Categories: Member News
08.01.2023
The Network is deeply saddened by the passing of Father John Felice, a leading light who, with Father John McVean, co-founded St. Francis Residence 1 – the first permanent, affordable housing with on-site services for people with serious mental illness who did not have a home...the start of what is now called supportive housing.
The Network and our over 200 members mourn the loss of an extraordinary human being whose compassion and vision imagined a respectful means of providing care and dignity to individuals without a home struggling with severe mental illness. St. Francis Friends of the Poor went on to create two additional residences and the Fathers John spent their lives advocating for funding and policies supporting the spread of the model of housing they’d invented. Their efforts culminated in the historic New York/New York Agreement, signed in front of the St. Francis Residence by Governor Mario Cuomo and Mayor David Dinkins, marking the nation’s first long-term commitment to supportive housing. The Network honored the Fathers John as well as other supportive housing founders at our Gala in 2016 and celebrated their amazing journey during the 30th anniversary event two years later. Father John's passing leaves a void that words cannot express, and the city and society owe him an immeasurable debt of gratitude.
Read the St. Francis Friends of the Poor tribute HERE.