Categories:
03.06.2014
Interns to explore supportive housing development in NYC
Alan Epstein accepts his Private Sector Partner of the Year award at the Network's 2008 Awards Gala: (left to right) Bill Traylor, Alan Epstein and Ted Houghton.
The Network has created a new internship program in honor of Alan Epstein, a dear friend and board member who passed away in 2013.
As a partner at Hirschen Singer & Epstein, Mr. Epstein was a longtime champion of New York’s supportive housing community. His work impacted the lives of thousands of tenants, advocates and housing providers. Starting this summer, the Alan Epstein Internship in Supportive Housing will allow one law student or recent law school graduate each year to follow in his footsteps.
This internship program is possible thanks to an outpouring of donations made following Mr. Epstein’s death in September. Among the many organizations and individuals to offer donations were the Richman Group, Hirschen Singer & Epstein, the Hudson Companies, Dunn Development Corporation, Mega Contracting and Chicago Title Insurance Company.
The Network will begin accepting applications for this internship within the next few weeks.
“Alan was a brilliant strategist, an energetic advocate, an exceptionally practical policy wonk who’s legal work vastly improved the lives of tens of thousands of vulnerable New Yorkers,” said Bill Traylor, Chair of the Network’s Board of Directors. “If this internship produces just one more Alan, then it will have provided extraordinary service to the city and vastly exceeded expectations.”
Each Alan Epstein intern will focus his or her work on a specific policy or development issue that, if resolved, would facilitate the creation of more supportive housing. The Network hopes that this annual internship will help to create a new generation of leaders in supportive housing and development. Interns will operate out of both the Network’s office and the offices of Hirschen Singer & Epstein. This internship is paid and will last eight to 12 weeks. We hope to have our first Alan Epstein intern this summer.
“Alan was the rarest of people – excellent at everything he did and humble for every moment he was doing it,” said Aaron Koffman the Director of Affordable Housing at the Hudson Companies. “I dearly miss his friendship and advice, and this noble industry misses Alan’s tenacity and advocacy for giving more New Yorkers the same sense of home that Alan created for his family, friends, colleagues and everyone he encountered. We are honored to support this internship and hope it will inspire law students to pursue a career in Alan’s memory with a similar dedication and commitment to supportive housing.”
We’d like to express particular gratitude to Rachel Miller, Alan’s wife, who requested that friends of colleagues of Alan make donations to the Network in lieu of flowers. This impossibly kind gesture created the initial pot of funding to make an annual internship possible.
“We lost our beloved Alan last fall, but through this very special contribution to the education of new lawyers and policy advocates, we know his legacy will live on,” says Ms. Miller. “He would have shunned the attention, but he would embrace the purpose of this investment and would be so honored by your tribute.”
If you know a law student or recent law school graduate who’s interested in affordable and supportive housing development, we urge you to share this story with them. We will inform our members and friends the instant the application process begins for this internship.
We’d like to offer a sincere, heartfelt thanks to the more than 50 organizations and individuals who donated to the fund that made this internship possible. If you would like to donate to this internship fund, please follow this link to donate online.