Tracy Neitzel - 2006 Hope For the Homeless Honoree

Tracy Neitzel has been executive director of Joseph's House for 15 years. At Joseph's House she continually juggles multiple public and private funding sources providing some semblance of stability to an agency that is not wholly dependent on any one funding source.

Since coming to Joseph's House she has overseen the transformation and growth of agency services from 19-beds of overnight shelter provision into an agency dedicated to serving people who have experienced homelessness in their lives across a continuum of need. Joseph's House remains the only provider of emergency shelter in the Troy community and has naturally evolved into the only provider of outreach, supported housing and comprehensive case management services specifically targeting people who are homeless, formerly homeless, or at high risk of becoming homeless again.

In support of this expansion she has completed two capital projects - a 1.2 million dollar rehabilitation to expand emergency shelter capacity and house a 9-unit supported SRO, and a 2.2 million dollar project to rehabilitate an historical hotel that had been operating as a low rent "flop house" into 26 supportive apartments for homeless men and women with disabilities.

Excerpt from speech introducing Tracy and announcing her as recipient of the 2006 Hope for the Homeless Award:

Tracy is known for her compassion for the poor and her unique insight into the system of care in which we all must work. She has an uncanny ability to state challenges and successes in the most relevant terms and can be both diplomat and 'gun-slinger' depending on the need of the moment.