Who We Are
Our History:
Housing Works was founded in 2003 by a group of concerned members of the Immaculate Heart Community and Judy Vaughan, Founder of Alexandria House. The organization began in response to the rise of homelessness, growing housing crisis, and lack of affordable rental units in the county of Los Angeles. The unique perspective was due to insights from Community members - Karol Schulkin, Director of Homeless Services for the County of Ventura; Tom McGuiness, former Senior Vice President for Community Outreach of Citrus Valley Health Partners and the commitment of Joan DeFrancesco, Andrew Kerr, Marya Barr, Vivian Engel and Mary Kirchen. More recently, under the leadership of The Rev. Dr. Gwynne Guibord, Housing Works has grown as an organization with the ability to embrace programs like Housing First with the unparalleled experience of Mollie Lowery as program director.
Our Board of Directors:
The Rev. Dr. Gwynne Guibord, President
Consultant for Interfaith Relations
Episcopal Church, USA
Rev. Brenda J. Lamothe, Vice President
Office of Mayor
City of Los Angeles
Andrew Kerr, Treasurer
Crew Grading and Excavating
Monica Iriarte, Secretary
Human Resources Specialist
Marya Barr
Immaculate Heart Community
Grace Dyrness
Transnational Research and Development
Thomas Halliwell
Chapman, Glucksman & Dean
Deacon, St. Joseph's, Long Beach
Terry Hayes
Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor
Raymond Kim
First Financial Credit Union
Mary Kirchen
Executive Director
Raymond Mattes
Gerontologist
Michael Mulvihill, PhD, PE
Loyola Marymount University
Karol Schulkin
Homeless Services, County of Ventura
C. Suzanne Cutter, MD
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
Tom McGuiness:
The Tom McGuiness Community Leadership Award was initiated on July 22nd, 2006 at the first annual Housing Works fund raising dinner. Our board of directors recognized Tom for his tireless and outstanding community work by presenting him the award inscribed with, “To be given to individuals who follow Tom’s tireless example to create relationship-centered sustainable community with systems and structures that provide for healthy, quality living especially for the economically poor.”