Pam Buckmaster assumed the position of assistant director of Catholic Social Services in early September.

Mrs. Buckmaster, 35, fills the position vacated by Steven Brazen, who was appointed executive director of CSS by Archbishop Eugene A. Marino, SSJ, in June. Previously she was parish outreach coordinator for services to the elderly for CSS, a position she had held since February, 1984.

In her new position, Mrs. Buckmaster is responsible for the overall program development of the services CSS provides, as well as for finding funding resources for those services. This second responsibility will enable the various agencies "to grow and respond to areas" not developed before, Mrs. Buckmaster believes.

As program developer and fund-raiser, her work will be task-oriented rather than supervisory, and will complement the work each program director presently does. These CSS programs include services to the elderly, clinical or counseling services, Hispanic services, services to immigrants through the legalization office, crisis pregnancy services and a migration and refugee service.

Mrs. Buckmaster's selection ended a national search, according to Brazen. She was one of three finalists, the others being from areas outside Georgia.

"Although she doesn't have fund-raising experience, she had already demonstrated her ability to identify and create programs, something she's very good at," Brazen said.

"For CSS' agencies in the future to be able to respond to community needs," Brazen added, "we need to be more aggressive and also to coordinate fundraising efforts ... with the efforts of those corporations who have their own boards and their own fundraising projects, such as the Village of St. Joseph and Catholic Personal Care Homes, Inc. We're looking to Pam to do this."

Added to program development and fundraising responsibilities, Mrs. Buckmaster will direct the Campaign for Human Development for the archdiocese.

After two-and-a-half months as assistant director she commented, "I hesitated to leave the job as parish outreach coordinator to the elderly, a work I really enjoyed. But although I'm not working in the field of gerontology, I still can be involved in changes and growth in that area -- maybe even more so."

Mrs. Buckmaster, her husband, Allen, and their four children are members of Immaculate Heart of Mary parish in Atlanta.