Dicke retires from FLC
After years of being a school teacher, opening the first Family Life Center in St. Marys and serving thousands of young families, it’s time to slow down.
Former Family Life Center of Auglaize County Executive Director Candice Dicke is enjoying another side of life after years of running the FLC on Spring Street.
“After 14 years, it was time to slow down a little bit,” she said. “I wanted to be able to have time to go out with my friends for lunch or do things that I haven’t really been able to do before it got too late.”
A former teacher at Elida Local Schools, Dicke founded the FLC in October of 2007 after witnessing her then-teenage daughter endure the experience of becoming a young mother firsthand, opening Dicke’s eyes to the painful decisions and emotional turmoil unplanned pregnancies can cause in young women’s lives. The former life center execu
tive director said she was also inspired by the assistance, guidance and tough truths her daughter received during her stay at the Harbor House — a now-defunct maternity home in Celina.
This combination of events made Dicke realize her new calling in life — helping struggling, single mothers-to-be any way she could.
In a story published in The Evening Leader in 2017, the FLC’s first home on West North Street was a challenging process for Dicke, and at the end of the first year, the life center had only eight clients.
From there, the center moved into the “Go Bucks” building on Front Street for three years as the move increased the FLC’s client base by 800%, but because of structural issues with the Go Bucks building, Dicke was forced to move to a suite of rooms on Spring Street behind Plus One Professionals for another three years.
The space was small but made do before a blessing came in the form of an anonymous donor that allowed the life center to make its most recent move to 104 E. Spring St., where it has maintained a prominent downtown presence for the past seven-plus years.
Looking back, Dicke said being the executive director at the FLC has been a joy in her life to help hundreds of young mothers as hers and the board’s vision to extend its services throughout Auglaize County and west-central Ohio was being accomplished. With a new center in Wapakoneta up and running and a discussion on retirement for a couple of years now, Dicke felt she had accomplished what she wanted to do.
“Before I got my head into something that I couldn’t finish, I decided it was time to, if we could, find another person for St. Marys,” Dicke added.
The process to find her replacement was a rigorous one as Dicke added that several people were interviewed before finding Alison Sorenson — a married mother of three who knows a thing or two about caring for babies — was picked for the job.
“She said this was something she would like to do and she felt God was calling her to do this,” Dicke added.
After training Sorenson and making the transition, Dicke officially retired Dec. 31 and is now a member of the FLC’s board with a designated position of founder.
Dicke estimated over the years that the center has assisted several thousand people and hundreds of families.
“It’s just wonderful to be able to help people, especially young moms — those that came in with an unplanned pregnancy and didn’t know what they were going to do, they were just in tears,” Dicke counted. “To see them carry their babies full term and I just can’t tell you that when they come back in after they have their babies and they want to show me their babies — that is just so exciting.”
In retirement, Dicke is currently serving on the board under the designation of founder and gives advice when needed.
For her years of service to the community, Wayne Street United Methodist Church will be honoring Dicke on Sunday at the church during the Awaken service at 10:45 a.m. There will be a brief, public reception afterward.