Hesed House Executive Director Joe Jackson knows how to speak in front of people – whether its residents of the Aurora homeless shelter or elected officials at the local, state and federal levels.
But last week Jackson admitted he was nervous when he stood in front of the staff at Hesed House and told them he was stepping down as its leader.
Jackson won’t be going far. He is taking on a new role as vice president of capital development and asset management with the Association for Individual Development, the nonprofit that Hesed House officials work closely with, particularly in recent years as the affordable housing crisis is leaving so many citizens in our communities without a place to call home.
Anyone who knows Jackson can attest to the passion he feels for Hesed House, where he worked as managing director for four years before taking over as executive director in 2021. Advocating for the homeless is deeply personal to the 41-year-old Oswego man, who in his younger days was forced to couch surf after getting kicked out by his father, and whose wife Tricia also experienced homelessness.
It’s no wonder the decision to step away from the shelter was not made lightly by Jackson, who admitted to the staff – and to me later – that he wrestled with it, prayed over it and talked it through with many people, including family, friends and mentors.
The latter includes his predecessor Ryan Dowd, who except for a two-year hiatus to start a Washington, D.C., human rights group, served as executive director at Hesed House for about 15 years.
Dowd is currently running a Nashville-based business he founded a few years ago that trains libraries, businesses, nonprofits and governments on ways to deal with the homeless population. But he has kept close ties with Hesed House, serving as its director of mission and strategy and will assume the role of interim executive director until a permanent replacement can be found by the shelter’s board of directors.
“I get to immerse myself with them 24/7,” said an enthusiastic Dowd, whose strong bond with the shelter goes back to his teen years when he was a volunteer there.
For Jackson, the move to AID is “a perfect fit” because the issue of “affordable housing has always been a passion of mine,” he told me.
Plus, “it was time for a change,” said Jackson, who went public about six months ago after anxiety brought on stroke-like symptoms that landed him in the hospital.
“Running Hesed House is a special job, but it’s a hard one,” he admitted.
Among the many challenges Jackson faced was leading the $6 million-plus rehabilitation effort that turned the building across the street from Hesed House into an additional shelter. And, while seeing that project to fruition “was a highlight,” it was also frustrating, he insisted, because “as soon as the weather started to turn in November of last year” – just 12 months after the ribbon-cutting – “the adult shelter had a wait list again.”
Working in shelters and tackling homelessness, experts agree, is tougher today than ever. Not only are federal resources shrinking but, as Jackson pointed out, compassion for those who are unhoused is also in short supply.
“Part of that is what is driving me to focus on affordable housing,” he said of his new job at AID, which will include overseeing current and future housing developments, as well as effective use of current and future capital resources.
“More shelters is not the way to tackle the issue,” Jackson insisted. “Housing is the answer – housing that is affordable and dignified.”
As it turned out, about the time he was seriously considering a new career path, AID was looking to reorganize its structure to better meet expanding needs.
“These things have a way of going the way they should,” said AID Executive Director Lore Baker, noting that the nonprofit, which has a $58 million budget and serves seven counties, has “really grown exponentially in the last 10 years.”
In addition to owning about 70 buildings and over 90 vehicles, there are two properties currently under construction with more plans for future sites, Baker said, adding that, with all the development work Jackson has done, “we just knew it would be a great fit.”
Jackson agrees. “I look for signs,” he said. “The timing just worked out right.”
Of course, that didn’t make the recent announcement to his staff at Hesed House any easier.
“This place has never been just a job to me. It’s been a calling,” he told them. “Outside of being a husband and a dad, being a part of Hesed House has been the greatest honor of my life. And even after I leave, a part of my heart will always belong within these walls and to the mission of this place …
“You are doing holy work.”
dcrosby@tribpub.com
