Client voice on board grows with 3 new members

At its monthly meeting on June 27, the Board of Directors voted unanimously and enthusiastically to add three new client members to the agency's leadership body. Effective immediately, James Barnes, Grady Butler and Athena Haniotis are now members of the Health Care for the Homeless Board.

James occupies the seat vacated this winter when Teddy Maddox passed away; he will finish out Teddy’s term through the end of this year, and the Board will then renew him for another full, three-year term. Grady and Athena are occupying two newly minted client seats. Together, they join current client Board members Mark Schumann and James Crawford.

Please be sure to congratulate James, Grady and Athena when you see them next. Meantime, get to know them a little bit better here…

James is an active member of the Consumer Relations Committee—he’s the committee’s meeting timekeeper and runs a very tight agenda!—and in the last year-plus has helped revise the committee’s charter and develop new operating procedures for the committee. He also provides ongoing support for the help desk at 421 Fallsway and various other CRC and client activities. He’s a member of Baltimore’s Faces of Homelessness Speakers’ Bureau and the B’More Housing for All advocacy group. And he has consistently supported client engagement in Baltimore County by attending monthly meetings there for the last two-plus years. James has a full-time job selling concessions at Camden Yards during baseball season and makes a big effort to stay active and engaged with the CRC and other groups of which he’s a member. 

Athena Haniotis, also an active CRC member, served as a client representative on the Health Care for the Homeless strategic planning committee in spring 2017, and on multiple occasions served as a client representative of the National Health Care for the Homeless council. She presented the workshop “Creating Sanctuary for Female Consumers” at the 2017 National Health Care for the Homeless conference in June. Athena volunteers to take and type up notes and takes initiative in other group activities. And, given the roles she’s held, her client peers often look to her to lead. 

A staff member who nominated Grady Butler to the Board describes him as “well versed [in] and knowledgeable about the needs of our population.” At the recommendation of staff, he was a client leader on lobby day in 2017. He is also a member of PHASE alumni group and has proactively expressed interest in more opportunities for leadership development. Recently, Grady spoke alongside Health Care for the Homeless CEO Kevin Lindamood at a high-profile Medicaid forum sponsored by U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings and he’s been active in the Rock your Socks 5K run and other agency events. 

Congratulations and welcome to all!