JOIN is pleased to announce that Shannon Singleton has been hired to serve as Executive Director, effective April 6, 2015.
JOIN’s Board President, Chris Bonner, stated: “I could not be more pleased that our extensive and intensive hiring process resulted in us identifying Shannon Singleton as the best candidate for the job of Executive Director of JOIN. I look forward to working with her to continue JOIN’s mission and identify new and creative ways to address this systemic problem.”
JOIN’s Board Vice President, and founding Board Member, Margaret Bryant said, “Shannon comes to JOIN with extensive experience and knowledge working with our homeless friends. We are very excited to have Shannon leading JOIN’s ongoing mission to make homelessness a short term circumstance vs. a chronic condition.”
Ms. Singleton, who is originally from Philadelphia, brings exceptional leadership skills and 14 years of experience in the homeless services sector, as well as a master’s degree in social work. She currently serves as the Program Coordinator for the Portland Housing Bureau and was, until submitting her application, a board member at JOIN. Prior to that, she served as the Director of Day Space Services at JOIN and as Program Manager at Cascadia Behavior Health Care, where she worked on housing and homelessness at the Royal Palm and Bud Clark Commons. She also served as Executive Director at the Salvation Army Female Emergency Shelter and served on the Portland Housing Advisory Commission.
“I am humbled and honored to step into this position and look forward to working with JOIN friends, staff, board, community partners, funders, and elected officials as we continue to work to end homelessness,” said Ms. Singleton.
Marc Jolin, who served for eight years as executive director, left in January to coordinate “A Home for Everyone,” a community-wide effort to house homeless Multnomah County citizens by making smart investments in the areas of housing, income, survival, emergency services, health, access to services and systems coordination. He enthusiastically endorsed Ms. Singleton as his successor. “Shannon is among our community’s most effective leaders on issues of homelessness and housing. She is a great choice for JOIN and we will all benefit from her continued advocacy on behalf of those who aren’t able to meet even their most basic need for safe, decent and affordable housing.”
In May, JOIN will hold an event to pay tribute to Marc Jolin, welcome Shannon Singleton, and celebrate JOIN’s work. All are welcome; details will be posted on JOIN’s website in April.