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2012 Workshops

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(left to right) 2012 Conference presenters Kelsey Louie of Harlem United, Jim O'Connell of Boston Healthcare for the Homeless and Elizabeth Garcia of Good Shepherd Services.

Descriptions for all workshops featured at the 2012 New York State Supportive Housing Conference. Where applicapable, click on an individual presenter's name to view PowerPoints and other presentation materials. You'll also find videos and podcasts. Check back for more content soon!

Building Health • Chronic Homeless • Veterans • Sustainability • Data • Young Adults • Moving On • Energy Efficiency • Frequent Fliers • Hoarding • MRT: Operations/Services • Lessons from Boston • Development Partnerships • Medicaid: 2013 • New Models • MRT: New Funding • Preconstruction • Pets • Ex-Offenders • Jobs Programs • Trauma • Seniors

Building Health into Supportive Housing Residences
Design and management choices can help tenants live full and active lives while simultaneously lowering operating costs. This panel explores a range of initiatives, including “active design” criteria, ground and roof gardens and smoke-free policies.  Panelists also address methods of quantifying the benefits of these improvements.

  • Elyzabeth Gaumer, Housing Policy Research and Program Evaluation, NYC Dept. of Housing Preservation & Development
  • Sara Hobel, Executive Director, Horticultural Society of New York AUDIO!
  • Rachelle Rochelle, Borough Manager, Brooklyn Smoke-Free Partnership AUDIO!
  • Sarah Wolf, Active Design Community Engagement Coordinator, NYC Dept. of Health & Mental Hygiene AUDIO!
  • Moderator: Paul Freitag, Director of Development, New York City, Jonathan Rose Companies

Chronic Street Homeless Individuals as Tenants: What’s the Impact?


Video playlist! Click to view all videos from this workshop. Use the button next to play to jump ahead to a specific speaker.

In 2006, the City prioritized moving chronically street homeless people into housing. Until now, no organization has quantified the impact these tenants have had on services, rent collection and other aspects of life in our buildings. The Center for Urban Community Services -- which provides services to more than 1,500 supportive housing tenants and is part of the Manhattan Outreach Consortium -- presents its findings. Outreach, services and property management providers also discuss their firsthand experiences and strategies.

  • Shaun Adams, Program Director, The Prince George, Center for Urban Community Services
  • Scott Auwarter, Assistant Executive Director, BronxWorks
  • Aaron Levitt, Director of Research and Project Evaluation, Center for Urban Community Services
  • Sam Dodge, Street Homelessness Solutions, NYC Dept. of Homeless Services
  • Heather Sheridan, Building Director, The Prince George, Common Ground Community
  • Moderator: Gloria Choi, Program Director, Goddard Riverside Outreach, Manhattan Outreach Consortium

Collaborative Efforts to End Veteran Homelessness


Video playlist! Click to view all videos from this workshop. Use the button next to play to jump ahead to a specific speaker.

The complex needs of today’s returning veterans have spurred the creation of a raft of new collaborations -- among federal, State and City agencies, as well as nonprofits and the private sector. This workshop presents several of these innovative partnerships and the programs, initiatives and interventions they’ve created.

  • Yves Ades, Ph.D, Chief Operating Officer, Services for the Underserved Inc. AUDIO!
  • Seth Diamond, Commissioner, NYC Dept. of Homeless Services AUDIO!
  • Julie Irwin, VISN 3 Homeless Care Line Manager, U.S. Dept. of Veterans Affairs
  • Colonel James McDonough, Jr., NYS Health Senior Fellow for Veterans Affairs, NYS Health Foundation AUDIO!
  • Joe Sluszka, Executive Director, Albany Housing Coalition
  • Moderator: Laura Green Zeilinger, Director of National Programs and Field Support, United States Interagency Council on Homelessness

Creating a Culture of Sustainability
Committing to agency-wide sustainability is no small endeavor, but the impacts -- on operating budgets, buildings, community relations and tenant health and well-being -- are substantial. This workshop focuses on how agencies can integrate energy efficiency and environmental stewardship into organizational policy -- and why they should.

  • Lisa Deller, Regional Vice President, National Equity Fund AUDIO!
  • Laura Jervis, Executive Director, West Side Federation for Senior and Supportive Housing AUDIO!
  • Bomee Jung, Senior Program Director, Green Communities, Enterprise Community Partners AUDIO!
  • Moderator: Sam Marks, Vice President, Community Development Finance Group, Deutsche Bank

Crunching Numbers, Improving Programs


Video playlist! Click to view all videos from this workshop. Use the button next to play to jump ahead to a specific speaker.

Data can help organizations determine program effectiveness, track use of resources and provide clear information on tenant outcomes. Data can also be used to hone programs or create new ones to address service gaps. Hear from Harlem United, Common Ground and BRC about how their organizations have created an ongoing conversation between data tracking and program improvement.   

  • Aaron Dobish, Associate Director, Housing Operations and Programs, Common Ground Community
  • Kelsey Louie, Chief Program Officer, Harlem United
  • David Tatum, Chief Program Officer, Bowery Residents' Committee
  • Moderator: Mark Wickham, President/CEO, Catholic Family Center

Defining Success for Young Adults in Supportive Housing


Video playlist! Click to view all videos from this workshop. Use the button next to play to jump ahead to a specific speaker.

Housing stability is often the standard measurement of success in supportive housing, but it’s not necessarily the only -- or perhaps even the central -- goal for young adults. This august panel of experts -- which this year includes Administration for Children’s Services Commissioner Ronald Richter for the first time -- explores the other markers of achievement the community should be looking at to ensure that young adult tenants have the tools they need to become successful, independent adults.

  • Elizabeth Garcia, Program Director, Chelsea Foyer and Edwin Gould Academy, Good Shepherd Services
  • Gail Nayowith, Executive Director, SCO Family of Services
  • Ronald Richter, Commissioner, NYC Administration for Children’s Services
  • Stacie Woodland, Clinical Director, Lantern Group
  • Moderator: Kendra Hurley, Associate Editor, Center for NYC Affairs, The New School

Different Approaches to Moving On
Not every tenant wants to stay in supportive housing forever, but a lack of affordable housing and limited subsidies have made it extremely difficult to leave. Hear about different initiatives that have helped those who want to move, move. These programs show that a thoughtfully planned, well-implemented program needs only a small commitment of funding to allow people to take that next step in their lives and, in doing so, make room for people who are still homeless.  

  • Nicole Branca, Director of Policy, Supportive Housing Network of New York
  • Tori Lyon, Executive Director, Jericho Project
  • Daniel Stern, Director of Programs, Center for Urban Community Services
  • Moderator: Kristin Barlup Toombs, Program Officer, Robin Hood Foundation

Energy Efficiency in Supportive Housing: The Long View
Efficient buildings require consistent, long-term planning that includes incorporating green measures into major renovations, incremental upgrades and everyday operations. Panelists discuss how their specific programs were used to enhance supportive housing’s sustainability and present outcome data related to anticipated savings. The panel’s moderator is a provider who has utilized a number of retrofit programs and who can lead a discussion on creative and achievable strategies to attain greater building efficiency.

  • Cameron Bard, Project Manager, New York State Energy and Research Authority
  • Brian Cheigh, Program Officer, Enterprise Community Partners
  • Jeff Laino, Weatherization Director, Association for Energy Affordability
  • Andrew Padian, Vice President for Energy Initiatives, Community Preservation Corporation
  • Moderator: Lisa deAndrade-Palacios, Director of Asset and Human Resource Management, Association for Rehabilitative Case Management and Housing, Inc.

Finding, Reaching and Housing the Most Chronic “Frequent Fliers”


Video playlist! Click to view all videos from this workshop. Use the button next to play to jump ahead to a specific speaker.

How do you provide housing and services to chronically street homeless people who spend so much time in emergency rooms that they’re unknown to outreach teams? The Manhattan Outreach Consortium, the NYC Department of Homeless Services and a doctor in Bellevue Hospital’s Emergency Department teamed up to create a unique pilot program for some of the highest users of alcohol-related services. Hear about the challenges, rewards and early outcomes from all three participating organizations.

  • Sam Dodge, Program Analyst, Street Homelessness Solutions, NYC Dept. of Homeless Services
  • Joe Hallmark, Deputy Director, Manhattan Outreach Consortium
  • Lily Hoffman, Research Associate, New York University School of Medicine, Bellevue Hospital Emergency Dept.
  • Moderator: Jon Morgenstern, Director, Addiction Treatment, Columbia University Medical Center

Hoarding: The Problem Behind Closed Doors


Video playlist! Click to view all videos from this workshop. Use the button next to play to jump ahead to a specific speaker.

What separates a “collector” from a hoarder -- and what can you do when tenants cross that line?  Fortunately, strategies exist for working with hoarders before they endanger themselves and others. A renowned doctor who literally wrote the book on hoarding joins providers who have developed successful protocols to address this challenge.

  • Jerry Bubrick, Ph.D, Senior Director, Anxiety & Mood Disorders Center, Child Mind Institute
  • Jon Calvert, Section Head, Housing Services, Project FIND AUDIO!
  • David Kamnitzer, Senior Vice President, Institute for Community Living AUDIO!
  • Moderator: Michael Golub, Trainer/Consultant, Center for Urban Community Services

Implementing the MRT Supportive Housing Development Program: Operations and Services
Learn how the State will implement new Medicaid Redesign Team Supportive Housing Development Program funding for rental and service subsidies through new and existing programs.  

  • Scott Edwards, Director, Bureau of Housing Services, NYS Office of Temporary & Disability Assistance AUDIO!
  • Mark Kissinger, Deputy Commissioner, NYS Department of Health AUDIO!
  • Joe Losowski, Director, Chronic Care Section, NYS AIDS Institute
  • Raná Meehan, Mental Health Program Specialist, NYS Office of Mental Health AUDIO!
  • Bill Panepinto, Director, Bureau of Housing & Employment Services, NYS Office of Alcoholism & Substance Abuse Services
  • Moderator: Deborah Damm O'Brien, Executive Director, Catholic Charities Housing Office

Integrating Healthcare and Supportive Housing: Lessons from Boston


Video playlist! Click to view all videos from this workshop. Use the button next to play to jump ahead to a specific speaker.

As the New York supportive housing community enters the brave new world of integrating healthcare and supportive housing, it’s important to learn from neighbors that have been paving the way. This workshop features presentations from two of Boston’s leading lights, Dr. Jim O’Connell and Joe Finn.  Dr. O’Connell created the revolutionary Boston Healthcare for the Homeless Program as well as the nation’s first respite center for homeless people in 1985. In 2006, Joe Finn helped start Home and Healthy for Good, which has provided seamless housing and healthcare support to more than 500 chronically homeless people and saved millions in Medicaid dollars. Hear about these and other innovations, all of which can help guide New York as we seek to integrate housing and healthcare.

  • Joe Finn, Executive Director, Massachusetts Housing and Shelter Alliance
  • Jim O’Connell, M.D., Founder, Boston Healthcare for the Homeless Program
  • Moderator: Trish Marsik, Assistant Commissioner, Bureau of Mental Health, NYC Dept. of Health and Mental Hygiene

It Takes a Village: Partnering to Build and Operate Supportive Housing
Supportive housing has grown exponentially over the past 30 years, and so have the number of populations served, housing models and partnership structures. In this workshop, you’ll hear about the innovative alliances that organizations have forged to make their dream projects a reality. The panel will include detailed presentations on co-developer deals, developer/service provider collaborations and property management/service provider partnerships.

  • Steven Ald, Director of Real Estate Development, Southern Tier Environments for Living, Inc.
  • Alan Epstein, Partner, Hirschen Singer & Epstein LLP
  • JoAnne Page, President & CEO, The Fortune Society
  • Benjamin Warnke, Principal, Alembic Community Development
  • Moderator: Frederick Shack, Executive Director, Urban Pathways

Medicaid: 2013 and Beyond


Video playlist! Click to view all videos from this workshop. Use the button next to play to jump ahead to a specific speaker.

New York State’s overhaul of its Medicaid system is such an enormous and ambitious endeavor that it’s easy to lose the “forest” -- what healthcare for vulnerable New Yorkers will ultimately look like -- for the “trees” of Health Home implementation and redesigning behavioral healthcare. Hear directly from State and City government leaders, policymakers and practitioners about how healthcare for vulnerable people will intersect with managed care and supportive housing, as we proceed with Medicaid Redesign and national healthcare reform.

  • Robert Doar, Commissioner, NYC Human Resources Administration
  • Bruce Feig, Senior Consultant
  • Jason Helgerson, Director of Medicaid, NYS Department of Health
  • Adam Karpati, MD, MPH, Executive Deputy Commissioner, NYC Dept. of Health & Mental Hygiene
  • Doug Wirth, Chief Executive Officer, Amida Care
  • Moderator: Donna Colonna, President & CEO, Services for the Underserved Inc.

New Development Models


Video playlist! Click to view all videos from this workshop. Use the button next to play to jump ahead to a specific speaker.

After the morning’s discussions of ambitious new policies and financing opportunities, this panel explores the new models that the City and State are promoting to actually get from here to there. How is the City planning to develop more integrated housing, including supportive housing for families? How will the State maximize its resources, both old and new? What other resources and tools are developers using to bring supportive housing to scale? 

  • David Beer, Director of Development, Common Ground Community
  • Martin Dunn, President, Dunn Development Corp.
  • Ray Hodges, Deputy Director for Planning, Division of Special Needs Housing, NYC Dept. of Housing Preservation & Development
  • Marian Zucker, President of Finance & Development, NYS Homes and Community Renewal AUDIO!
  • Moderator: Karen Sherman, Principal, ShermanLaw

New Funding to Develop Supportive Housing for High-Cost Medicaid Recipients
Hear from New York State agencies about implementation of the new Medicaid Redesign Team (MRT) Supportive Housing Development Program. Panelists will discuss plans for rolling out capital resources for accelerating development under NY/NY III and in the rest of the state. The panel will address how capital and service funding at HCR, OMH and OTDA can be used together to house and serve high-cost Medicaid recipients.

  • Linda Glassman, Deputy Commissioner, NYS Office of Temporary & Disability Assistance AUDIO!
  • Michael Skrebutenas, Chief Operating Officer, NYS Homes & Community Renewal AUDIO!
  • Moira Tashjian, Director of Housing Development and Support, NYS Office of Mental Health
  • RuthAnne Visnauskas, Deputy Commissioner for Development, NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development AUDIO!
  • Moderator: Ralph Fasano, Executive Director, Concern for Independent Living

New Preconstruction Requirements (and How to Pay for Them)
To reduce construction costs and encourage sustainable building practices, the City recently updated building codes and preconstruction submittal requirements. While these changes look to reduce development times and costs, they may also increase consultant, oversight and design fees. Participants will discuss these changes in design and construction expectations and explore how to identify and secure financing to cover these costs. 

  • John E. Gearrity, Acting Asst. Commissioner, Building and Land Development Services, NYC Dept. of Housing Preservation & Development
  • Blanca Ramirez, Senior Program Manager/Loan Officer, Corporation for Supportive Housing
  • Tony Shitemi, President, Urban Architectural Initiatives
  • Elissa Winzelberg, Director Design & Construction, Common Ground Community
  • Moderator: Brian Segel, Fund Manager, Forsyth Street Advisors, LLC

The Power of Pets
Owning, caring for and loving a pet can dramatically impact a person’s mental as well as physical health. This panel explores various ways providers can help tenants benefit from the healing power of pets. Providers weigh in on the pros and cons of having a pet-friendly building, and experts present on pet therapy and pet care resources available for homeless individuals.

  • Moschell Coffey, Director of Strategic Growth, Communications and Operations, The Good Dog Foundation
  • Erin Johnson and Kurt Sass, Donor Relations Specialist and Administrative Coordinator, Community Access, Inc.
  • Andréa Stella, Executive Director, The Space at Tompkins
  • Moderator: Denise Duncan, Director of Supported Housing, Concern for Independent Living

Serving Ex-Offenders with Mental Illness: New Approaches

Noted experts discuss innovative ways to reach ex-offenders with psychiatric disabilities. Mark Giuliano has created a comprehensive array of programs to help justice-involved, mentally ill New Yorkers. His programs reach people when they’re homeless, when the police are called, before their trials -- he even gives clients a ride home when they’re released from jail or prison. For years, Joe Lima has been parole’s ultimate “good cop,” specializing in helping mentally ill parolees succeed in the community. Hear about these and other cutting-edge programs that help psychiatrically disabled individuals break the cycle of homelessness and incarceration.

  • Mark Giuliano, Program Director, Community Support, Westchester County Dept. of Community Mental Health
  • Joe Lima, Bureau Chief, MN06, NYS Dept. of Corrections and Community Supervision
  • Jeff Nemetsky, Executive Director, Brooklyn Community Housing and Services AUDIO!
  • John Volpe, Special Advisor on Criminal Justice and Mental Health, Bureau of Mental Health, NYC Dept. of Health & Mental Hygiene
  • Moderator: Erin Healy, Associate Director New York, Corporation for Supportive Housing

The Tenant Job Hunt: Employment Programs that Work
From social purpose ventures to tenant-centered trainings to whatever-it-takes job placement programs, providers have created a variety of means to help tenants secure life-sustaining employment. Four organizations present on their successful programs.

  • Stephanie Cowles, Associate Director, Project Renewal
  • Jordan Horowitz, Career Network Program Director, Center for Urban Community Services
  • Matt Shelley, Senior Vice President of Health & Human Services, Greyston Foundation
  • Joanna West, Director of Business Development & Work Ventures, The Doe Fund
  • Moderator: Maureen Friar, Principal, Friar Strategies

Trauma-Based Care
This workshop explores how providers can connect with and support tenants coping with serious trauma. Panelists will offer advice and best practices for three distinct populations: young adults, veterans and domestic violence survivors. Learn how to address this ever-present, elephant-in-the-room challenge among supportive housing tenants.

  • Michael Kim, Veterans Initiative Senior Director, Jericho Project AUDIO!
  • Lisa Rachmuth, Director of Clinical Services, HELP USA AUDIO!
  • Carolyn Sicher, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Mount Sinai School of Medicine AUDIO!
  • Moderator: Carole Coppens, Executive Director, YWCA of Binghamton/Broome County

What’s Next for Senior Supportive Housing?
Federal senior supportive housing policies are about to undergo enormous changes, and the City is looking to include senior housing in its new supportive housing models. If you work with this population, either as a developer or as a service provider, you will need to know what’s ahead. Learn from members of the provider community, housing finance experts and advocates about these changes and how they will impact future development for this growing population.

  • Patricia Dawson, Associate Director, Catholic Charities of Brooklyn and Queens
  • Cha Lee, Deputy Director, Division of Special Needs Housing, NYC Dept. of Housing Preservation & Development
  • Benjamin T. Metcalf, Senior Advisor, U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development 
  • Evelyn Wolff, Vice President, Real Estate Development, Selfhelp Community Services
  • Moderator: Victoria Shire, Senior Director, Enterprise Community Partners