Housing Unlimited CEO Abe Schuchman
Pays Tribute to
President Emerita
Nancy Y. Cohen
It is with great sadness that I share with you that Housing Unlimited President Emerita Nancy Y. Cohen has passed away. Nancy felt very strongly that decent, affordable housing is essential for individuals in mental health recovery to grow and flourish…..
I am indebted to Nancy for putting her trust in me in late 1994 to serve as the Executive Director of Housing Unlimited. At that time, Nancy was the President of the Board of Directors of Housing Unlimited and, under her leadership, the organization had taken many critical steps and was positioned to launch operations. Beginning with the acquisition of Housing Unlimited’s first house in Aspen Hill in the spring of 1995, Nancy and the Board and I worked hard to acquire an average of three homes per year. Now, 28 years later, Housing Unlimited just closed on its 90th home and provides affordable, shared independent housing to 247 very low income individuals in mental health recovery. This is Nancy’s legacy. And with 200 individuals on our waiting list, we are determined to continue to grow and in this way honor Nancy’s memory.
Over the years, it was a great privilege for me to periodically speak with Nancy and update her on Housing Unlimited’s work. Nancy has been an outstanding role model for me. First and foremost, she cared deeply about Housing Unlimited-- its Board members, employees, and tenants. She was unwavering in her commitment to quality and correctly insisted that we at all times utilize outstanding contractors and, in general, do things the right way and not cut corners. She recognized early on that a strong public-private partnership would be critical to our success. She moved quickly to forge positive relationships with key stakeholders in both the state and county government as well as in the private sector with institutions like Chevy Chase Bank, Community Residences, and Threshold Services. And she did all of this not to benefit family members or friends; rather, she did it from a place of altruism and service. For this reason and so many other reasons, I will always admire Nancy as a trailblazing leader and a kind human being.
