Cal Hedigan Will Be New CEO of Community Access
I am pleased to announce that Cal Hedigan has been hired by our Board of Directors to succeed me as Community Access’ next Chief Executive Officer, effective July 1, 2019.
Our press release providing more information follows — or you can view it as a PDF.
CAL HEDIGAN WILL BE NEW CEO OF COMMUNITY ACCESS
Deputy CEO to Succeed Retiring CEO Steve Coe as Head of Renowned Housing and Mental Health Nonprofit
New York, NY – Cal Hedigan will become the next Chief Executive Officer of Community Access, a nationally award-winning nonprofit that provides supportive housing, training and healing-focused services to people living with mental health concerns. Hedigan has served as Deputy CEO since 2011 and has been with the organization in an executive capacity since 1999. She will succeed retiring CEO Steve Coe, effective July 1, 2019.
"As someone who has been with the agency for almost 40 years, I feel fortunate and excited that Cal Hedigan will be Community Access’ future leader. We have worked together for twenty years to jointly plan and create the innovative and high-quality programs that are considered a hallmark of the agency. Her passion and commitment to the mission and values of Community Access are without equal," said Steve Coe, CEO.
Stephen H. Chase, Board President said, "Cal combines insightful executive skills with a true dedication to Community Access’ mission and those we serve. The Board of Directors conducted a thorough executive search to ensure the organization’s future, and unanimously selected Cal as the new CEO. I look forward to seeing Community Access continue to thrive under Cal’s exceptional leadership."
Cal Hedigan said, "I am enormously grateful to have found a professional home at Community Access. At the outset, I was drawn to CA’s rights-based approach to mental health work. The organizational commitment to self-determination, harm reduction and social justice has sustained me over the years. I appreciate the strong foundation that Steve and so many others have built at Community Access, and I’m excited to move into this new leadership role. As we grow and develop as an organization, our values will continue to shine through in everything we do."
Cal Hedigan joined Community Access in 1999 as the Director of Policy and Program Evaluation. She held roles of Director of Corporate Compliance and Chief Operating Officer before being promoted to Deputy CEO in 2011. Prior to her tenure with Community Access, Cal spent nine years in a variety of direct service and management roles at the Bowery Residents’ Committee in New York, ultimately serving as the Director of Planning. She received her undergraduate degree from Brown University and completed graduate studies in social work at Hunter College, as well as training through the National Council of Behavioral Health’s Executive Leadership Program.
Community Access has established an ambitious goal to develop at least 1,000 additional units of affordable and supportive housing, and already has more than half of these units under construction and in the pipeline. Under Cal’s leadership, the agency will also continue to invest in workforce development, infrastructure and services that further its mission and five core values: human rights, peer expertise, self-determination, harm reduction, and healing and recovery.
MORE INFO
About Community Access
Founded in 1974, Community Access creates environments where people living with mental health concerns can build lives of their own choosing in the community. In addition to being one of the largest nonprofit real estate developers in New York City – with more than $300 million in real estate investments – Community Access is also home to the acclaimed Howie the Harp Advocacy Center, NYC’s oldest and largest job training academy for mental health peers, and delivers unique health and wellness, treatment, and crisis support programs that help more than 3,000 New Yorkers every year.
The mission of Community Access is to expand opportunities for people living with mental health concerns to recover from trauma and discrimination through affordable housing, training, advocacy and healing-focused services. We are built upon the simple truth that people are experts in their own lives.
