We are pleased to welcome advocate and retired shelter specialist Cynthia English to the CFH Board of Directors!

Cynthia English is a native New Yorker and advocate for the homeless who has both personal and professional experience with this topic. She spent 10 years navigating the challenges of street homelessness and three years in and out of the shelter system. Those years led her to volunteer and then pursue a career as a shelter specialist for the Coalition for the Homeless, an organization that is the driving force behind New York City’s “right to shelter” law (known as the Callahan Consent Decree). The Coalition is the court appointed monitor of the city shelter system, conducting inspections of shelter conditions and advocating for the rights of residents.   

Cynthia recently retired from her full-time position and plans to use the next chapter of her life to continue to fight for fair and equitable housing for all New Yorkers. She is particularly interested in the plight of the elderly dealing with the shelter system, working to identify where their needs are not being met and developing recommendations for a better system. Cynthia has witnessed firsthand the lack of empathy the shelter system has for the elderly, who often have special dietary, medical and mental health needs. Navigating the bureaucracy of the shelter system can be very confusing, and older adults often need more guidance and help acquiring suitable housing, which is in short supply.   

Cynthia is the mother of three adult children and has one grandson. She enjoys spending time with family, watching true crime documentaries, and playing video games. She participates in public speaking opportunities whenever possible, as well as spoken word performances and other creative projects, including working on a memoir about her life. You can hear her story on YouTube in “Unsheltered,” a spoken-word collaboration with musical accompaniment.

Watch Cynthia’s story in the video below.