“We kind of grew up here,” Stewart said.
Now, Edwards has taken the reins as CBI executive director following Stewart’s retirement at the end of 2025.
Edwards has inherited an expanded and renovated community center, about 15 full- and part-time employees and over 200 students who attend in-house or school programs.
Edwards, who was at first unsure if she ready for the position, said when it came down to it, she knew it was right.
“It was all about timing,” she said.
CBI was formed in 2009, and Stewart joined in 2010 as manager of the parent resource center, which had just been launched.
“I knew nothing about early education, babies and all that but I thought the building of a program would be fun and exciting,” she said.
Stewart, 66, retired at the end of 2025 after taking on the executive director role in 2023. This was her second retirement, her first being from the city of Middletown in 2008 after working there since she was 16.
Stewart and Edwards, 48, first met when Edwards was hired as Stewart’s admin at the city in 2006.
From the beginning, Stewart saw Edwards’ potential.
“I remember hiring her thinking at the time that she would come in and take my place,” Stewart said. “It’s kind of full circle because it’s happened again.”
Edwards joined CBI in 2012, meaning her and Stewart have worked side by side for the better part of the last 20 years.
Edwards sees Stewart as a mentor in the same way Stewart sees Marva Sampson, a local volunteer and community leader who became the first Black woman to serve as a city department head in 1970, as a mentor.
“Verlena would talk about how Marva helped to shape her, and she poured into her, and I think the same thing when I think about (Verlena),” Edwards said. “When she left, I was like ... ‘I was with you at the city, I followed you to CBI, I can’t follow you home.’ So, I got to stay here and ... do the work.”
Edwards said Stewart has taught her fiscal responsibility, maintaining a healthy team culture and building relationships “even when it’s uncomfortable.”
Stewart is proud of Edwards coming into the role, and she says it was a “very natural transition.”
“It made sense,” she said.
Stewart’s retirement came at the heels of a year-long, $6.7 million renovation of the 83-year-old community center on Lafayette Avenue.
“I really do feel like I left CBI in the best possible position it could be in, but the work is still hard. We’re always chasing dollars,” Stewart said. “There’s never enough money and growing and building is tough because nobody really sees it other than the person who’s holding the vision.
“You might not have all the answers, or know what the future might bring ... but CBI is positioned for success. The community center is positioned for success. Is it going to be hard? Absolutely.”
Edwards’ next steps are to get CBI’s family center up and running, generate some revenue from renting out the new gym and work on a model less reliant on federal funding by tapping into corporate funding.
“We’re open now, full swing,” Edwards said. “I want the community to meet us here ... meet us at the center.”
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