Neighbors Helping Neighbors

Staff

Julia Fitzgerald, Executive Director
Julia Fitzgerald became Executive Director of Neighbors Helping Neighbors in the fall of 2005, after almost twenty years in a variety of non-profit and government positions. She started her career at Community Planning Board #4 in Manhattan, covering the neighborhoods of Chelsea and Clinton. As District Manager, she worked with community residents, neighborhood partners, and local elected officials on land use planning, budget, and service delivery issues. From Community Board #4, Fitzgerald moved to City Center theater, where she did both Government Relations and private fundraising and helped spearhead advocacy efforts for greater municipal funding for the arts. Before joining Neighbors Helping Neighbors, Fitzgerald spent five years at the Garment Industry Development Corporation, a non-profit linked to the apparel workers union which supports the U.S. apparel manufacturing industry and provides services to the population of mainly-immigrant apparel workers in New York City. She received her undergraduate degree from Columbia College in 1987. Fitzgerald feels a particular personal connection to NHN and its mission, since she lives in Sunset Park and serves as Board President of her self-managed coop.

Robert McCool, Homeownership Program Director
Robert joined NHN in May, 2005. Before relocating to Brooklyn, Robert worked as a Financial Education Trainer with Syracuse Cooperative FCU, a community development credit union in Syracuse, New York. While in Syracuse, he also served on the Board of Trustees of the Westcott Community Center and worked as a tutor at The Learning Place, an adult literacy center. Robert graduated from the University of Puget Sound in 2000 with a degree in International Political Economy.

Irene Talbott, Homeownership Counselor
Irene joined NHN in May 2006. For the previous 15 years Irene worked at Charles W. Cammack Associates, Inc. where she provided personal finance counseling, as well as group seminars to employees regarding their retirement plans. She focused on retirement investment choices, savings targets, and sustainable spending planning for retirees, as well as other personal finance concerns. Through her affiliation with the Financial Planning Association of NYC pro bono committee, Irene conducts credit repair seminars for the Brooklyn Doe Fund as a volunteer. She has also volunteered in the Brooklyn Public Library literacy program and is involved in Prospect Park projects. In her spare time she enjoys hiking, astronomy, jazz and new music. Irene holds a Masters degree in Economics from Drake University and is a Certified Financial Planner. She is nearing completion of the Gerontology program at Brookdale Center on Aging at Hunter College. She has lived in Brooklyn since 1983.

Nelly Isaacson, Homeownership Counselor
Nelly has been a community activist for over 30 years, working with Latinos and her immediate community in Park Slope, Brooklyn. She has received awards for her work as president, treasurer and chairperson of different community groups. After a 14 career as an international banker, she has been a business owner for 15 years. Nelly has been working at NHN since May, 2006 and has a Bachelors degree in Business Administration from Pace University. She was also an advice columnist for the Latino magazine VIA for a few years.

Dagan Bayliss, Tenant Organizer
Dagan grew up in Eugene, Oregon and came to New York City in 2004 from Seattle, Washington where he swam in as many rivers and climbed as many mountains as he could. His jobs have included homeless and "at-risk" youth mentoring and outreach, children's program teacher, volunteer coordinator, and ESL teacher in a variety of grass roots and nonprofit settings. He came to New York City in 2004 and in May of 2006 graduated from the Hunter College School of Social Work where he studied community organization and planning. As an organizer he is committed to the empowerment of community members through the development of leadership, equal exchange through dialogue and collaboration, and the use of open participation and transparency in planning and organizing processes.

Nico Udu-gama, Tenant Organizer
Nico joined NHN in May, 2007. For close to four years, through the International Peace Observatory, he lived and worked with farming communities in Colombia, South America. Seeing similarities to forced displacement in Colombia and other countries in Latin America, he is eager to join and understand the struggle for affordable housing in New York City. He likes to bike to work, breathing the polluted New York air and fantasizing about learning lots of languages. His favorite quote: Ni un paso atras, hasta la victoria siempre!

Taylor Graham, Tenant Program Assistant
Taylor Graham is a member of the Jesuit Volunteer Corps and hails from the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. While an undergraduate at Santa Clara University, Taylor was highly involved in social justice movements and student organizations, including editing and writing for OneWorld SCU Social Justice Magazine, and participating in the Santa Clarans for Social Justice, HIV/AIDS Community Task Force, SCU Fair Trade Coalition, and Students Together Organizing for Peace(STOP). When he is not at work, Taylor enjoys reading, cooking, running, cycling, and other outdoor activities. In his year as a JV, Taylor hopes to learn more about the NYC housing crisis and the daily struggles that marginalized communities face in the legal system and ubiquitously in a bustling, cosmopolitan city like New York City.

Denise Torres, Office Manager/ Bookkeeper
Denise joined NHN in October 2005. She emigrated from the Dominican Republic in 1999 where she worked as Credit Assistant at Banco Intercontinental for close to two years. Once in New York, Denise joined Opportunities for a Better Tomorrow, a Brooklyn based employment-training program, in August 2000. For four years, Denise worked at CNEWA, Catholic Near East Welfare Association. As the Sponsorship Data Processor, she was the bridge between the offices overseas and the main office in New York. While working at CNEWA, she was a part time student at Borough of Manhattan Community College where she earned an AA in Business Administration.

Evalevi Lopez, Tenant Assistant
Evalevi Lopez joined NHN in January 2005. She was hired through Opportunities for a Better Tomorrow, the job training school where she learned clerical and computer skills. As the receptionist, she opens the office and is the first point of contact for customers. She has previous experience in retail and also has a beautiful daughter.