Unity House appoints Podolak as COO

AUBURN, N.Y. — Unity House of Cayuga County, Inc., announced it has promoted Darlene Podolak to chief operating officer (COO) from program director. She began her new duties in November.

Podolak replaces former COO Paul Joslyn, who left Unity House last summer to take the position of executive director of AccessCNY in Syracuse.

Unity House is a nonprofit that provides transitional and permanent housing, rehabilitative, and employment services for individuals with mental illnesses, developmental disabilities, and/or chemical dependencies from which they are recovering.

Podolak has worked for the agency since 1992, when she was hired as a program manager. She has held various positions, most recently program director, where she oversaw six certified residential programs and three-day habilitation programs serving more than 200 individuals with disabilities in two counties. Podolak managed a “complex” $7 million budget, and supervised a combined team of 160 employees, according to Unity House.

Podolak holds a bachelor’s degree in music therapy from SUNY-Fredonia, and a master’s degree in management from Keuka College.

In her new role as chief operating officer, Podolak will assist the executive director by providing strategic leadership for the agency by working with the board of directors and other management to establish long- and short-range goals, strategies, plans, and policies. She will assist with management of Unity House’s $19 million budget. 

Unity House of Cayuga County says it serves more than 700 people a day in six Central New York counties. 

Contact The Business Journal News Network at news@cnybj.com