Cornell's Homeless Program Hosts Guest Lecture Series

Five individuals who have dedicated their lives to feeding and housing the homeless will participate in a lecture series this spring at Cornell.

The lecture series is part of Cornell's Housing and Feeding the Homeless Program, which began in 1988. The program, offered through the School of Hotel Administration, provides students with opportunities to work in classrooms, temporary and transitional shelters and food banks that distribute surplus, discarded and nonmarketable food to social service agencies.

Lectures will be at 2:30 p.m. in Room 190 of Statler Hall. The schedule is:

  • March 7: Robert Abrams, director of Cornell's Program in Real Estate, will discuss affordable housing development. -- March 12: Dr. Thomas Hameline, director of HELP (Housing Enterprise for the Less Privileged). HELP, founded by Andrew Cuomo in 1986, provides transitional housing with on- site services for homeless families. HELP has eight residences throughout New York state. Hameline will discuss transitional housing and support services for the homeless.
  • April 2: Robert Egger, director of D.C. Central Kitchen, where surplus food from Washington's hotels, restaurants and caterers provides over 2,500 meals daily. Meals are prepared by a professional staff as well as unemployed men and women who are enrolled in a food service job training program, conducted in cooperation with the local hospitality industry. Egger will discuss opening and operating food service outlets and training programs.
  • April 16: Sister Mary Rose McGeady, president of Covenant House, a New York City agency dedicated to the care and rehabilitation of street kids in five counties. Sister McGeady, who participated in this lecture series in 1993, will discuss homeless and runaway children.
  • April 25: Karen Karp, owner of Karp Food Service Consulting, which developed the concept and operations for the Food & Hunger Hotline's not-for-profit restaurant, One City Cafe, and its related job training program for formerly homeless individuals. Karp will discuss opening and operating a not-for-profit food service outlet.

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