PRESS RELEASE For more information:Michael Stoops, National Coalition for the Homeless (202) 462-4822 mstoops@nationalhomeless.org BJ Iacino, Colorado Coalition for the Homeless (303) 285-5223 biacino@coloradocoalition.org
Washington, D.C. – April 28, 2009 Longtime homeless advocate John Parvensky has been elected President of the Board of Directors of the National Coalition for the Homeless (NCH), for a two-year term.
Mr. Parvensky, the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless since 1986, has spearheaded the development of over 1,400 affordable housing units throughout the Denver Metropolitan area and directed the day-to-day activities of an organization that delivers housing, healthcare, mental healthcare, substance abuse treatment, counseling and other supportive services to more than 15,000 homeless men, women and children, each year.
In conjunction with NCH Executive Director Michael Stoops, Mr. Parvensky will provide leadership, direction and guidance to the NCH staff and its Board of Directors.
He became involved with NCH during 1987 while working to create and enact the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, the first federal legislation ever dedicated to homeless assistance programs. Through his guidance, the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless has become a national leader in developing model integrated health care programs for homeless persons, while creating a new way of providing integrated, supportive housing for homeless and at-risk families and individuals. Coalition programs such as “Housing First” for chronically homeless individuals and rapid re-housing for families with children have become a standard embraced by HUD and other federal agencies. “John Parvensky has been a long-time, strong homeless advocate at the local and national levels. His new leadership role as Board President for the National Coalition for the Homeless comes at a crucial moment in our history as we strive to prevent and end homelessness in the face of turbulent economic times,” said Michael Stoops, Executive Director of the National Coalition for the Homeless.
NCH is a private, non-profit national advocacy organization that exists to educate all levels of society in order to identify and end the social and economic causes of homelessness. The organization, which is headquartered in Washington, D.C., works to end homelessness by focusing on the areas of housing, economic and healthcare justice, and civil and voting rights. NCH is the nation's oldest and largest national homelessness advocacy organization, comprised of activists, service providers, and persons who are, or have been, homeless striving toward a single goal - to end homelessness.
Approximately 3.5 million people are thought to experience homelessness each year; over 1.3 million of these are children.
Through increased national advocacy, Mr. Parvensky hopes to influence federal policy to end homelessness by addressing its root causes. “Most homeless housing and service providers are experiencing record need throughout the United States,” he says. “As we experience this mounting economic crisis, we stand at a critical crossroads. The national safety net is seriously frayed and stretched to the breaking point. We must act now to target resources where they are needed most to prevent further devastation. More importantly, we must work to develop long-term strategies to end homelessness by increasing the supply of affordable and supportive housing, livable incomes, and access to health, mental health and substance treatment services for the most vulnerable of our citizens.”
Mr. Parvensky is a member of Denver’s Commission to End Homelessness and Vice-Chair of Colorado’s Community and Interagency Council on Homelessness. He is a member of the National Health Care for the Homeless Board of Directors and a member of the community advisory board of JPMorgan Chase Bank. In 2002, he was awarded the prestigious Leadership for a Changing World Award from the Ford Foundation. He graduated Cum Laude from the University of Pennsylvania Law School.
Also elected as officers were Brian Davis as Vice President, Barbara Anderson as Secretary, and Susan Watlov Phillips as Treasurer. Davis is currently Executive Director of the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless in Cleveland, Ohio. Ms. Anderson is Director of Haven House Services in Jeffersonville, Indiana. Ms. Watlov-Phillips is Director of ELIM Transitional Housing in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
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