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LISBON -- Her children were pasting Valentines on the Sunday newspaper want ads when Eloise Traina spotted an ad for the Family Recovery Center in the 1980s.
Traina went to the interview, but she wasn't hired at first. She got the job after the first woman who was chosen decided not to take the job after all.
"They called me back in and I turned the place upside down in a short period of time," she said.
Traina was first hired in as an education consultant and within a year was named executive director. Now, four decades later, Traina will be leaving the center through retirement. Her last day is Oct. 31.
Originally trained to be a history teacher, Traina felt that her involvement with the League of Women Voters of the Greater Youngstown area and other civic organizations would be a benefit to the center.
In her first year as education consultant she developed and implemented prevention and education programs for county schools and groups of stakeholders, and also initiated a student assistance program in county schools.
As executive director she was responsible for developing and opening the Fleming House for women and children in Lisbon, and acquiring and managing the Oxford House for men in Salem, and also the Renaissance House in Salem. The Oxford House is home to 13 support groups and serves more than 300 people a week.
She also developed and implemented a number of criminal justice programs in the county in conjunction with the county courts and was responsible for getting a state-sponsored development grant to purchase the center's headquarters in Lisbon.
She was also to increase and stabilize the organization's budget from $150,000 to more than $4 million over the last four decades.
"I am just doing what I was paid to do -- lead and make changes," she said.
The center has also gone from a staff of 40 to a staff of 80 over the last several years, and Traina said her style of leadership has been to hire those who know more than she does.
One thing Traina had to learn in the early years was to not try too hard to please people. Her husband, Dr. Michael Traina, would tell her, "You can't please everybody 100 percent of the time."
The Traina family has a history of teaching and learning together. Dr. Traina taught classes at the same university that his wife and their children graduated from. In fact, Mrs. Traina and their two children, Tamara and Timothy, graduated from the Franciscan University of Steubenville in the same ceremony in 1994.
Traina also learned from her father, who told her not to be a spectator, but see what she could do to make a difference.
That teaching motivated her to seek various positions in local government, schools, and social service organizations before she found the Family Recovery Center. While in those positions she watched how other leaders did their jobs, and took notes.
Some of the things she learned were that a leader can gain power and influence through participation, that it is important to listen to all sides of an issue, and that projecting a positive energy is key to being effective.
It is clear that Traina has been effective as executive director.
To honor her service, Columbiana County Commissioners issued a proclamation during a recent meeting.
"Over the years, Eloise has come to be known throughout the community and the state as the 'heart' of the Family Recovery Center, and has been a fierce advocate for people in recovery throughout the state of Ohio," commissioners said.