NLIHC will honor John Parvensky at our 41st Annual Housing Leadership Awards Celebration on Wednesday, March 22, from 6:30 to 8 pm at the Hilton Washington DC Capitol Hill Hotel in Washington, D.C. Mr. Parvensky will receive the 2023 Cushing Dolbeare Lifetime Service Award for his longstanding leadership in the fight for housing and health care justice and equity as an advocate, a supportive housing developer, and a provider of health care for the homeless. As CEO of the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless for the past 37 years, he led the development of more than 2,000 supportive housing units. The Dolbeare Lifetime Service Award is named for NLIHC’s founder, Cushing Niles Dolbeare, a pioneer of the affordable housing movement. The celebration will also honor Ayuda Legal Puerto Rico and Representative Cori Bush (D-MO). Donate to NLIHC in these leaders’ honor as an individual or as an organization.
John Parvensky
John Parvensky has been fighting for housing and health care justice for more than 44 years. He attended his first NLIHC conference in 1979, representing the Tenant Action Group of Philadelphia as a volunteer while attending the University of Pennsylvania Law School. After spending five years providing legal support for community organizing, fighting redlining, and negotiating Community Reinvestment Act agreements with low-income advocates in Philadelphia, he moved to Denver, where for the past 38 years he has led the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless in forging the integration of affordable, supportive housing and health care to meet the needs of families and individuals experiencing homelessness in Colorado and throughout the nation.
In 1987, Mr. Parvensky joined Mitch Snyder and Michael Stoops in a weeklong “sleep-out” on the streets of Washington D.C., advocating for passage of what became the “McKinney Vento Act.” In 1989, he brought two buses of advocates from Colorado – including people experiencing homelessness – to Washington for the Housing Now march and rally.
Mr. Parvensky served on the board of directors of the National Coalition for the Homeless for 25 years, and as its interim executive director for two years. He also served as a board member and chair of the National Health Care for the Homeless council for many years. An early adopter of the Housing First approach, the Coalition has developed more than 2,000 units of supportive housing and manages an additional 2,500 scattered site housing vouchers, providing comprehensive housing and support services to more than 4,500 formerly homeless households each night.
Mr. Parvensky has been able to use his advocacy to create innovative combinations of financing and funding to build complex developments to meet the unique needs of homeless families and individuals. Believing that “Housing is Health Care,” he has been able to use health care to leverage housing resources and housing to leverage health care resources. By adopting this approach, he has combined advocacy and innovation to meet the needs of Colorado’s homeless population.
For his dogged persistence, advocacy, organizing, and creativity in creating lasting solutions to homelessness, NLIHC is excited to award John Parvensky with the 2023 Cushing Dolbeare Lifetime Service Award.
In addition to recognizing Mr. Parvensky, NLIHC will present Ayuda Legal Puerto Rico with the 2023 Sheila Crowley Housing Justice Award for its persistent efforts to ensure a just recovery – including access to safe and affordable housing – in the aftermath of numerous disasters. Ayuda Legal Puerto Rico is a non-profit organization that provides free legal education to groups and communities in the defense of fundamental rights – especially the right to housing. The award is named for former NLIHC President and CEO Sheila Crowley, who led NLIHC for more than 17 years. Representative Cori Bush will receive the 2023 Edward W. Brooke Housing Leadership Award for leading a movement to guarantee housing for all. In her first term in Congress, she introduced legislation to end homelessness by 2025, led a demonstration on the steps of the U.S. Capitol that successfully called on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to extend the eviction moratorium, and introduced legislation to permanently implement an eviction moratorium throughout the pandemic. The Brooke award is named for Senator Edward Brooke (R-MA), who as a U.S. senator and later as chair of the NLIHC board of directors championed low-income housing.
Recognize these outstanding leaders by making a donation to NLIHC in their honor! Donate to NLIHC in these leaders’ honor as an individual or as an organization. Your donation will be recognized in the Leadership Awards Celebration program, and your contribution will support NLIHC’s mission to achieve racially and socially equitable public policy that ensures people with the lowest incomes have quality homes that are accessible and affordable in communities of their choice. Information about how to register to attend the Housing Leadership Awards Celebration is forthcoming. To learn more about the awards and for event updates, please visit: http://bit.ly/3TR14oN