Ellen Rita Schulmeister is executive director of the Shelter Association of Washtenaw County, which runs the Delonis Center homeless shelter in Ann Arbor.
She was business manager for St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in Ann Arbor from 1988 to 1998, before being hired by the Shelter Association.
From a 2008 profile in the Ann Arbor Business Review:
Shortly before she was hired, Ann Arbor and Washtenaw County officials formed a task force on homelessness. Out of that came a plan to consolidate the Shelter Association's facilities - including a day center that had been condemned - into a one-stop facility. It took time, and $8 million was raised for construction, endowment and operations, but the four-story Delonis Center opened in late 2003. The facility cost $5.5 million with an annual budget around $1.5 million. Washtenaw County, the city of Ann Arbor and about $700,000 raised from the outside provide funding for the center.
She has served on a variety of civic groups, including the Washtenaw Prisoner Reentry Steering Team and the Urban County Task Force.
Schulmeister has a bachelors degree in business administration from SUNY Buffalo, and worked for a public utility in Buffalo for 18 years before moving to Washtenaw County.
She currently lives in Ypsilanti Township.
In the news
County Weighs Response to Homelessness – The Ann Arbor Chronicle, May 7, 2014
County Board Briefed on Shelter Services – The Ann Arbor Chronicle, Feb. 9, 2014
Warming options expanding for Ann Arbor area homeless during extreme cold – MLive, Jan. 6, 2014
Executive Profile: Ellen R. Schulmeister – Ann Arbor Business Review, Jan. 31, 2008
Shelter Association website: http://www.annarborshelter.org/