2024 Annual Meeting Award Winners
Each year, NEOCH honors those who have demonstrated exemplary commitment to ending the root causes of homelessness in our community. We have presented awards to volunteers, elected officials, city leaders, lawyers, organizers, street outreach workers, and service providers.
This is a big honor to celebrate those with an outstanding commitment to ending the root causes of homelessness in our community. We thank them for their time and commitment.
Dr. Shereen Naser (she/her)
Social Justice Advocate of the Year
Dr. Shereen Naser is the daughter of forcibly displaced Palestinians. As a scholar and organizer, Dr. Naser's work focuses on identifying, dismantling and replacing the mechanisms of colonialism that necessitate the subjugation of some over others. As a school psychologist, Dr. Naser has specifically worked to understand youth mental health in these contexts. She has written over 21 peer reviewed manuscripts, coauthored a book on child advocacy in K12 settings, and has been featured on national and international news.
She is a founding member of the Cleveland Palestine Advocacy community, and a board member of OPAWL, an AAPI feminist base building organization in Ohio. She’s also the mother of two beautiful girls and a few chickens.
Liam Haggerty (he/him)
Homeless Advocate of the Year
Liam Haggerty (he/him) found his way into street outreach as a volunteer, launching the St. Edward High School Labre Ministry while working at the school. Every week, he led students and alumni into the city, not just to pass out food and supplies, but to build relationships with those living outdoors.
His commitment to service grew from there. He established St. Ed’s monthly food pantry and fresh produce distribution, ensuring families had access to essentials. But the pull toward full-time homeless services became impossible to ignore.
After more than a decade at St. Ed’s—and a summer as an outreach intern at NEOCH—Liam stepped fully into the work in 2021, joining NEOCH as the Director of Street Outreach. In that role, he helped expand the organization’s leadership in the HOPWA STSH program, working to connect people living with HIV/AIDS to shelter and stable housing.
In 2024, he took on a new challenge, serving as Project Manager for the Home for Every Neighbor initiative within the Cleveland Department of Public Health and the Mayor’s Office. Under his leadership, the program reached its 18-month goal—housing 150 people directly from the street—in just six months.
Liam is grateful every day to be part of this work. More than anything, he’s inspired by the strength and resilience of the unhoused community and honored to stand alongside them.
