Project Renewal Names Eric Rosenbaum Chief Executive Officer

Eric Rosenbaum has been named President and Chief Executive Officer of Project Renewal, a leading New York City homeless services nonprofit agency. Eric brings to the role a wealth of experience in homeless services and organizational management. He will begin his tenure on October 2, 2018.

“We are thrilled to have Eric join our extraordinary management team and our remarkable staff. Project Renewal is experiencing unprecedented growth as the demand for smart, humane services for the homeless continues to build. Eric’s experience and passion for our mission of ending homelessness will ensure we continue on our trajectory of creating and expanding innovative health, homes and jobs programs for those who are homeless or are at risk of becoming homeless,” said Claudia Rosen, Chair, Project Renewal Board of Trustees.

Most recently, Mr. Rosenbaum served as Chief Executive Officer of Lantern, a nonprofit that works with formerly homeless individuals and those at risk of homelessness. He also served as Chief Operating Officer of Win, Inc., a provider of family homeless shelters and family supportive housing. Mr. Rosenbaum serves on several boards, including Homeless Services United, the umbrella organization that represents the city’s homeless services organizations. In addition to his nonprofit experience, he has over two decades of experience in corporate management, working for companies such as Colgate-Palmolive. He earned an MS in Public Health and an MBA from UNC Chapel Hill, and a BA in biology from UCLA. 

“I am excited to join the Project Renewal team and be part of this visionary organization,” said Eric Rosenbaum. “The impact Project Renewal is having on New York’s homeless community is unparalleled, and I am looking forward to doing even more to help individuals and families renew their lives and reclaim hope.”

Project Renewal, which was founded over 50 years ago, is rapidly expanding as the demand for innovative solutions to the homeless crisis continues to grow. In the coming year, it will open the city’s first diversion center, which will provide the police with an alternative to sending individuals experiencing acute mental health and substance use disorder issues to jail; launch a tele-psychiatry unit to make mental healthcare more accessible; roll out a new ScanVan, which provides mammograms and follow-up care coordination to un- and under-insured women across the city; open Bedford Green House, the organization’s fifth and most innovative supportive housing development; and develop a specialized shelter for 200 men in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.

These new initiatives are part of Project Renewal’s strategy to better address single adult and family homelessness in New York City. Each year, Project Renewal serves approximately 16,000 individuals across seven shelters, eight transitional and permanent supportive housing developments, and scattered-site permanent supportive housing;  jobs programs; and shelter-based medical, mobile medical, psychiatric, detox, dental and mobile mammography programs.

Mr. Rosenbaum will join a management team led by Chief Operating Officer Jody Rudin, who served as interim President and Chief Executive Officer and advanced numerous strategic initiatives during the year; Stephanie Cowles, Deputy Director for Substance Use Disorder Services; Susan Dan, Deputy Director for Mental Health Services; Steven Jones, Chief Financial Officer; and Allison Grolnick, MD, Chief Medical Officer. Collectively, they have served Project Renewal for 104 years.