Proven Solutions

This video was recorded at the IgniteU NY Population Health Innovation Summit on June 12, 2019 at the Albany Capital Center. Moderator: Denard Cummings, Director, Bureau of Social Determinants of Health, NYS Department of Health (NYSDOH) Office of Health Insurance Programs (OHIP) Julia Orlando, Director, Bergen County Housing, Health and Human Services Center

Bergen County Executive Jim Tedesco, along with Julia Orlando, Director of the Bergen County Health and Human Services Center, and AJ Luna, Director of the Bergen County Division of Veteran Services discuss what it took to effectively end chronic and veteran homelessness. Thank you Oradell Public Television for hosting us!

According to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Bergen County has ended chronic homelessness, which it defines as “long-term homelessness among people with disabilities and other complex needs.” Don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE for daily videos: http://bit.ly/1ERsYqw **More info & videos below** For full episodes, check out http://www.njtvnews.org/ Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/njtvonline/ Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/njtvnews/ ----------------- NJTV News with Mary Alice Williams is a week-nightly news program on NJTV covering local New Jersey news as well as a multi-platform, local information source for New Jersey. Be sure to share with us your story ideas, feedback and tips about news in your neighborhood here: http://bit.ly/1GnSEtn NJTV News with Mary Alice Williams airs every weeknight at 6, 7:30 and 11 p.m. ET on NJTV.

Julia Orlando’s tireless, groundbreaking work as Director of the Bergen County Housing, Health, and Human Services Center and with the Housing Authority of Bergen County has made her a nationally renowned expert in the intersection of housing, mental health, and veterans’ services. For more than 25 years she has developed and provided social services in New York and New Jersey to individuals with co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders, and to people who are chronically homeless, re-entering life after prison, or enrolled in jail diversion programs. In 2016, Julia provided leadership to the successful community-wide effort in Bergen County as part of First Lady Michelle Obama’s national Mayors Challenge to End Veteran Homelessness campaign. As a result, Bergen County became the first county in New Jersey and among the first 28 nationally to achieve this goal, and was recognized at the White House by the First Lady’s Opening Doors initiative. In 2017, again under Julia’s leadership, Bergen County became the first county in the nation to end chronic homelessness, and the only community so far to sustain for more than one year. For this, Julia was recognized in 2019 as a “Hometown Hero” by U.S. Congressman Josh Gottheimer (D-5). Tonight, we are proud to bestow the 2019 Lawrence R. Inserra Leadership Award on Julia Orlando for her inspired leadership in our community and for her dedication to the Alfiero & Lucia Palestroni Foundation Multiple Sclerosis Center and its patients. As a member of Women United in Philanthropy in Bergen County, Julia and the women in this giving circle provided a grant from the organization to benefit women patients of the MS Center who are struggling to balance their healthcare needs with their ability to continue working and supporting their families. Julia knows firsthand the challenges faced by patients with MS and their families. Within her immediate family, she has worked diligently to eradicate healthcare roadblocks as her sister, brother, and father have been struck by autoimmune disorders. Her sister, Laura D’Angelo, was diagnosed with MS in 2002; their brother, William D’Angelo, in 2010. Their father had passed away from an autoimmune disorder in 1984 when Julia was 19. “My brother, Bill, had been falling in his supportive housing apartment, and his health rapidly declined,” recalls Julia. “I didn’t know where to turn.” Julia has had very positive experiences with individuals at the shelter of the Bergen County Housing, Health, and Human Services Center, who were treated at Holy Name so that’s where she took Bill. It is here where they were connected with Holy Name internist Eli Dyjebian, MD, who became Bill’s primary care doctor. “Bill’s physicians, therapists, and his entire care team was invaluable to me in helping him apply for Medicaid so he could receive the medications he needed and in securing a long-term home placement at Bergen New Bridge Medical Center,” she says. Julia’s sister, Laura, graduated from Fairleigh Dickinson University School of Nursing. After relocating to Arizona to work as a travel nurse, Laura was struck with the typical MS symptoms of double vision and difficulty walking. She also suffered a stroke and chose to return to New Jersey, where she became a patient of the Alfiero & Lucia Palestroni Foundation Multiple Sclerosis Center four years ago. She is currently living in an apartment complex in Tenafly for people with special needs. “Having world-class MS medical care, including the most advanced therapies, rehabilitation therapy, and supportive care right here in our community at the Holy Name MS Center, has enabled my brother to live with dignity, has allowed my sister to live independently, and has given me the peace of mind that my family is receiving the highest quality MS care possible,” says Julia. Honored by numerous awards, Julia has been named “Distinguished Citizen of the Year” by the Hackensack Chamber of Commerce and a “Woman of Action” by the YWCA of Bergen County. She was recognized by the NJ General Assembly for her work to end poverty in the state and by the SOS Veterans Stakeholder Group with its Distinguished Veteran Provider Award. The Care Plus NJ Foundation presented her with a Courage Award for her mental health advocacy. Julia currently serves as a member of the Board of Trustees of Bergen New Bridge Medical Center and Habitat for Humanity of Bergen County. She is an advisor to the Alliance Against Homelessness and the NJ Coalition to End Homelessness. She is a faculty member of the Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College and is the ambassador for the Stigma Free Task Force in her hometown of Oradell.