Care for the Homeless Director Watts to Give Neibacher Address at National Health Conference Event in Washington


Care for the Homeless Executive Director Bobby Watts has been chosen to give the annual “Susan L. Neibacher Address”, which is the keynote speech of a breakfast plenary session of the National Health Care for the Homeless Council’s national conference on Thursday, March 14, at the Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill hotel in Washington, D.C. He will speak to several hundred health care administrators, clinicians and homeless advocates from across America about “Homelessness as a Public Health Epidemic."

The speech is a particularly meaningful one for Watts because it is named for Susan L. Neibacher who was the founding Executive Director of Care for the Homeless in 1985. Not only was Neibacher an effective and inspirational organizer and administrator, she was also a mentor to Bobby Watts.

In addition to being one of New York City’s oldest and largest providers of health care and human services to people experiencing homelessness, Care for the Homeless also operates a 200-bed shelter for medically frail women in the Bronx, “Susan’s Place”, also named after Susan Neibacher. We also advocate for public policies to ameliorate, prevent and end homelessness.   

Watts is a nationally recognized expert in health care and service provision to people experiencing homelessness. He also serves on the New York State Medicaid Redesign Team’s Affordable Housing Workgroup, the Board of the NonProfit Coordinating Committee of New York and is Treasurer of New York’s Black Agency Executives organization. He holds a Master of Public Health and Masters in Epidemiology from Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health. He has more than 25 years of experience in direct service provision to homeless, mentally ill, HIV-positive and substance abusing populations. 

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