nothin Columbus House Hires New CEO | New Haven Independent

Columbus House Hires New CEO

Margaret MIddleton.

Columbus House, which runs shelters and other services for the homeless, has a new chief: Margaret Middleton.

Middleton, who has extensive experience working with homeless veterans, replaces Alison Cunningham, who retired after 21 years at the helm.

Following is the text of a press release Columbus House sent out Wednesday to announce the hiring:

Columbus House is excited to announce the appointment of Margaret Middleton as the new Columbus House Chief Executive Officer.
The board choose Middleton out of hundreds of candidates in an extensive national search. Margaret has accepted the position and will report to Columbus House the last week of May. Middleton fills the role previously held by Alison Cunningham, whose 21-year tenure brought tremendous growth and national recognition to the organization. Cunningham currently leads a program at Yale Divinity School.
Middleton is well-known across the state through her extensive work with homeless Veterans. She was the co-founder and Executive Director of the Connecticut Veterans Legal Center (CVLC) located at the VA CT’s Errera Community Care Center in West Haven. While collaborating with the Errera Center, she worked with many Veterans who also received services from Columbus House. CVLC was the first organization in the country to integrate lawyers into teams of VA social workers and health care professionals in order to assist homeless Veterans by providing a wide array of pro-bono legal services.
Middleton expanded the reach of CVLC from a small, grass-roots agency into a highly respected state-wide organization employing a full array of experienced staff and hundreds of volunteer attorneys from CT and NY. Margaret is an exceptional team-builder and experienced fundraiser. Under her leadership, CVLC received national recognition from the Dept. of Veteran Affairs and Pro Bono Partnership. While in New Haven, Middleton held the position of Clinical Visiting Lecturer at the Yale Law School Veterans Legal Services Clinic.
In addition to her work with CVLC, Margaret spent almost 10 years on the Columbus House board of directors serving in leadership roles such as Vice Chair, Secretary, and Chair of the Development Committee.
Margaret left New Haven to take a position at Georgia State University College of Law as Asst. Clinical Professor and Co-Director of the Health Law Partnership Legal Services Clinic. Margaret’s passion to use her legal, strategic planning, coalition building and fundraising experience in order to help those who are in the most need drove her desire to return to New Haven and lead Columbus House into its’ next phase of growth, innovation and program development.
According to Middleton, I am so grateful to rejoin the inspiring team at Columbus House, especially at this moment when providing safe and affordable housing has never been more vital.”
As the pandemic has kept us apart, it has also shown us how interdependent we are. The virus lays bare the reality that none of us are safe until all of us are safe. My greatest hope is that we seize the tremendous challenges of this moment as an opportunity to end homelessness in our community.”
According to Rudy Zimmermann, Chairman of the Columbus House board of directors, We are thrilled that Margaret is returning to Columbus House at this critical time to lead the organization into its next stage of growth and development. With an experienced leadership team and a committed board in place, I have no doubt that Margaret’s transition into her new role as Chief Executive Officer will be a smooth one.” 
Columbus House opened its doors in 1982 to provide services for women and men at least 18 years of age. Its goals quickly broadened from the mere provision of food, shelter, and simple survival, to understanding and working toward overcoming the issues which cause people to become homeless. Columbus House operates numerous programs to help single adults, families with children, Veterans and those with mental health and substance use disorders overcome those issues that contributed to their homelessness with an ultimate goal of getting people housed.
Columbus House relies on government grants as well as contributions from businesses, foundations, and individuals to accomplish its mission. With an extensive base of volunteer support and collaborative partnerships with several community-based service providers, Columbus House is able to offer a broad continuum of care for those experiencing homelessness. Now in its 38th year, Columbus House, along with its core of loyal supporters, friends and volunteers, remains committed to fulfilling its mission to serve people who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless, by providing shelter and housing and by fostering their personal growth and independence.”

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