George Hoehmann: New Executive Director for Rockland Independent Living Center

Nanuet Resident George Hoehmann is known for many things such as being a Clarkstown Councilman and a member of the Highview Playground Steering Committee. There’s one more thing to add to his list of accomplishments and that’s the title of Executive Director (ED) for the Rockland Independent Living Center, a Rockland County based agency serving nearly 1,200 individuals with disabilities through a variety of programs.

The RILC board voted Monday night to make him the new ED and announced it Tuesday morning.

“We were extremely impressed with the record of accomplishment in the field of disabilities and the vision for the future that George will provide for our agency,” said RILC Board President Audrey Rosenfeld. “We feel fortunate that he accepted our offer and look forward to the innovation and leadership that he will bring to the Rockland Independent Living Center.”

“The RILC works with people of all types of disabilities—I look forward to expanding program services and advocacy for persons with disabilities,” Hoehmann said. “It is a smaller agency about $6,000,000 annual budget—Venture by contrast was $33,000,000. Give me time; we will grow. Maybe not to that level but we will enhance and seek to expand services.”

He begins this new position June 1, 2011, succeeding Ettie Shapiro, who has served as the interim Executive Director since May of 2010.

“I heard about the position from a friend who suggested that I should consider applying. While I have enjoyed consulting, being the Executive Director of a Not For Profit Agency is really appealing,” said Hoehmann.

The mission of the Rockland Independent Living Center is to provide advocacy and leadership in the creation and development of an accessible and integrated community for people with disabilities, so that they may pursue lifestyles of their choice.

“As an Executive Director, you are working directly with a Board trying to advance the mission of an agency. I start June 1 and the offices are located in New City on the corner of Route 45 and New Hempsted Road,” Hoehmann said. “My consulting work with GoldKap brought me far and wide and gave me insight in a lot of different places that I can now apply to my new position. I tend to be a workaholic and it requires a lot of juggling of time and support from my family—fortunately my wife Kathy is very supportive and we seem to make it work.”

Hoehmann formerly served as the Chief Operating Officer of Camp Venture, Inc. He helped streamline operations and developed several new program opportunities and initiatives.

“I was the COO at Camp Venture Inc … but being the Executive Director of an agency is something I always felt I wanted to do,” said Hoehmann. “I feel in some ways that I have accomplished much in my career and being an ED is something I always wanted to consider—in a way I feel like I have done everything else in the field; ED was the last piece if you will for my career in Human Services.”

Before Camp Venture, Hoehmann was the Director of MR/DD Services at Abbott House, where he helped triple programs and services for persons with developmental disabilities. And before that, Hoehmann helped open the first three residences at the Catholic Guardian Society; these residences serve dually-diagnosed individuals that are institutionalized long term, according to an article by the New York Nonprofit Press.

Hoehmann serves on several not-for-profit boards, including the Rockland Children’s Psychiatric Center Board of Visitors. He is an elected official, a Councilman in the Town of Clarkstown where he has proposed several initiatives including Project Lifesaver and the File of Life to help safeguard the elderly and persons with dementia and other disabilities.

Some of his initiatives at Camp Venture included the construction of the Senator Thomas P. Morahan & Ken Freson Therapeutic Equestrian Center. In 2008, Mendoza School of Business of the University of Notre Dame awarded him with the New York Not-for-Profit Press fellowship  to pursue an additional Master’s Degree in Not-For-Profit Administration.

His winning essay detailed how he helped Camp Venture become more environmentally friendly and “green.” One of his “greening” initiatives was building the first community residence equipped with solar power and other energy-efficient features, which lead to the New York State DEC awarding him its 2009 Annual Environmental Excellence Award.

The Rockland Independent Living Center was founded in 1986 and is one of 37 Independent Living Centers in New York State helping to promote the Independent Living philosophy which champions consumer empowerment and control.