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. 

Save the Date! 15th Annual Convening
October 22, 2025

Please join us for our 15th Annual Convening on October 22, 2025! We are excited to convene in person at NYU Langone Health - Tisch Hospital for a once-a-year opportunity to hear from a diverse group of leaders and practitioners about critical issues at the intersections of housing, homelessness, healthcare, and immigration.

Tickets will be available for purchase soon and will include access to the full event, including lunch and a networking happy hour.


Previous Convenings

14th Annual Convening
October 23, 2024

Innovations in Action: Promising Approaches to Tackling Persistent Challenges in Housing + Healthcare

  • Moderator: Marjorie Momplaisir-Ellis - Senior Director, NYC Health + Hospitals 

  • Elizabeth Powers - Assistant Program Director, Healthcare Initiatives, Breaking Ground

  • Cynthia English - Speaker, NYU Health x Housing Lab Speakers Bureau

  • Maya Hernandez - Founder & Director, Doulas en Español

  • Robin Kahan-Berman, EdM, OTR/L - Vice President of Occupational Therapy, Project Renewal

Best Practices and Opportunities for Safe Hospital Discharge to Shelter, Respite, and Supportive Housing

  • Moderator: Flávio Casoy, MD, DFAPA - Medical Director, Acute Hospital Care, Community Transitions, and Managed Care - NYS Office of Mental Health

  • Shauna Barry, LCSW - Director of Clinical Learning and Development, BronxWorks

  • Amanda Ramsdell, MD - Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine

  • Dwight Kemp, MD, MS - Unit Chief, Extended Care Unit, NYC Health + Hospitals

  • Alric Nembhard - Lived Expertise Advocate/Consultant, NYU Health x Housing Lab Speakers Bureau

  • Nirah Johnson, LCSW - Director of Special Populations, NYC Department of Homeless Services

Policy Update: Checking in on New York’s Medicaid 1115 Waiver and the Role of Social Care Networks

  • Moderator: Kristina Ramos-Callan - Senior Consultant, Health Management Associates

  • Emily Engel - Bureau Director, New York State Department of Health

  • Zachariah Hennessey - Chief Strategy Officer & EVP, WholeYouNYC, Public Health Solutions

  • Lidia Virgil - Chief Operating Officer, SOMOS

  • Joseph Conte - Executive Director, Staten Island Performing Provider System

  • Kathy Miller - Chief Operating Officer, Bronx RHIO

Closing Remarks

13th Annual Convening
December 5, 2023

Welcome from Consortium Executive Director, Bonnie Mohan

Opening Remarks from Council Member Sandy Nurse, District 37

Building Sustainable Communities: Community Land Trusts as Catalysts for Healthy Homes

  • Sandra Lobo, Executive Director – Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition

Welcoming the Newest New Yorkers: Moving Beyond an Emergency Response

  • Deysi Flores, Civil Rights and Immigration Lead Organizer – Make the Road NY

  • 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

  • Josh Goldfein, Staff Attorney – Legal Aid Society

  • Moderator: R. Gabriela Barajas-Gonzalez, Assistant Professor of Population Health, NYU Grossman School of Medicine Center for Early Childhood Health & Development – NYU Langone Health

Thinking Outside the Box to Address the Human Services Workforce Crisis

  • Michelle Jackson, Executive Director – Human Services Council

  • Mark Jennings, Executive Director – Project FIND

  • Arielle Kandell, Executive Director – New Women New Yorkers

  • Diane Louard-Michel, Executive Director – Lantern Community Services

  • Moderator: Bonnie Mohan, Executive Director – The Health & Housing Consortium

From Peers to Policy: Understanding New York's Mental Health Plans

  • Dr. Ann M. Sullivan, Commissioner – NYS Office of Mental Health (OMH)

  • Deepa Avula, Executive Deputy Commissioner – NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH)

  • Sheina Banatte, Advocate – Correct Crisis Intervention Today (CCIT-NYC)

  • Ann-Marie Louison, Chief Impact Officer – CASES 

  • Moderator: Patricia Hernandez, Director, Metro NY, NJ & PA — Corporation for Supportive Housing

Closing Remarks

  • Pascale Leone, Executive Director – Supportive Housing Network of New York; Vice President – Consortium Board of Directors

12th Annual Convening

Day 1: December 14, 2022, 2–5pm

2022 Highlights for the Consortia + Presentation of the 3rd Annual Joe Fund Award

  • 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

Housing Our Neighbors: A Blueprint for Housing and Homelessness

  • Jessica Katz, Chief Housing Officer – City of New York

  • Moderator: Michelle de la Uz,Executive Director – Fifth Avenue Committee, Neighbors Helping Neighbors

New York State Medicaid 1115 Waiver Proposal: Partnerships to Address Health Disparities Exacerbated by the COVID-19 Pandemic

  • 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

Migrant Rights are Human Rights: Coordinating Support for NYC Asylum Seekers

  • 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

Keynote Address: Everyone’s Homeless (During a Zombie Apocalypse) + Closing Remarks

  • 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