[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 8]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 10615]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




IN RECOGNITION OF EDWARD GEFFNER, PRESIDENT AND CEO OF PROJECT RENEWAL, 
                   ON THE OCCASION OF HIS RETIREMENT

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. CAROLYN B. MALONEY

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, June 14, 2010

  Mrs. MALONEY. Madam Speaker, I rise to acknowledge the achievements 
of Mr. Edward Geffner on the occasion of his retirement as the 
President and Chief Executive Officer of Project Renewal, a not-for 
profit organization dedicated to serving the needs of homeless persons 
in New York City.
  Edward Geffner began his work with Project Renewal in 1976. For the 
past third of a century, he has served the organization as its 
Executive Director, leading it with extraordinary compassion and 
commitment. Under his able management, Project Renewal has reached out 
to countless homeless men and women in need of support.
  Under Mr. Geffner's leadership, Project Renewal has taken a 
comprehensive approach in providing critical assistance to its clients. 
The organization reaches out to homeless men and women on the streets 
of our nation's greatest city through mobile medical and psychiatric 
teams. Project Renewal helps provides essential services to those who 
are also coping with mental illness or drug addiction by linking 
residents to treatment programs that help them combat addiction or 
learn to manage their mental illness. Edward Geffner and the Project 
Renewal staff recognize that a good job is critical to independent 
living, and they have created a wide range of employment initiatives, 
including a culinary arts program that has successfully placed 85 
percent of its graduates in jobs. I have seen the effectiveness of the 
programs that Project Renewal operates in the district that I 
represent.
  Supported largely by private philanthropy and corporate sponsors, 
Edward Geffner and Project Renewal have worked in collaboration with 
numerous public, private, and not-for-profit organizations and social 
service providers to help homeless and formerly homeless individuals 
and families find employment and housing. Trained social workers and 
staff members, many of whom were formerly homeless, visit and 
coordinate services for those in need of assistance in managing and in 
accessing benefits and medical and social services to which they are 
entitled. Project Renewal provides information, referral and ongoing 
monitoring and care management as well as providing some special 
services that are not offered by other service providers. The agency 
also collaborates with organizations at all levels to develop and 
improve coordination of services for the homeless and formerly homeless 
persons who need individualized community-based preventive protective 
services if they are to live safely in their own homes. Thanks in no 
small part to Edward Geffner's expert leadership, Project Renewal now 
provides dedicated and compassionate assistance to more than 10,000 New 
Yorkers every year.
  Madam Speaker, in recognition of a lifetime of service to others, I 
request that my distinguished colleagues join me in paying tribute to 
Edward Geffner, a great New Yorker and a great American. Throughout a 
career of professional and voluntary activity, he has fought for and 
secured immeasurable improvements to the quality of life of his fellow 
New Yorkers. Edward Geffner's selfless and enduring dedication to 
public and community serves as an inspiration to us all.

                          ____________________