionally,” said Mayor Kerry Thomson. “She has been a strong, compassionate leader and a tireless advocate for the people of Bloomington. We have all benefited from her many years of service to the City and its residents.”
“A healthy, thriving community is one in which residents are engaged, care for and about one another, celebrate each other’s accomplishments, and stand with one another in times of trouble,” said Calendar-Anderson. “In my 18 ½ years at the City of Bloomington, along with my colleagues and community partners, I hope we’ve helped move Bloomington toward being a community all residents are proud to be a part of.”
