Grand Canyon Times

Phoenix, AZ— On June 26, Governor Katie Hobbs announced the members of the Governor’s Interagency and Community Council on Homelessness and Housing, which she reinstated by executive order during her first week in office in January. Governor Hobbs, who previously worked in the field as a social worker, lauded the diversity of experience and perspective of those selected for the Council.

The Council membership (listed below) spans the public, private, nonprofit, faith-based communities from across the State, and includes individuals who have experienced housing insecurity and homelessness themselves. The Council, which will meet for the first time on June 21, is charged with developing and implementing a plan to address homelessness and will serve as a central policy development and planning resource for the State on the issue of housing insecurity. The Council is co-chaired by Angie Rodgers, Director of the Arizona Department of Economic Security (DES) and Joan Serviss, Director of the Arizona Department of Housing (ADOH).

“This Council will bring the collaboration and strategic thinking necessary to develop effective, sustainable solutions to end homelessness in Arizona,” said DES Director Angie Rodgers. “I am honored to be able to serve alongside such esteemed colleagues to provide the knowledge and insight offered by DES, particularly our supportive services and Homeless Coordination Office.”

The Council convenes amid historic state-level action to create more affordable housing and shelter. Last month, Governor Hobbs negotiated a bipartisan budget with more than $230 million in new affordable housing, shelter, and services. And these funds are already making an impact - as  ADOH quickly issued nearly $20 million in awards to local governments on June 7. And recently, ADOH also took aggressive action by making the maximum possible allocation of Low Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC) in a single year, which will bring over 1,000 affordable units online across 15 projects in 7 Arizona counties.

“Arizonans experiencing homelessness deserve a safe, affordable place to live and the Council's goal is to find them the quick solutions they need," said ADOH Director Joan Serviss. "I'm excited to co-chair this important group of experienced leaders from across many different housing sectors as we work together to bring about real, positive change for our most vulnerable."

The Council will meet for the first time Wednesday, June 21, 2023 at 1:30 p.m. in the DES conference space at 1717 West Jefferson Street. It is open to the press, please RSVP at Press@AZ.GOV.

Members include:

State Agencies

Co-chair Angie Rodgers, Director, Arizona Department of Economic Security

Co-chair Joan Serviss, Director, Arizona Department of Housing

Dana Allmond, Director, Arizona Department of Veterans’ Services

Catherine Barrett, Associate Superintendent of Academic Achievement, Arizona Department of Education

Jennie Cunico, Acting Director, Arizona Department of Health Services

Carmen Heredia, Director, Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System

Doug Sargent, Director, Arizona Department of Juvenile Corrections

Ryan Thornell, Director, Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry

Community Representatives

Carole Benedict, Executive Director, U.S. Vets – Prescott

Jessica “Jess” Berg, Chief Program Officer, The Society of St. Vincent de Paul

Tamara “Tami”  Bohannon, President and CEO, Foundation for Senior Living

David Bridge, Special Needs Program Administrator, Arizona Department of Housing  (HUD Balance of State Continuum of Care)

Kerwin V. Brown, Executive Director, Tanner Community Development Corporation

Darrel Christenson, Vice President, of Community Integration, Ability360

Oscar De Los Santos, Arizona State Representative, District 11

Diana “Dede” Yazzie Devine, Former President and CEO, Native American Connections

Kathy Di Nolfi, Chief Program Officer, A New Leaf

Patricia Duarte, Executive Vice President, Homeownership Initiatives, Chicanos Por La Causa

Jean Fedigan, Founder and Chief Mission Officer, Sister José Women’s Shelter

Katie Gentry, Regional Homelessness Program Manager, Maricopa Association of Governments (HUD Maricopa Continuum of Care)

Nico Howard, Co-founder, Home Arizona; Board Member, Central Arizona Shelter Services

Gabriel Jaramillo, Director of Healthy Communities, Vitalyst Health Foundation

Tom Litwicki, Chief Executive Officer, Old Pueblo Community Services

Adriana Garcia Maximiliano, Founder and Principal, To the Max Strategies, LLC

Cindy McClain, Continuum of Care Supervisor, City of Tucson

Rachel Milne, Director, Office of Homeless Solutions, City of Phoenix

Liz Morales, Assistant City Manager, City of Tucson

Jocelyn Muzzin, Social Worker, Department of Veterans Affairs (HUD Pima Continuum of Care)

Doug Nicholls, Mayor, City of Yuma; President, League of Arizona Cities and Towns

Connie Phillips, President and CEO, Lutheran Social Services of the Southwest

Vicki Phillips, Chief Clinical and Development Officer, Community Bridges, Inc.

Dan Ranieri, President and Chief Executive Officer, La Frontera Arizona, Inc.

Jessica Breen Raymond, Executive Vice President, Atlantic Development & Investments, Inc

Ross Schaefer, Executive Director, Flagstaff Shelter Services, Inc.

Jamie Snyder, Chief Executive Officer, Our Family Services

Kado Stewart, Deputy Director, one-n-ten

Alexandra Terry, Deputy Director, Tohono O’odham Ki:Ki Housing Association

Terrance Watkins, Housing Director, Community Partners, Inc.

Joselyn Wilkinson, Statewide Capacity Building Director, Arizona Housing Coalition

John “Jay” Young, Executive Director, Southwest Fair Housing Council

Tamara Wright (ex officio technical advisor), Senior Regional Advisor, U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness

Original source can be found here.