Herta Fairbanks is the new business manager at Serenity House of Clallam County. Focused on sound financial practices, she supervises accounting functions and tracks revenue, including grants and daily sales at the agency’s thrift stores.

Fairbanks’ strong financial management skills have been honed in her 23-year career in public sector finance, covering auditing, accounting, strategic and feasibility planning.

“Her qualifications are exactly what Serenity House needs,” said Kim Leach, executive director.

After a one-year move to Arizona, Fairbanks decided to return to Washington, where she had spent more than 30 years in the Olympia area. She earned her MBA at St. Martin’s University in Lacey.

She was attracted to the Olympic Peninsula by the natural beauty, small community lifestyle and drier weather of the Olympic Mountain rain shadow.

“I feel very fortunate to have found an organization to work for whose mission is to help others,” Fairbanks said. “The services offered by Serenity House provide for the most basic human needs, and having come from a public service background, I feel blessed to be able to help with that mission.”

Serenity House, founded in 1982, is a community-based private nonprofit 501(c)3 agency dedicated to preventing and ending homelessness in Clallam County.

More information about Serenity House is available online at serenityhouseclallam.org or by calling 452-7224 or by e-mailing serenity@olypen.com. Tax deductible donations may be mailed to Serenity House, PO Box 4047, Port Angeles, WA 98363.