This year has been a particularly momentous one at HousingPlus. It was marked by the opening of a new building of supportive housing, as well as a new chapter, as we celebrated Founder Rita Zimmer’s retirement and the onboarding of Karen Ford.
As we reflect on 2025 and consider what lies ahead, we picked the top 10 most impactful events of the year to share and remember.
1. Over seventy supportive housing units opened at Shepherd Avenue, in the first joint ownership venture of HousingPlus with Spatial Equity.
Our founder, Rita, always said the solution to homelessness was as simple as “housing, housing, housing.” A new building on Shepherd Avenue in East New York provides 123 units of affordable housing, 74 of which are supportive housing apartments operated by HousingPlus. The building marks a huge step towards lasting affordability in Brooklyn: As the majority owner, HousingPlus can ensure that the building’s use meets our mission for the long term.
2. Rita Zimmer says goodbye and turns to new adventures.
When Rita began HousingPlus in 2002, she was inspired to help women who had experienced incarceration find a place to live. Rita always understood that housing was fundamental and foundational to the ability of people to rebuild after serious setbacks like illness, incarceration, or other trauma.
In 2024, Rita announced her plans to move on from HousingPlus, and the search began for a CEO to replace her at the helm. Rita’s impact on the landscape of supportive housing is impossible to overstate. We were able to celebrate Rita at the Good Person Awards in June 2025, honoring her for years of dedication. It’s been a great year. We cannot wait for 2026.
3. Karen Ford joins HousingPlus as CEO.
There is no replacement for Rita Zimmer, the founder of HousingPlus. However, our organization is lucky to have found Karen Ford to accept the mantle from Rita. Karen brings decades of experience working in areas across the New York City housing landscape. Her leadership of large-scale programs and systems gave her a headstart. After approximately six months with Karen as CEO, HousingPlus continues to grow, and we are moving towards opening more supportive housing units under her leadership.
4. COO Rebecca Chatteram presents at SEEN II, hosted by Housing Solutions of New York.
Rebecca Chatteram of HousingPlus spoke on a panel about how to build public support for affordable housing. She spoke about how one of the major goals of any housing provider should be in forming close relationships with people who live in an area, and executing a comprehensive awareness campaign, because often it is the unknown or unfamiliar aspects of a project that disturb the local population.
5. Jade Lee was recognized in City & State as a leader going “Above and Beyond” in social services.
For over 10 years, Jade has tirelessly worked to serve our community of formerly homeless women and families. Jade has focused much of her work on serving female Veterans. Under her leadership, our work with female Veterans has grown, and we now serve more than 70 former service members. Her honor by City & State is very well deserved.
6. We celebrated a first-ever ‘all hands’ holiday party — bringing together tenants from across HousingPlus.
More than 75 tenants attended the first all-tenant holiday party, which featured games, toys, dancing, cooking demonstrations, face painting, and so much more. It was a beautiful way to capstone the year with joy for our community of tenants and residents.
7. Rallying for CoC.
We rallied alongside SHNNY to Save the Continuum of Care in August, standing alongside elected officials such as Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, Comptroller Brad Lander, and more.
8. Tenant writing featured in an exhibition of art in Crown Heights, Brooklyn.
In April, Ann Rosen hosted a panel discussion on working with our tenants and others who have experienced homelessness. In their own words, Ann and her collaborator Alice Braziller invited tenants to write about identity and how they see themselves. Tenants wrote about expressing themselves through art and dance, and the way they understand their own resilience.
9. Justice-impacted women find stability after HousingPlus transitional housing.
We proudly saw more than 50% of the women residing in transitional housing as of January 2025 move on to permanent residences, including at HousingPlus buildings, in the first six months of 2025.
10. Staff gather in camaraderie.
In honor of our momentous year, we had a fun-filled staff retreat in Prospect Park, Brooklyn, where staff who work in different offices could gather and bond. We even had a surprise visit from founder Rita Zimmer again.
It’s been a great year. We cannot wait for 2026.