+ Accomplishments
+ Board
+ History
+ Members
+ Mission Statement
+ Published Reports
+ Staff

• Rachel Brumfield, Board Co-Chair (2006)
• Ryan Gibbs, Board Co-Chair (2011)
• William Burnett, Treasurer (2011)
• Susan Lob, Secretary (2011)
• Jean Rice (Founding Board Member, 2003)
• Emmaia Gelman (2010)
• Willie Baptist (2011)
• Andres Perez (2011)

Board Members Emeritus

• (Retired) Archdeacon Reverend Michael Kendall (2007)
• Sylvia Gina Hunt (Founding Board member, 2003)

PROFILES

WILLIE BAPTIST joined the PTH board in January 2011, after being a long time friend and mentor of many of us here.   A formerly homeless father who came out of the Watts uprisings, the Black Student Movement, and working as a lead organizer with the United Steelworkers, Willie has 40 years of experience organizing amongst the poor.  He has been a leader of the National Union of the Homeless, the Kensington Welfare Rights Union, the National Welfare Rights Union, the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign, and many other networks. Willie serves as the Poverty Initiative Scholar-in-Residence and is the Coordinator of the Poverty Scholars Program at Union Theological Seminary.

RYAN GIBBS joined the PTH board in January 2011, but has been a leader and full time volunteer at PTH since March of 2006, less than a year after he first became homeless.  The first day that he walked into the office, was our first sleep-out in protest of warehoused vacant property.  Ryan was invited to join and said “Why not, I’m sleeping on the street anyway!”  Ryan grew up on Long Island, where his family still resides.  Ryan has worked as an office manager, and he also enjoys singing, and if you go to Central Park and see the bubble folks, the ones that use bamboo sticks to make enormous, magical bubbles, then one of them is likely to be Ryan, so say hello!  

ANDRES PEREZ was born & raised in E. New York, Brooklyn, with 7 sisters and 2 brothers.  In the late 70's his family moved to the Bronx where he was encouraged to go to trade schools and study maintenance, repairs and youth counseling.  He worked at the Police Athletic League, then for 20 years at the NYC Housing Authority. After doing all of that, plus having 3 sons and moving in with his ailing mom to care for her until her passing, he became homeless because he wasn't on his mothers lease.  Andres joined Picture the Homeless a year ago and is a leader of our Housing Not Warehousing campaign, as well as representing PTH on the National Campaign to Restore Housing Rights.  Andres states that he “feels like his life is getting back on track”. He is also working in a transitional jobs program in the Parks Department and hopes to be hired full time.  Andres is bilingual, of Afro Puerto Rican heritage.

SUE LOB has been an organizer for over 25 years and joined the PTH board in January 2011.  Sue has worked on a range of issues: tenant organizing and affordable housing; reducing infant mortality and the need for prenatal care services; welfare rights; child welfare & Family Court reform;  food coop organizing; fighting for needed transportation; and ending violence against women.   She founded and directed (from 2000-2009) the Voices of Women Organizing Project (VOW), an organization that brings together a diverse group of survivors of domestic violence from across the City to fight to ensure that domestic violence survivors get the services they need and hold accountable the systems they turn to. Ms. Lob developed leadership training programs for community leaders (especially women) and staff of social service agencies.  Sue has served as the chair of the Child Welfare Committee of the NYC Interagency Task Force Against Domestic Violence, and on the Boards of the NY Asian Women's Center and the Center for Anti-violence Education.  She currently teaches courses on community organizing and policy at Columbia University School of Social Work and Milano, the New School for Policy and Management.

WILLIAM BURNETT is a Roman Catholic and a lifelong activist and organizer. He studied philosophy and theology at Wadhams Hall Seminary-College.  William has been a leader of Picture the Homeless since 2004.  He is also a former staffer at PTH, and as the Faith Community Outreach Coordinator, William led our Potter's Field Campaign to victory on a number of key demands regarding the handling and interment of the indigent dead in New York City, and regarding the right of homeless and poor people left behind to have closure in the loss of those close to them.   William currently serves as the treasurer of the board of directors of Picture the Homeless; and is the administrator of information technology at Interfaith Assembly on Homelessness and Housing.  William's writing has been published in The Christian Citizen and in many progressive blogs. William currently writes for Our Daily Thread, a Catholic-community progressive political blog sponsored by Catholics United.

JEAN RICE was born on July 1st, 1939 in Anderson, South Carolina and was educated in the New York City Public School System. From 1979 through 1981 Jean attended Norwalk Community College in Norwalk Connecticut. Where he studied Criminal Justice administration earning a place on the Deans List. While attending Norwalk Community College he was president of the Black Student Union and also served as the community liaison for then Deputy Mayor Otha Brown, Jr. Jean is homeless and has been homeless for the past 8 years. He supplements his income by picking up cans for recycling. Jean is also an avid reader and student of history. Jean serves as the Secretary of the Board of Directors of Picture the Homeless, and is an active member of the Steering Committee and the Civil Rights Committee. Read more

BRODIE ENOCH is a 4th generation Harlemite. Brodie, who attended The Ethical Cultural Fieldston School and Boston University, is a seasoned activist, advocate and organizer.  Throughout his career, he has organized child care providers for the UFT and organized a voter education drive in the Bronx. Brodie was part of a campaign that added $18.5 million to expand training opportunities for ‘Back To Work’ program participants. Brodie is proud of his work at Hope Community, a non-profit community development corporation, where, as the housing liaison, he was able to create over 40 tenant associations and three block associations. Brodie is a member of Community Board 11 Manhattan, where he chairs the Public Outreach Task Force. He is Co-chair of the Public Safety and Transportation committee and also sits on the Housing and Executive committees. Brodie is a proud member the Board of Directors of The Addicts Rehabilitation Center (ARC) and Picture The Homeless. In 2011, he was elected to the Manhattan County Committee for the 71st Assembly District, Part A.