ADRIAN — When Sue Lewis officially retired as executive director of Catholic Charities of Jackson, Lenawee and Hillsdale Counties on Feb. 2, it marked more than the end of a long tenure. It marked a carefully planned passing of responsibility — one rooted in continuity, trust, and a shared commitment to serving the most vulnerable members of the community.

After nearly two decades with the agency, Lewis leaves behind an organization shaped by steady growth, expanded services, and strong regional partnerships. Stepping into her role is Niki Wilson, a Tecumseh native whose professional path — and personal sense of calling — led her back home at just the right moment.

Wilson began working with Catholic Charities in late October, initially as director, before being named executive director on Lewis’s official retirement date. A 2009 Tecumseh High School graduate, Wilson earned her undergraduate degree at Wayne State University before returning to Lenawee County in 2018. While pregnant with her second child, she completed her MBA at Siena Heights University and later spent five years working within the Trinity Health IHA system in an outpatient OB-GYN setting.

“I wasn’t happy with what I was doing,” Wilson said. “A lot of things were happening in my life, and I was really reassessing what I wanted to do and what legacy I wanted to leave.”

The executive director opening appeared almost by chance — and then again, sent the same day by a colleague who thought of her immediately.

“That was the only job I applied for,” Wilson said. “A week later I got a call, and two months after that, I got the job.”

Lewis said the search process was intentional from the start. The board hoped to identify someone local — someone who understood the communities Catholic Charities serves across three counties.

“When Niki’s resume came in, it was like, ‘Oh my gosh — this is someone who would be great,’ ” Lewis said. 

And within a half hour of interviewing Wilson, Lewis knew she was the right one.

“It really took a weight off my shoulders knowing we found the right person to carry this forward,” she said.

Lewis has been involved with Catholic Charities since 2004, following earlier work at the former Bixby and Herrick hospitals. During her tenure, the agency merged with Catholic Charities of Jackson in 2010, expanded counseling services to include substance abuse treatment, secured a major Michigan Department of Corrections contract, and established three child advocacy centers — one in each county.

The first child advocacy center opened in Jackson in 2012, followed by the one in Lenawee County and in 2023, Hillsdale County. These centers provide trauma-informed services to children who have experienced abuse.

“When you’re talking about hundreds of children every year who’ve been sexually abused, and you can intervene early,” Lewis said, “you’re saving lives.”

The prison counseling contract, now serving 11 facilities, also has played a key role in the agency’s stability. Counselors provide substance abuse treatment to incarcerated individuals as part of the parole process — a program that generates revenue to help sustain services that operate entirely on mission rather than margin.

“We’re always balancing mission versus margin,” Lewis said. “That contract helps fund programs where we lose money but can’t afford not to offer them.”

Wilson’s priorities will include diversifying funding for child advocacy centers, rebuilding foster care and adoption pipelines, strengthening donor engagement, and reshaping public understanding of Catholic Charities’ work.

“A lot of people don’t know what we do,” Wilson said. “Even I didn’t fully understand the scope before I interviewed here.”

She also is intent on dispelling longstanding misconceptions.

“The myth is that we only serve Catholics,” Wilson said. “But we serve everyone. We do it because we’re Catholic — not because they are.”

For Wilson, sustainability and mental health services are central to the agency’s next chapter. For Lewis, stepping away is made easier by her confidence in the leadership now in place.

“This is the right time,” Lewis said. “And this is the right person.”