This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

My name is Jonathan Santos-Ramos. I’m Chief Program Officer at Care For the Homeless and I’ve been here one-and-a-half years. 

What does your role entail? 

My role is to oversee our residential services and health service delivery, as well as our operations and our human resources department. 

Every day is a different day, but depending on what’s going on, it means overseeing and working with the vice presidents of our different direct service programs to make sure that we are delivering the optimal care to our residents and clients as best as possible. 

What did you do before coming to CFH, and how did you decide to get into this work? 

I have been in healthcare administration for the last twenty-five years, most recently as interim executive director of a federally qualified health center network [federally-funded clinics that provide comprehensive services to an underserved area or population] in New York City. 

I started as a peer educator back in the mid ‘90s, mostly around HIV at the height of the HIV pandemic, and it sort of snowballed. I started in health education and then it really grew from there, and I’ve dedicated pretty much my whole life—at least my adult life—to healthcare administration. 

How did you come to work at CFH? 

I’ve always been somewhat connected, if not directly, but sort of adjacently, to homeless healthcare, and this was an amazing opportunity to marry my knowledge of federally qualified health centers with really focusing on the work that Care for the Homeless does not only on the shelter side, but also integrating health into what we do on the shelter side and for the homeless community at-large. So it was a perfect opportunity for me to connect not only my experience, but also my expertise. 

Has there been any connection between your HIV work and the work at CFH? 

Yes. So homeless folks often experience many comorbidities, and having to address those comorbidities can be complicated when health is not at the top of folks’ minds. And so we really have to meet folks where they are to be able to provide as many of our services as possible, and that way, we can eventually get to a place where they’re living healthier lives. That was very much the approach in HIV prevention in in the mid ‘90s and beyond. 

Why do you think CFH’s work is important? 

CFH’s work is extremely important. I think that we do things very uniquely and have a unique position of being able to provide the whole compendium of services, from shelter to healthcare—medical and behavioral health, dental health, but also supportive services, like housing assistance, eligibility, enrollment and a host of things like health and education—and really sort of helping the whole person to be able to live healthier lives and eventually hopefully gain permanent housing. 

What further support do you think is needed for homeless New Yorkers? 

There’s tons of support needed for homeless New Yorkers. Where to begin? 

I think that the biggest thing for us right now is really making sure that poverty isn’t perceived as violence, right? Because many of our clients are coming off of the street and are being treated as if they’re some sort of criminal, and they’re not. They are whole persons, and we are very fortunate to be able to welcome them into our spaces with open arms. But we really need the support from all New Yorkers to be more sensitive to folks living on the streets and in the shelter system.