FALL/WINTER 2013 · VOL. 07 · NO. 03
From the President and CEO One in every 150 New Yorkers is homeless, New York Magazine reports.
CAMBA’s Supportive Housing Rebuilds Lives Once you fall into homelessness, it’s tough to regain your footing. Just ask Adrian Morrisette, who lost his apartment and turned to CAMBA’s Atlantic House Men’s Shelter. There, he found vital resources and CAMBA staffer Ernestine (Ernie) Washington, who helped him get back on his feet. Under Ernie’s guidance, Adrian saved money, got his health and medication on track, and qualified for a studio at 97 Crooke Avenue, a supportive and affordable housing development built by CAMBA Housing Ventures (CHV). Adrian describes the day he got the key to his new home, “I came in here, I looked around and I said, ‘This is mine.’” Having a stable home spurred Adrian to complete a college program in green maintenance and earn certifications in additional fields. Today, he is working full time and preparing for a self-sufficient future. 97 Crooke Avenue is far more than a roof and walls. As supportive housing, it provides around-the-clock security and on-site CAMBA case managers who work closely with tenants to help them achieve stable, productive lives. That can range from helping with medication and doctors’ appointments to arranging GED or college programs to providing employment assistance and fostering life skills to preventing or managing crises. Supportive housing like 97 Crooke Avenue provides a cost-effective, comprehensive and successful approach to ending homelessness and helping tenants flourish.
Adrian Morrisette proudly displays his work ID
“We often know everything that’s going on in the lives of our tenants,” says Elizabeth Warren, 97 Crooke Site Director. “Many have had tumultuous pasts and they don’t trust themselves to move forward. We are a safety net – they can talk to us; they can vent and stomp their feet. But they always know that we will help them solve their problems.” 97 Crooke Avenue’s residents also enjoy a beautiful facility and landscaped gardens. “Our people take pride in this building,” says Elizabeth. “The gardens are tranquil – they offer clients a place to get away and take a breath.”
97 Crooke Ribbon Cutting
That statistic is shocking, and it compels us to work harder than ever to ensure that our neighbors have decent, stable homes. More than two decades ago, CAMBA reached out to homeless mothers in city shelters with empowering services that enabled them to regain control of their lives and return to housing. We realized that the condition of being homeless could be profoundly traumatizing, and we devised supportive services to help people readjust successfully to their new homes. It was clear that a cookie-cutter approach could not work, so CAMBA created a range of programs and services to meet people wherever they were on the path out of — or into — homelessness. Today, we provide homelessness prevention, emergency and transitional housing, housing relocation and permanent, supportive housing. All are coupled with services that help our clients become healthier, happier, better educated and more financially secure, so they can remain housed and flourish. CAMBA Housing Ventures, Inc., our housing development arm, pairs excellent design and sustainable, energy-efficient buildings with CAMBA’s life-changing supportive services. Recently, the National and New York Housing Conferences named CAMBA/ CHV its Nonprofit of the Year.
PHOTO CREDIT: VANNI ARCHIVE
Friends and supporters joined us this fall to dedicate 97 Crooke Avenue to Rev. Dan Ramm and celebrate the building’s 52 studio apartments.
But the best tribute of all is meeting our clients and seeing their progress to regain their independence. This issue introduces you to two such people — Ernie Washington and Adrian Morrisette. I invite you to get to know them at camba.org/success. Thank YOU for making our work possible!