Annual Convenings

Since 2011, the Consortium has held an annual Health & Housing Convening of its members and partners. The Convening brings together stakeholders across healthcare, housing, social service, and government sectors to share ideas about recent developments and best practices within the healthcare and housing realms. Discussion at the Convening helps determine the initiatives that will drive the Consortium’s work for the upcoming year. 

2022 Health & Housing Convening

The Health & Housing Consortium’s 12th Annual Convening took place virtually on December 14-15, 2022 and brought in over 160 professionals across more than 60 organizations. The Convening highlighted citywide and statewide policies and practices that aim to combat the homelessness crisis, foster cross-sector collaboration between healthcare and housing services, and address the immediate and long-term care needs for migrants and new arrivals in New York City. Through four sessions, the Convening featured 12 distinguished speakers that included government officials, city agency representatives, medical and social services providers, community organizers, and an advocate with lived experience of homelessness.

Special thank you to our sponsors, which made it possible for us to allow frontline and essential workers to attend the Convening for free: Lamb Insurance Services, CSH, Empire BlueCross BlueShield HealthPlus, BronxWorks, Mutual of America, Spring Bank, 163rd Street Improvement Council, Comunilife, Enterprise Community Partners, and CAMBA.

Day 1: December 14, 2022, 2–5pm

  • Bonnie Mohan, Executive Director – The Health & Housing Consortium, Inc.
  • Amy L. Freeman, PhD, MPH, Director – Brooklyn Health & Housing Consortium; Research Assistant Professor – Dept. of Population Health, NYU School of Medicine
  • Jessica Katz, Chief Housing Officer – City of New York
  • Moderator: Michelle de la Uz,Executive Director – Fifth Avenue Committee, Neighbors Helping Neighbors
  • Emily Engel, Director of Bureau of Social Care and Community Supports – New York State Department of Health
  • Moderator: Marcella Maguire, Director of Health Systems Integration – CSH

Day 2: December 15, 2022, 2–4:30pm

  • Opening Remarks: Luba Cortés – Make the Road NY
  • Dr. Fabienne Laraque, Medical Director – New York City Department of Homeless Services
  • Chris Keely, Ambulatory Care Chief Operating Officer – NYC Health + Hospitals
  • Max Hadler, Director of Policy and Immigrant Initiatives, Health Care Access and Policy Unit, Bureau of Equitable Health Systems – New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene
  • Alfredo Matthews, Senior Vice President of Transitional Housing – Acacia Network Housing
  • Dr. Jessica Sessions, Medical Director – Ramon Velez Medical Center
  • Moderator: Sarah Oltmans, Chief of Grant Strategy – Robin Hood Foundation
  • M.A. Dennis (short for Many Attitudes of Dennis) has been called “the poet laureate for formerly homeless & undomiciled individuals.” He uses the written and spoken word to advocate, educate, and share his lived experience, in order to amplify the voice of the voiceless and document the correlation between housing and mental health. 
  • Pascale Leone, Executive Director – Supportive Housing Network of New York; Vice President – Consortium Board of Directors

 

2021 Health & Housing Convening

We are so grateful to our speakers, panelists, and attendees for making the Consortium’s Annual Convening such a success. Over the two days, we had 295 attendees representing 130 different organizations! If you weren’t able to attend the full Convening, we encourage you to watch the recordings below. You can read our speakers’ full bios and access a compilation of materials and resources that were shared in each session of the Convening. 

Day 1: December 7, 2021

Speakers & materials

Speakers:

  • Bonnie Mohan, Executive Director – The Health & Housing Consortium, Inc.
  • Amy L. Freeman, PhD, MPH, Director – Brooklyn Health & Housing Consortium; Research Assistant Professor – Dept. of Population Health, NYU School of Medicine

Winner of the 2nd Annual Joe Fund Award: Wale Adegbenle, Director of Aging Services – Breaking Ground

PowerPoint Presentation

panelists & materials
The health and human services workforce has been under unprecedented strain throughout the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, but the challenges facing these sectors and their staff did not begin 18 months ago. For decades, funding for this work has been stagnant, resulting in wages that do match the cost of living. Low wages for high-stress work and rapid burnout has created a crisis that cannot be ignored. We heard from advocates and service providers on the scope of the crisis, how it is impacting staff and the quality of services, ideas for adapting to the changing landscape, and how you can help advocate for respect and appropriate compensation for this essential work.

  • Sebrina Barrett, JD, Executive Director  Association for Community Living (ACL)
  • Marvin Cooper, Program Director  Geel Community Services
  • Claire Green-Forde, DSW, LCSW, Executive Director  National Association of Social Workers-NYC
  • Michelle Jackson, JD, Executive Director  Human Services Council
  • Rev. Cassandra Perry, M.Div, MBA, Executive Director – 163rd Street Improvement Council
  • Moderator: Bonnie Mohan, Executive Director  The Health & Housing Consortium

Materials:

panelists & Materials
New Yorkers experiencing homelessness have higher rates of serious mental illness than their housed counterparts and during times of crisis, often interact with multiple systems, including police, homeless services providers, mental health treatment teams, and hospitals. In this panel, we heard from professionals working with this population––on the street, in shelter, in hospitals, and in the community––and explored how we can improve coordination across systems in order to provide better care, in times of crisis and ongoing.
  • Mitchell Katz, MD, President and CEO – NYC Health + Hospitals
  • Tony Carino, MD, Director of Psychiatry – Janian Medical Care
  • Tamara Gayle, LMSW, Program Director – BronxWorks
  • Evelyn Graham-Nyaasi, Advocacy Specialist – Community Access
  • Moderator: Ashwin Vasan, MD, PhD, President and Chief Executive Officer – Fountain House

Materials:

Day 2: December 8, 2021

Speaker & materials

Speaker: Daryl McGraw, Founder, Formerly Inc

Q&A Moderated by Rev. Sharon White-Harrigan, Executive Director, Women’s Community Justice Association (WCJA)

Materials:

panelists & materials

As pressure to close the jails on Rikers Island continues due to ongoing safety concerns, now is the time to plan for the future to ensure people leaving incarceration, and those with criminal justice histories, have appropriate support and access to health care and housing in their communities. Our expert panelists work with justice-involved populations in various settings and capacities and spoke to the unique challenges their clients face, made recommendations for what we could be doing better, and shared how they are advocating to end stigma and barriers.

Panelists:
  • Anna DeLeon, Associate Vice President of Housing – Fortune Society
  • Christina Green, Director, NYC Health Justice Network – NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene
  • Jerome Green, Community Health Worker, PORT (Point of Reentry and Transition) Practice – Kings County Hospital
  • Yolanda Johnson-Peterkin, Chief of Housing Community Activities – New York City Housing Authority
  • Moderator: Darren Mack, Advocate and Activist – Urban Justice Center

Materials:

Past Convening Materials

2020 Convening

Sessions: