NYU Furman Center Summer Speaker Series: Giselle Routhier, Milton Perez, and Jennifer Ortiz
Please join the NYU Furman Center for a presentation:
Homelessness, Health, and Rental Assistance – Perspectives from Lived Experience
with
Giselle Routhier
Research Assistant Professor
Department of Population Health at NYU Grossman School of Medicine
Milton Perez (a.k.a. “Miltito”)
Homelessness & Housing Union Leader
Jennifer Ortiz
Peer Supervisor, Growing Strong Program
Presentation Description:
In this moderated discussion, Milton Perez and Jennifer Ortiz will discuss reasons individuals and families end up homeless, the impact of homelessness on health, the importance of rental assistance, and how to improve existing rental assistance programs. Milton and Jennifer are members of the Health x Housing Lab Speakers Bureau and Peer Network at NYU Langone Health. The discussion will be moderated by Giselle Routhier, PhD, MSW, Director of the Health x Housing Lab.
Date: Wednesday, August 12, 2026
Time: 12:00 – 1:00 PM ET
Location: NYU School of Law – Furman Hall
245 Sullivan Street, Room 212
New York, NY 10012
A light lunch will be provided for in-person attendees.
Virtual attendees are welcome to register via Zoom.
About the Presenters:
Giselle Routhier is a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Population Health at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, where she directs the Health x Housing Lab. She earned her PhD in social policy from Brandeis University and her MSW from Columbia University. Her research focuses on the relationship between housing insecurity and health. Her work places a strong emphasis on community engagement and partnership with people with lived experience of housing insecurity. Her current research projects include a HUD-funded study examining the re-housing experiences of homeless adults aged 55 and over. Dr. Routhier’s research has been published in Housing Policy Debate, Health Affairs, and the American Journal of Public Health.
Milton Perez (a.k.a. “Miltito”) grew up happily with friends and family in the Bronx and Puerto Rico. He became an advocate for people experiencing homelessness and housing challenges while spending more than five years in New York City’s shelter system and nearly a year and a half in a hotel during the pandemic. During that time, he got involved with VOCAL-NY’s Homelessness and Housing Union, advocating to address issues such as the lack of reliable WiFi for people placed in hotels and shelters and improving and expanding the CityFHEPS rental assistance program. Milton has been quoted speaking about homelessness, the shelter system, and ways to improve housing services by the CNN, Associated Press, NPR, CBS News, City Limits, The Bronx Daily, Next City, Gothamist, The City, and other media outlets. He frequently travels to Albany to meet with State Senate and Assembly members about legislation such as the WiFi for the Homeless bill and the Housing Access Voucher Program (HAVP), which he submitted testimony about. Milton was a guest of U.S. Representative Yvette Clarke at the 2024 State of the Union address. He currently lives in an apartment on the border of Brownsville and East New York, which he obtained through the NYC Housing Connect apartment lottery. When he takes the train from his home, he can see the hotel and shelter where he once stayed, a constant reminder that for many people the struggle to find affordable housing goes on.
Jennifer Ortiz (she/her) is a Peer Supervisor of the Growing Strong program at Women in Need (WIN) in New York City, where she leads trauma informed, peer-based support for parents experiencing homelessness. She is also a writer, speaker, and creative storyteller whose work centers lived experience as a driver of systems change. Jennifer’s work is shaped by her lived experience navigating poverty, housing instability, and complex systems as a mother, grounding her approach in trust, emotional safety, and dignity. She specializes in trauma-informed care and integrating direct cash assistance with relational, peer-led models for families in high-stress environments, and created Transformative Peer Conversations, a framework to build trust, reduce harm, and support emotional regulation in service and leadership spaces. Jennifer presented on Growing Strong’s program implementation at the Urban Institute’s 2025 Innovations and Solutions for Ending Unsheltered Homelessness Conference, and facilitated a workshop on Transformative Peer Conversations at the National Coalition for the Homeless’ 2025 National Lived Experience Leadership Conference. As an advocate for economic justice and housing stability. Jennifer has spoken at rallies across New York, including in front of Governor Kathy Hochul’s Manhattan office with the New York State Cash Alliance, where she highlighted direct cash as a response to gaps in the social safety net. She has also traveled to Albany to meet with state legislators and advocate for policies that expand cash assistance and the Empire Child Tax Credit. Her writing focuses on benefits cliffs, housing instability, and economic justice. Her op-ed, When Paperwork Keeps Families in Shelter, examines how administrative barriers keep families in shelter longer and calls for more efficient, human centered systems. In her Substack, Love is on the Rise, she blends personal narrative with policy insight on healing and systems change. Jennifer was recognized as Employee of the Quarter at WIN for her leadership and impact in peer services. She is committed to transforming systems through lived experience and building approaches to care grounded in connection, accountability, and human dignity.