Farewell to John Parvensky
Last month, after 36 years as President and CEO, John Parvensky announced his retirement from Colorado Coalition of the Homeless.
John founded CCH in 1985, and since then the organization has provided supportive housing, healthcare, substance treatment care, employment support, childcare, and other services necessary to support its clients’ needs. Today, the Coalition helps over 22,000 people a year, and their accomplishments include building 20 affordable housing developments, providing housing for over 4,500 people a night through vouchers and their affordable housing developments, and creating Stout Street Health Center, which serves more than 15,000 people annually. Under John Parvensky’s leadership, the CCH has grown from a staff of six to a staff of 750, and now manages and distributes millions of dollars in resources within the community.
For almost four decades, John has been an unrelenting advocate for federal, state, and local funding for housing and support services for the unhoused people of Colorado. Thanks to the efforts of nonprofits like CCH and community leaders like John, Colorado is seeing increased investment in housing, health, and support services, and even as the housing crisis presents new challenges, Mr. Parvensky leaves CCH in a position of strength and preparedness.
“I believe the time has come for a new generation of leadership to build upon our successes and lead the Coalition into the future to meet the growing needs of people experiencing homelessness in our community,” said John in a farewell address.
“I was fortunate to meet John Parvensky, a founding Board Member of Urban Land Conservancy, back in 2007 when I started with the organization,” said Aaron Miripol, President and CEO of Urban Land Conservancy. “What impressed me the most about John was his passion for and commitment to improving the lives of Colorado’s homeless, going beyond the sticks and bricks of building new homes. John’s brilliance lies in his deep understanding that to successfully address homelessness you have to bring a broad range of services, including quality medical care, mental health services and case management along with the housing. John’s work with CCH has been cutting edge in providing holistic support to the unhoused in Colorado and across the Country. Thank you, John, for your leadership!”
ULC recognizes and thanks Mr. Parvensky for the enormous contribution he has made to the lives of people experiencing homelessness in our community, and remains a steadfast partner to Colorado Coalition for Homelessness as they continue to accomplish our shared mission.