Santilli drawn to the mission

MAKING A HOME: Karen A. Santilli, center, is the new CEO at Crossroads Rhode Island. Above, she speaks with co-workers Liz DeJesus, left, direct mail and database manager, and Pat Campellone, special-events and public relations manager. / PBN PHOTO/STEPHANIE ALVAREZ EWENS
MAKING A HOME: Karen A. Santilli, center, is the new CEO at Crossroads Rhode Island. Above, she speaks with co-workers Liz DeJesus, left, direct mail and database manager, and Pat Campellone, special-events and public relations manager. / PBN PHOTO/STEPHANIE ALVAREZ EWENS

“There’s a big misconception that people are homeless because they did something wrong or … if they would just get a job, they wouldn’t be homeless,” said Karen Santilli, Crossroads Rhode Island’s formerchief marketing and strategy officer and new CEO.

“It’s so much more complicated than that; often those who are homeless are working or want to work,” she said.

Santilli, who succeeded the retiring Anne Nolan as president and CEO on June 1, was named PBN’s Business Women Industry Leader in the Social Services category. “[We had] an 89-year-old woman who had never been homeless before and an infant born into homelessness; that’s unacceptable to me.”

The state’s largest and oldest homeless shelter, Providence-based, nonprofit Crossroads offers its clients myriad programs and services. During the past two years, Santilli led Crossroads through a major strategic change – moving from managing homelessness to an approach focused on ending homelessness. The “housing first” model, which Crossroads adopted in 2014 and represents best practices, secures permanent housing for a subset of individuals – the chronically homeless, those with substance abuse, mental health and alcohol problems; domestic violence survivors, the elderly and homeless veterans – and provides them with comprehensive, home-based support services to prevent their return to homelessness.

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Recognizing that organizational change can be difficult, Santilli expressed pride in Crossroads’ employees who deftly adapted to approaching their responsibilities in a different way. In 2014, the agency moved approximately 1,200 formerly homeless individuals (or 644 households) into permanent housing in Rhode Island (although not all through the housing-first initiative). That number represents a significant subset of the 4,067 individuals who accessed a homeless shelter at some time during 2014, according to the Rhode Island Coalition for the Homeless.

“That’s significant; I give credit to the people at Crossroads doing the hard work,” said Santilli, acknowledging that the agency’s limited resources preclude hiring more social workers and purchasing more affordable housing. Even in a difficult financial environment, Santilli consistently champions raising funds for and awareness of Crossroads. “When I started in 2007, we had [slightly fewer than] 7,000 donors, and now we’re mailing to 14,000 donors; we were raising about $2 million and now it’s just over $3 million,” she said.

“I’ve always been drawn to organizations with a strong mission … to motivate me in my work,” said Santilli, hired as Crossroads’ vice president of marketing and development in February 2008. Crossroads’ mission is not only getting individuals and families housed, she explained, but doing it effectively, safely and with respect for its clients. “Housing is a right; people in Rhode Island are homeless, and [they] shouldn’t be.”

Santilli is “a dedicated social service advocate,” wrote John J. McConnell, Jr., a U.S. District Court judge who chairs Crossroads’ board of directors, in his letter supporting Santilli’s nomination. The mission change she led “took vision, skill and leadership,” he said.

Santilli, meanwhile, expressed appreciation for Nolan as a factor in her success. “I have big shoes to fill; I’ve learned so much from her about how to be a good leader,” she said. “She taught me that staying true to our values [is essential].” •

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