Executive Board Member

Sherry Albert - President

Sherry Albert is the Vice President of Adult Services for Community Solutions, Inc. (CSI).  In this role, she is responsible for the administrative oversight of nearly twenty programs for adult offenders referred by the Department of Correction, Federal Bureau of Prisons and the Court Support Services Division.  Program models include Residential Reentry, Residential Work Release, Alternative Incarceration Centers, Community Court, Day Reporting Centers, Employment Reentry and Aftercare. Ms. Albert has been in the Criminal Justice field for the past twenty two years. In addition to her work in Criminal Justice, past work in the Human Service field includes the management and supervision of such programs as Section 8, Energy Assistance, Weatherization, Rental Assistance and Eviction Prevention.  Sherry is an active member of CT Nonprofits, the American Correction Association, the International Association of Community Corrections and the Coalition of Community Corrections Providers of New Jersey. Sherry is also the Board Secretary for the Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness.  She holds a B.A. in Legal Studies and a B.A. in Sociology with a concentration in Criminal Justice from the University of Massachusetts.

Lee-Ann Gomes - Vice President

Lee-Ann Gomes is the supervisor for social work at Norwich Human Services for the City of Norwich where they administer a variety of programs including Volunteer Income Tax Assistance, Renter’s Rebate, Operation Fuel, EFSP rent, utility funds, and childcare assistance program. She has lead several teams including the Norwich Community Care Team which oversees the winter overflow shelter. She holds a Bachelor Degree in Psychology from the University of Connecticut. She is a wife and a mother of two beautiful girls. She is a community volunteer in her church and is currently on the Board of Trustees for the Norwich Free Academy.

David Martineau - Secretary

David Martineau is the Director of Programs of Mercy Housing Shelter and has had over 16 years experience working with homeless individuals as a community organizer, jobs coordinator and as Executive Director of Immaculate Conception Shelter for almost 9 years.  He has been with Mercy Housing for 7 years where his responsibilities include overseeing all programs from residential services and supportive housing to the day shelter and soup kitchen.

Kellyann Day - Treasurer

Kellyann Day received her masters of social work (MSW) administration from UCONN School of Social Work and her bachelor’s degree in psychology from State University of New York at Plattsburgh. She has been executive director of New Haven Home Recovery since 1997. She has been working with homeless individuals and families for eleven years and with families and children in crisis for 16 years. Kellyann has previously worked as a program coordinator for a family supportive housing program and in both an after school program and therapeutic foster care program for troubled children.  In 1994 she led a 30 day, adventure wilderness course for adjudicated youth in Pennsylvania.  She has served as secretary, Vice President and President of the Board of Directors for the Connecticut AIDS Residence Coalition.  She has currently serves as the Board of Directors for the New Haven Mayor’s Task Force on AIDS,  the South Central Behavioral Health Network and Co-Chairs the City of New Haven’s 10 Year Plan to End Homelessness’ Support Services Committee.  In addition she is a member of the Connecticut Reaching Home Steering Committee.  In 2004 Kellyann was named Forty under Forty by the Connecticut Business Times.  She currently lives in Hamden, CT with her husband and two children.

Board Members

Letticia Brown-Gambino

Letticia Brown-Gambino holds a Master of Science degree in Counseling, is a Licensed Professional Counselor (L.P.C.), and has provided service and program management experience to the supportive housing community in Connecticut for more than 15 years.  Her experience ranges from creating and directing a multi-agency supportive housing services team collaboration in Bridgeport among the first CSH Supportive Housing Demonstration Projects, to clinical supervision for staff working with persons who are chronically homeless. In addition, Ms. Brown-Gambino has launched UJIMA LLC, a consulting practice that provides technical assistance services to agencies seeking to develop supportive and affordable housing, these agencies include Public Housing Authorities and not for profits serving formerly homeless populations. She has served on HUD’s HOPE VI Health and Public Housing National Advisory Committee, the HOPE VI Sustainability National Advisory Committee, and the Steering Committee for the Greater Bridgeport Area Continuum of Care.

Anne Carr

Anne Carr is the Vice President of Operations for Career Resources. Ms. Carr has considerable experience in both the private and the non-profit sectors. She came to Connecticut as an employee of Aetna Life and Casualty. Ms. Carr began her work in the non-profit field at the East Hartford Community Shelter, and Stewart B. McKinney Shelter in Hartford. In her current position, she supervises the programmatic operations of Career Resources, including four CTWorks Centers in Southwestern Connecticut, overseeing a diverse staff who are responsible for providing services to approximately 15,000 clients annually, including skills testing, career counseling, case management, job matching, and development of training contracts.  Ms. Carr also oversees new program development, community partnerships, and programmatic compliance with state and federal regulations. She served on the Service Provider Committee of the Connecticut Employment and Training Commission, and on the People to Jobs Transportation Task Force and is a past president of the Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness.  She began her career in the non-profit sector as a case manager in Hartford’s Stewart Kinney Men’s Homeless Shelter and is committed to making Southwestern Connecticut’s One-Stop Centers an option for the entire community.  Ms. Carr holds a B.A. from Eastern Connecticut State University.

Richard Cho

Richard Cho is the Director of CSH’s Innovations and Research team, and oversees the organization’s efforts to design, advance, test, and replicate new housing and services innovations adapted for a variety of vulnerable populations and designed to solve a range of policy problems. Mr. Cho received his Master in City Planning degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and completed his undergraduate work at the University of Chicago.  He is currently pursuing a doctoral degree in Public Administration from New York University’s Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, focusing his research and studies on the design, implementation, and evaluation of large-scale interagency collaborative efforts to address social problems such as homelessness and prisoner re-entry.

Betsy Crum

Betsy Crum has 25 years’ experience in affordable housing and community development, having come to the Women’s Institute in 2005 from the Corporation for Supportive Housing, where she served as Associate Director. In that position, she was responsible for oversight and implementation of Connecticut-based policy, advocacy, lending, technical assistance and training related to developing and operating supportive housing for homeless and at-risk populations. Previously, she was the Executive Director of Co-op Initiatives, a non-profit organization that developed rental housing and homeownership opportunities for families and individuals with disabilities. Betsy is active in the Connecticut Housing Coalition and the Coalition to End Homelessness, and has provided training on housing development to over 300 individuals and organizations.

Alison Cunningham

Alison Cunningham has been the Executive Director of Columbus House since 1998, an agency that serves people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness by providing shelter and housing and by fostering their personal growth.  What began as a homeless shelter with a capacity of 34 adults, Columbus House now offers a continuum of housing options, with over 100 shelter and transitional beds and support services in close to 100 units of permanent supportive housing. A native Texan, Alison has lived in the Greater New Haven area for over 25 years.  She holds a BA from Austin College and a M.Div. from Yale Divinity School. In her spare time, you can find her in the garden or in a kayak. Alison is married to Meredith Fahey, an Organizational Development Consultant at Yale, and they have 1 golden doodle and 2 cats of indeterminate origin.

Charlie Duffy

Charlie Duffy worked for Robinson & Cole, LLP for many years. Charlie has been active in efforts to end homelessness throughout New London County.

Mary Pat Healy

Mary Pat Curran Healy has been Executive Director, Bridgeport Child Advocacy, since February 2010. Prior to joining BCAC, Mary Pat served as the community relations and government liaison for AT&T.  She has a passion for the well-being of Bridgeport’s children and families and the issues that have long engaged members of the BCAC coalition. She has extensive knowledge of the Bridgeport community and has been actively involved as a Board member on numerous non-profit organizations.

Ron Krom

Ron Krom is the Executive Director at St. Vincent DePaul Place in Middletown. For more than sixteen years, Ron has directed programs (in Middletown, Hartford and Seattle) for the homeless, people living on very low incomes, and people living with mental illness, addictions and HIV/AIDS. Ron also worked in education and human rights in Bolivia and Chile for almost 10 years. At St. Vincent DePaul Place, Ron and his staff operate a soup kitchen, an emergency assistance program, the Amazing Grace Food Pantry and permanent supportive housing (Liberty Commons and Next Steps). Ron lives in Middletown with his wife and 14-year old son, and he is usually seen walking or riding a bicycle around town.

Marty Legault

Marty Legault has been Corporation for Independent Living’s President and Chief Executive Officer since its founding in 1979 and is responsible for the management and operation of CIL and its subsidiaries. He was formerly with the Legislative Program Review and Investigations Committee where he supervised program evaluations for the General Assembly.  Mr. Legault worked at Mansfield Training School (a residential institution for people with mental retardation, since closed) as a group home coordinator and also at the Department of Mental Retardation as a cost and systems analyst.  For three years, Mr. Legault worked at the Legislative Program Review and Investigations Committee, evaluating programs and conducting studies of various state agency programs.  He is a CPA with experience in both private and public sectors.  He holds a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from the University of Hartford.

Carla Miklos

Carla Miklos is the Executive Director of Operation Hope of Fairfield, Inc. She joined OH in 2007, after working for the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority as the manager of their Residential Lending division. She has been an advocate for affordable housing, homeless prevention, and economic opportunity for over a decade. Ms. Miklos has an extensive background in banking and corporate real estate, where among other positions, she was the first female Director at Prudential Asset Recovery, managing a team of professionals in default management and the disposition of non-performing assets. Her desire to use her skills to help her community led her to work in homeless prevention and economic empowerment.  Most notably, she is the former Director of Family Assets, at FSW (previously Family Services Woodfield in Bridgeport, CT) where she helped develop the homeless prevention loan fund, a microenterprise development initiative, and other programs designed to provide community residents with education, support services, and asset building opportunities. She was instrumental in creating a Community Development Financial Institution, CDFI, focused on providing access to savings, credit, capital and financial education to underserved populations.  Ms. Miklos holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Humanities from the University of Bridgeport, as well as a Master’s Degree in Community Economic Development from Southern New Hampshire University.

Michelle Molina

Michelle Molina is a Northeastern University graduate. She was the Director of Client Services for 14 years with the Housing Authority of the City of Waterbury. She is currently employed with J. D’Amelia & Associates, as the Program Director for the Department of Social Services Section 8, RAP, and TRAP programs. She was the Co-Chair of the Waterbury Continuum of Care for four years. She has written more than five Shelter Plus Care grants and was awarded each grant. These grants increased the S+C program in Waterbury, CT by 130 plus units for Homeless individuals and families with Mental Health issues. She is on the Board with Conn NAHRO, and volunteer with the United Way.

Rafael Pagan

Rafael Pagan is the Executive Director of the Shelter for the Homeless, located in Stamford, CT.  The agency consist of 28 staff, with a budget of $2,000,000.00 oversees a 67 bed emergency shelter, several residential programs and a drop in center with case management services.  He is a graduate of the Fordham University Graduate School of Social Service. His breadth of experience includes Associate Executive Director of Metropolitan Hospital in NYC overseeing a budget of $15 million. As Executive Director since August 2007 he has provided the leadership in maintaining program integrity, achieving financial stability, presenting a balanced budget for the first time in many years, and leading the Board of Directors and staff in developing a strategic plan for the agency.  He has established himself as a leader in advocating for the elimination of homelessness in Southern Fairfield County.  Mr. Pagan has also been an advocate for the Latino community in many ways.  His community involvement includes serving as a board member of several not-for-profit organizations, a founder and former president of the Riverdale Hispanic Society, He is an active member of Supported Housing Works (Fairfield 08), the Continuum of Care in Stamford/Greenwich and has been instrumental in establishing collaborative efforts with other not-for-profit agencies in Stamford, CT in homelessness.

Richard Porth

Richard J. Porth is the Executive Director of United Way 2-1-1. UWC furthers its mission by providing a 24/7 toll-free call center for health and human services information through United Way 2-1-1; specialized services in child care, child development and disabilities, and HUSKY children’s health insurance.  UWC collaborates with local United Ways and Connecticut state agencies to provide these services. Rick Porth previously served from 2003 to 2008 as Vice President for Grant-making for the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, the community foundation for the Greater Hartford region.  In this capacity, he managed the broad-based, responsive part of the Hartford Foundation’s grant-making, which awards grants to a broad range of community agencies throughout the region. Rick also served as the Executive Director of the Capitol Region Council of Governments for more than nine years beginning in 1994. One area of particular focus was promoting better access to opportunity for people living in low-income neighborhoods. Rick started his career in City government in Trenton, New Jersey, ultimately serving as the City’s chief administrative officer.  He then served two appointments in New Jersey state government, as Director in the Division of Community Resources and as Executive Director of the Capital City Redevelopment Corporation.  He is a graduate of Yale University and holds an MPA from Pennsylvania State University. Rick lives in West Hartford, Connecticut with his wife Colleen and their three children.

Mercedes M. Soto

Mercedes M. Soto currently serves as the Director of Housing Services at CRT, administering the Stewart B. McKinney and East Hartford Community Shelters, HIV Early Intervention Prevention Program, Domestic Violence Transitional Housing Program, Supportive Housing Collaborative Program, Permanent Supportive Housing, Bloomfield Scattered Site Supportive Housing Program, and Project TEACH, and the Nelton Court Relocation Project.  An experienced nonprofit manager, teacher and community organizer, Mercedes has worked to improve housing, learning, and employment opportunities for adults and youth living in poverty.  Prior to returning to Hartford, Mercedes Soto served as Executive Director of Leadership, Education, and Athletics in Partnership (LEAP, Inc.), a nationally recognized youth development program in New Haven, CT.  Mercedes also spearheaded a successful community technology initiative in Cook County, IL, which provided funding, project management support, and resources to more than one hundred nonprofits that provided technology access and training to community residents. She also helped to start and taught in community-based schools in Puerto Rico and New York City.Mercedes resides in the Frog Hollow neighborhood of Hartford, CT with her partner and son.  She was born and raised in Gary, IN and is a graduate of Harvard University.