As you know, HousingPlus is experiencing a time of momentous change, and I’m grateful to be a part of it. As the new Chief Executive Officer of HousingPlus, I wanted to take some time today to share with our friends and supporters my perspective on where we are, where we’re going, and how I see my role fitting into the story.
For more than 35 years, I have been proud to stand alongside housing and human services professionals as we collectively worked to improve the lives of our fellow New Yorkers.
One of my earliest jobs working with individuals experiencing homelessness was as a street outreach worker. I had a sandwich, a van, and a business card, and I used these tools to connect with people living without shelter, attempting to intervene and secure for them a path to housing. I’ve come a long way since driving that van. I have had a career pathway that has taken me to city government, including the Department of Homeless Services and the Mayor’s Office of Nonprofit Services, the latter of which I served at its inception as its first Executive Director. In addition to working within the city, I have also been a leader in agencies that have helped form the landscape of shelter and permanent housing services, including HELP USA, CAMBA, and Samaritan Daytop Village.
Today, I look back at my experiences and see leading HousingPlus as an incredibly natural next step. For the past twenty-plus years, HousingPlus has been building relationships with foundations, government agencies, and individual donors to create hundreds of units of permanent supportive housing. I believe that my experiences and networks will help HousingPlus build towards greater strength for the next 20 years.
One of my favorite quotes is from Mahatma Gandhi, “You can judge a society by how it treats its most vulnerable members.” HousingPlus truly has set out to make a better pathway for women with the most barriers to long-term housing stability—including women with substance abuse disorders, experiences within the justice system, and serious physical or mental illnesses. Only by providing the support in supportive housing can we ensure that people with these vulnerabilities can move toward housing permanence.
Under the leadership of its founder, the inimitable Rita Zimmer, HousingPlus has laid a strong foundation. There is no replacing Rita; I am not stepping into her shoes, but rather her shoes are enshrined, cemented if you will, into that foundation. I will walk forward in her tradition but on my own path. It is an incredible honor to take HousingPlus to its next stage. I’m excited to help build more housing and services that empower women to define and reach their goals.