This episode of Nonprofit Report features Project Renewal, a pioneering New York City organization committed to breaking the cycle of homelessness through holistic care and client-centered solutions.
Guests:
Eric Rosenbaum, President & CEO
Shams DaBaron, Board Member & Activist
Interview by: Mark Oppenheim
Key Points:
- Project Renewal addresses chronic homelessness by treating the root causes—generational poverty, trauma, mental illness, and substance use.
- The organization’s model integrates housing, healthcare, and employment services to create long-term stability.
- The organization operates shelters, transitional housing, supportive housing, and health centers while outreach teams and shelters are staffed with peers and professional who meet clients where they are.
- Services include medical care, psychiatry, substance use treatment, occupational therapy, and workforce training.
- Specialized shelters serve populations such as LGBTQ+ young adults and those with serious mental illness.
- Effective service delivery relies on listening to people with lived experience and honoring their expertise.
Other Points on Project Renewal:
Project Renewal’s approach recognizes that homelessness is a complex, long-term condition that cannot be solved with temporary solutions. Their model combines trauma-informed care, housing-first principles, and integrated health services. Success begins when a person is seen and treated as more than their circumstances.
Shams DaBaron, a former client and now board member, embodies the power of lived experience. Having endured homelessness and the foster care system, he now advocates for change both inside the organization and at the citywide level. His role ensures that policies remain responsive, respectful, and effective.
The organization’s continuum of care includes everything from short-stay centers to long-term housing with wraparound services. Workforce programs, like culinary arts and human services training, help clients rebuild purpose and economic independence. Project Renewal does not impose success—it helps clients define and pursue it.
Project Renewal proves that healing homelessness requires commitment to people, partnership, and systems that evolve to meet human needs.