There are so many milestones in life, and at Crescent Cove we celebrate them all. We recently had the opportunity to celebrate the retirement of Karla V., who was our second employee and has worked at Crescent Cove for more than 8 years.

Karla answered the call for an office manager/administrative position in 2015. She met with our founder, Katie Lindenfelser, in a storage closet converted into an office in St. Louis Park. This windowless, mismatched space did not impress Karla, but Katie’s passion for the mission of Crescent Cove and the vision of our future Home did. Karla was hooked.

Through the years, Karla served as our office manager, our donor engagement coordinator, gala planner and logistics captain, our accounting lead, and most recently our HR generalist. She was an integral part of helping us grow from a staff of 2 to finding a Home and moving into it, to recruiting and hiring the 43 people who work at Crescent Cove today. Her passion for ensuring that Crescent Cove is here to care for children and families is evident in every interaction.

Karla spent her last days as an employee of Crescent Cove being regaled with tales from her coworkers of how her grace and kindness has extended to all of us. Then she learned how to make a sourdough starter from our new food program manager, one of the hobbies she hopes to take up in her retirement, between pickleball games, of course.

As Crescent Cove kid Moses said at his graduation party, this is not good-bye, it is “so long for now.” Until we see you again, Karla!