FOUNDER

Dr. Bossie, as the area’s Homeless Medicine Doctor, has worked with the unhoused population on the streets, in the local shelters and in homes where they live without any supportive services.

I was born and raised in Northampton. I know that we can do better when it comes to providing housing and services for our unhoused community members.

As a volunteer and board member at Manna Community Kitchen for the last couple of years, I've become very aware of what the needs are and what the solutions could be if we work collaboratively, proactively and creatively all together. IHS is a big step in the right direction and I'm very excited and honored to be a part of it.

I am a Smith College '14 alum who stuck around for 6 years after graduation. I worked in fields where I got to know my neighbors who experienced housing insecurity, economic exploitation, intimate violence, and systemic injustice. I hope to contribute heart and solidarity to this amazing project.

For 13 years I was the Shelter Director at ServiceNet overseeing two homeless shelters and ServiceNet owned affordable low- income housing units in Hampshire County. This work has allowed me to see the challenges and successes that houseless individuals can obtain with stable housing opportunities.

I continue today in this line of work managing affordable housing units with Housing Management Resources and through my Board work with Friends of Hampshire County Homeless. Independent Housing Solutions allows me to continue advocating for the need of affordable disabled housing units in the Pioneer Valley.

Susan Rees is an advanced practice psychiatric nurse who has worked in multiple settings. She has lived in Northampton for over 2 decades, and cares deeply about all members of her community, particularly those who struggle with addiction, medical and psychiatric illnesses, being unhoused. She is honored to serve on a board committed to assisting her neighbors.

Native of Northampton, graduated Holyoke Catholic on to a long-term career as a dental assistant. Working in the field gave me a deep compassion for those in pain.

"Helping the homeless in our community is extremely important. Having lived experience I know what it means to need shelter."

Creating housing for members of our community is an ongoing necessity. Independent Housing Solutions offers a unique, holistic and loving home to its clients.

Pat Byrnes spent the bulk of her career in the management and development of affordable housing . She brings with her four decades of experience working at among other places, MassHousing, MA Department of Housing and Community Development, Boston Financial, the City of Springfield, and finally the Regional Housing Network of MA, a network of nine large housing non-profits operating all over the state. She believes that everyone should be able to live in a place that they can call their own and where they can safely participate fully in the city or town that they call home.