Wishing you all the best this holiday season
Community Housing Innovations (CHI)
Welcomes Steven Gifford
as New Chairman of The Board of Directors
Community Housing Innovations, welcomes a new Chairman of its Board of Directors, Mr. Steven Gifford of Real Property Associates, based in New Rochelle, NY.

“ All of our board members embody the spirit of community and bring talent, expertise and energy to the table. We are very fortunate to have Steven Gifford join our leadership team, as we continue to advocate for affordable housing options and assist those clients who are challenged by poverty,” said Alexander H. Roberts, CEO and Executive Director.
Mr. Gifford assumes the role previously held for many years by Steven Brill of Clear Point Advisors, an investment advisory firm in Melville Long Island.
Mr. Gifford has been President of Real Property Associates since 1991. Real Property Associates specializes in development and renovation of apartment buildings. Mr. Gifford owns and manages over 200 affordable apartments in multiple buildings in New Rochelle and Mount Vernon. In addition, Mr. Gifford is President of Mohegan Contractors, Inc. – a construction firm that works primarily with municipal housing authorities and school districts within Westchester County. Some of the larger jobs he has completed include complete renovations for the Greenburgh Housing Authority – 131 townhouses; Port Chester Housing Authority – 180 apartments, Tuckahoe Housing Authority – 74 apartments, and New Rochelle Housing Authority – 173 apartments. 
Mr. Gifford is very active both professionally and personally. He is an active volunteer firefighter for the Dobbs Ferry Fire Department, a board member of the Building and Realty Institute of Westchester, the Children’s Village Community Advisory Council, and Westchester AOAC (Apartment Owners Advisory Council). He is currently Vice President of the New Rochelle Police Foundation.  When not serving his community, Mr. Gifford can usually be found on the tennis court. 
CHI’s past Board Chairman, Steven Brill, has been a long-time supporter of CHI and held the post as board president from 1993 to 2019, including his most recent role as Board Chairman. Prior to starting Clear Point Advisors Inc. in 1998, Mr. Brill served as Associate Director, and then Director, of the Portfolio Advisory Services unit at Chase Manhattan Private Bank. In addition to management responsibilities at Chase, Mr. Brill personally managed client accounts and served as Chairperson of the Mutual Fund Selection Committee. Earlier during his tenure at Chase (Chemical Bank) Private Bank, Mr. Brill served as a Senior Consultant in the Personal Financial Planning group and designed comprehensive financial plans for corporate executives and business owners.
His professional biography has been listed in Who’s Who in Finance, Who’s Who in American Law, and Who’s Who in America.

“I have enjoyed helping CHI grow from a small nonprofit with about 20 employees,” said Brill, “to the agency it has become with nearly 300 employees and a $32 million budget. I will always support CHI.”

We thank Steven Brill for his many years of service to the board as we welcome Steven Gifford, who will work alongside the Community Housing Innovations leadership team as it continues to advocate for homeless families and individuals and affordable work force housing..
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Community Housing Innovations is proud to announce that we have made it to the semi-finals of the Imagine Awards, recognizing outstanding programs of nonprofits on Long Island. CHI is nominated n the category of SOCIAL IMPACT. A representative from Cerini & Associates, CPA, who has presented this event for the past 8 years, will meet with Executive Director, Alexander Roberts to offer further insights about our Home-ownership Program which is directed by by Julie Stern in our White Plains office. The Social Impact category measures success not just by meeting the mission of the CHI overall, but by affecting the surrounding community. Impact goes beyond the number of clients served; Impact looks at how the organization impacts Long Island as a whole. We hope to make it to the finals- and attend the 8th Annual Imagine Awards event to be held sometime in May 2020. Here's to imagining!
Since the launch of the Hand Up fund in June of 2019, hundreds of clients requests have been met with modest financial assistance that continues to make significant impact in their lives as they achieve both social growth and economic independence. Thanks to donors like you- these are some of the achievements this year alone:
  • 27 application fees for items such as birth certificates or drivers license have been secured
  • 15 clients have been able to purchase new work clothes for new job placements
  • 8 clients were able to afford registration for online courses or certification programs

Here's how the Hand Up Fund helped a client this December

Mrs. AB is an undocumented immigrant who came from Guatemala as a teenager.

Mrs. AB is also a domestic violence survivor.

Upon arriving to CHI Moreland (family shelter), Mrs. AB shared her painful story and explained how she had fled her dangerous situation and found help at a Domestic Violence shelter where she stayed for a a few days with minimal belongings. When it was safe for her to return to her apartment she came to find that the landlord had disposed of all of her belongings. With nothing but an expired passport in her possession Mrs. AB left upstate NY to relocate to Long Island to reside with family.

Sadly, after a brief stay with family, Mrs. AB realized that she would get very little support from her family and decided to contact the department of social servicesfor assistance. Eventually Mrs. AB was placed at one of our family shelters, CHI Moreland. As she started to work with her new case manager, they identified the pressing need for her to renew her passport so that she would have a valid ID. This would require Mrs. AB to present her birth certificate, which she no longer had and in order to request a new birth certificate Mrs. AB had to present a valid ID. Mrs. AB along with her case manager and care coordinator, attempted in many different ways to help Mrs. AB copies of her birth certificate and those of her children, in addition to social security cards for the children, but without this valid ID, Mrs. AB kept hitting road blocks.

In an effort to obtain a copy of her birth certificate, Mrs. AB contacted a relative in Guatemala. She paid some money to help the relative request the document but once the money was sent she had no longer heard from the relative who avoided all phone calls and messages. Her CHI case manager contacted the Guatemalan representative in NYC and after many attempts; both the case manager and Mrs. AB were able to speak with a representative who had her complete several documents in order to obtain a copy of the birth certificate directly from Guatemala. Paperwork was completed and Mrs. AB was able to schedule an appointment at the consulate to obtain a copy of the birth certificate and renew her expired paperwork.

Thanks to the CHI Hand Up fund, Mrs. AB was able to afford transportation back and forth to the consulate and the cost of renewing her passport and a new birth certificate. These IDs are an essential step towards getting Mrs. AB back on her feet. Mrs. AB is currently working with CHI staff on employment and housing opportunities and is also now receiving much needed Domestic Violence counseling services.
Can we count on you?
Please consider an end of year gift to Community Housing Innovations and help support our spectrum of housing program services which provide guidance, support and compassion for each person challenged by homelessness.
Please give what you can, as every dollar makes all the difference in the lives of every client at CHI -Thank You
From all of us at Community Housing Long Island & Westchester, HAVE A JOYOUS HOLIDAY
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