Introducing Anthony Love
USICH Deputy Director, National Programs
Anthony Love, a Texas native, most recently served as President and CEO of the Coalition for the Homeless of Houston/Harris County, the principal agency for the Homeless Continuum of Care for a county of almost four million people.
Love first began work on poverty and homelessness issues more than 15 years ago following the completion of his Master of Arts in Public Administration from the University of Missouri-Kansas City. After returning to Houston, his experience with vulnerable populations including at-risk youth and women graduating from welfare led to his being named Site Director of the not-for-profit U.S. Veteran's Initiative. During his leadership there, US Vet's Houston became the largest provider of housing and support services to homeless veterans in Texas providing services to more than 20,000 homeless veterans. "I saw first-hand how programs and services can make a real difference in the lives of homeless veterans," Anthony says.
Love is most looking forward to the coordination aspect of his new job and states, "I have always believed that so much more can be accomplished when you're able to bring together the key stakeholders. In my new position I will have the opportunity to bring together all entities-federal, state and local. While homelessness has the biggest impact locally, great local strides cannot be made without help from state and federal resources." He believes that the biggest challenge in ending homelessness is "in getting agreement on goals."
Anthony earned his Bachelor of Arts in Broadcast Journalism from Texas State University and enjoys reading, exercising and watching sports. |
USICH welcomes Jennifer Ho as its
Deputy Director, Accountability Management
Jennifer comes to the USICH from her most recent work as Executive Director of the Hearth Connection, which manages a network of supportive housing providers helping people with long histories of homelessness find stability, recovery and prosperity. Since 2001, over 2,000 people have benefited from Hearth Connection's work, including 380 families with over 750 children. Their programs also target single adults and unaccompanied youth. Prior to joining the Hearth Connection in 1999, Jennifer was VP of product development in United Health Group's AARP division and managed government programs at Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Minnesota. She holds a bachelor's degree in philosophy from Bryn Mawr College and is a Board Member of the Corporation for Supportive Housing.
Jennifer's work with USICH will involve serving as the lead on the Federal Strategic Plan, aggregating and promoting research and evaluation of homelessness programs, policies, strategies at every level, and managing the results and accountability of this research and evaluations. Jennifer sees her future work with USICH as an opportunity to take what she's learned in Minnesota "to the next level to address homelessness across the Country."
Ho believes that "when people are given a choice of a home, they take it." There are skeptics, she says, who believe "there will always be the homeless." That may or may not be true, but in any event, "let's help 95% of them, if we can." "The important thing is that we've learned so much and how, in a small way, we can make a big difference."
When not working, Jennifer enjoys cooking, to include enjoying her own cuisine, and golfing. |
Meet Sharon Price
USICH Deputy Director, Policy
Sharon Price is most excited about pulling together all of the stakeholders involved in the issue of homelessness who "care about the same issues, but sometimes speak different languages." Her work as the Deputy Director of Policy for USICH will use her expertise gained while working at the Office of Management Budget and on the Hill with advocacy groups to do so. Most recently Sharon as the Director of Policy at the National Housing Conference. Earlier in her career, she also worked on the financial side of housing as a Presidential Management Fellow with the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Sharon became acutely aware of just how serious the issue of homelessness in the U.S. was while growing up in New York City, where she saw firsthand such disparity between the wealthy and the city's poorest populations, all in the same place. She got involved early on as a child by volunteering and later doing work on employment and training for homeless adults. Price believes that "everybody deserves a safe place to live."
Her prior advocacy group and federal policy work gives her a foundation for her work at USICH where she will manage the agency's relationships with its federal and congressional partners, as well its relationships with other stakeholder groups, including advocates working on homelessness issues.
Price believes that one of the biggest challenges in work on homelessness is changing people's belief that we can end homelessness, but her inspiration to continue her work on this issue comes from people who have dedicated their lives and careers to ending homelessness for the millions affected by it.
Sharon earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology from Bowdoin College, a Master of Public Policy and Master of Social Work from the University of Michigan, and enjoys painting, yoga and her dog, Rosie, an Assyrian Firehound, in her spare time. |
