WASHINGTON, D.C.— Community Council for the Homeless at Friendship Place is pleased to announce that D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty has named Executive Director Jean-Michel Giraud to serve on the D.C. Interagency Council on Homelessness.

Press Release 2/25/2009                                                  Contact: Julie Butner
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                         Phone: 202-364-1419 x19

JEAN-MICHEL GIRAUD TO JOIN D.C. INTERAGENCY COUNCIL ON HOMELESSNESS

Executive Director of Community Council for the Homeless at Friendship Place
will bring extensive knowledge and experience to council that guides District policy on homelessness

WASHINGTON, D.C.— Community Council for the Homeless at Friendship Place is pleased to announce that D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty has named Executive Director Jean-Michel Giraud to serve on the D.C. Interagency Council on Homelessness.

Mr. Giraud came to Friendship Place in April 2006 with more than twenty years of experience in community outreach, co-occurring disorders, and psychiatric rehabilitation. Under his leadership, Friendship Place has instituted monthly training sessions for staff, board, volunteers and neighboring faith-based homeless service providers to ensure that the most effective services possible are being offered; established a Consumer Council to give Friendship Place service recipients input into the organization’s operations; set up a Speakers Bureau of board members and consumers to educate the surrounding community about homelessness; increased the involvement of volunteers in every facet of the organization; and launched a Dual Recovery Anonymous group, similar to AA, aimed at helping those struggling with drug and/or alcohol addiction as well as mental illness.

Mr. Giraud has built strong working relationships with other homeless service providers and advocates; area congregations, ANC’s, and community associations; and officials at D.C. agencies that address homelessness. He has also advocated on behalf of the D.C. homeless population with Members of the D.C. Council.

Because of Friendship Place’s track record for creating and operating successful permanent supportive housing for formerly homeless adults, in 2008 Friendship Place was one of only seven D.C. homeless service providers granted contracts to implement the first phase of Mayor Fenty’s Housing First initiative. Friendship Place received funding to help 65 chronically homeless District residents move directly from the streets into apartments. The program has been a resounding success, thanks to Mr. Giraud’s guidance, the outstanding team of case managers he assembled to get the program off the ground and the team’s close collaboration with both the D.C. Department of Human Services and the other provider agencies.

Mr. Giraud’s selection to serve on the Interagency Council on Homelessness (ICH) recognizes his vision, leadership skills, expertise, commitment to collaboration, and personal dedication to ending homelessness. ICH, created in 2005, is a cabinet-level organization that guides the District’s strategies and policies for meeting the needs of those who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless in the District.  For more information on ICH, please visit www.ich.dc.gov.

Mr. Giraud will be sworn in by Mayor Fenty on February 26, 2009 at 5:15 p.m., in the Mayor’s Ceremonial Room, Suite 507, John A. Wilson Building, 1350 Pennsylvania Ave. NW.  Those interested in attending should bring photo I.D.

Community Council for the Homeless at Friendship Place: Friendship Place is the only organization in upper Northwest that provides a full continuum of services to our homeless neighbors — street outreach, hospitality, free medical and psychiatric care, case management, transitional shelter, and permanent housing — serving more than 400 men and women a year. For further information, please visit www.cchfp.org.

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For more information about Friendship Place or to interview Jean-Michel Giraud, please call Julie Butner at 202-364-1419 x19 or e-mail Julie at jbutner(at)cchfp.org.