Our Team

Latanya “Toni” Burton-Mickey

she/her

Toni serves as NEOCH’s Office Manager and provides support for NEOCH’s advocacy and organizing work, specifically with the Homeless Congress and the Cleveland Street Chronicle. She is also responsible for incoming and outgoing donations. Toni began working at NEOCH in February 2018. She received an Associate of Arts and Associated Sciences degree from Cuyahoga Community College in 2006 and earned a Bachelor of Arts in Healthcare Administration and an MBA in Healthcare Management from Ursuline College in 2012 and 2016, respectively.

 In her free time, she does ministry work with Five Ladies Delivering Hands. Through this effort, she feeds those experiencing homelessness, as well as procuring and distributing items in her neighborhood Newburgh Heights and other neighborhoods throughout the city of Cleveland.

Josiah Quarles

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Josiah Quarles is NEOCH’S Director of Organizing and Advocacy. A long-time soccer coach, he views the sport as an apex of cooperation, communication, skill building, and endurance. Nurturing these attributes while appreciating the dignity and creative sovereignty of the individual permeates the way he thinks about organizing. The interplay of freedom and structure, space and connectivity, urgency and patience animate the points of tension that create moments of brilliance in what they call the “beautiful game”, and in movement work. 

Josiah has a background in grassroots organizing, public speaking, education, sport-based youth development, and multimedia arts. Social Justice and the liberation struggle have been at the heart of many of his professional and artistic endeavors. He views two-way education, community-based solutions, and decentralized power building as fundamentally essential to challenging the politics and policies that have codified the oppression and disenfranchisement of so many. Housing is foundational to creating community stability, safety and success, and he is happy to help lay that foundation.

Renee Williams

she/her

Renee Williams serves as a Housing Justice Community Organizer at NEOCH, facilitating the formation of tenant associations to address landlord harassment and achieve safe and stable housing conditions. She also acts as an advocate for tenants and provides referrals to vital housing services. Renee is passionate about dismantling harmful societal structures that seek to oppress marginalized and underprivileged communities. Before her employment at NEOCH, Renee was a social worker for many years, advocating for housing, medical, employment, and income rights for victims of discrimination. 

Renee currently holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology with a minor in social work from the University of Toledo, and a master's in social work (MSSA) from the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences at Case Western Reserve University. 

In her free time, Renee is an active member of her church, participating in media ministry and street outreach. She also loves photography, traveling, and spending time with her family and friends. 

Torria Catrone

she/her

Housing Justice Community Organizer

Torria graduated in May 2024 from Denison University with degrees in Journalism and Political Science. Her passion is in advocacy that centers community storytelling and aims to influence policy in ways big and small. As a Housing Justice Community Organizer, Torria is learning what it means to build collective power that’s sustainable and centers long-marginalized voices. She is humbled to be walking alongside Clevelanders in the fight for housing equity.

Mike Jones

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Mike Jones works at NEOCH as our Justice Housing Strategist in our Organizing and Advocacy team. Mike Jones mission is to Break The (various) Cycles in the community that cause family failures through his own life’s experiences. Breaking The Cycle Inc. helps R.E.P.A.I.R. (Restoring Ethnic Pride Among Inner-City Residents) our broken communities, and seeks to serve and support people in our under-served and impoverished areas, giving them real H.O.P.E. (Having Only Positive Expectations), through Breaking The Cycle’s 7 E’s: Employment/promote their Entrepreneurial efforts, Emulate positive behavior, give each other Encouragement, provide Education, and Empower each other to self-sufficiency & to EXECUTE the BTC’s ACCULTURATION Process with returning citizens who have a sincere desire to make a change. Mike Jones Founder and Executive Director, Breaking the Cycle, Inc.

While in prison Mike and a few inmates developed a program called Y/AWARE which engaged and educated colleges within Ohio about life behind bars and what was being done to prepare for life beyond bars. Mike also began preparing his mind for life outside of prison, by doing mental role plays of adverse and tempting situations, and by inquiring about employment even before his release. 0n June 10, 2008 Mike Jones started a nonprofit organization called Breaking The Cycle Inc. (BTC), with a focus of improving the quality of life for the returning citizen population. Through Breaking The Cycle Inc., Mike has hosted 4 Returning Citizen resource and career fairs in Cleveland, Detroit and Atlanta.

Kait McNeeley

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Kait grew up in Lakewood, Ohio and graduated from Bowling Green State University. Kait has never been shy about speaking up for things that are important to her and has made a career out of using her voice and privilege to advocate for, break down stigmas, and amplify the voices of marginalized groups. Kait has dedicated nearly a decade to working in homeless services, starting as an Outreach Worker on the PATH team with FrontLine Service and progressing to roles such as Property Manager with Permanent Supportive Housing (Eden, Inc.) and most recently the Executive Director with The Metanoia Project. She has a strong passion for community and a desire to make it better for everyone. She is a firm believer in making a longer table, not a taller fence and looks forward to the day when there is room for everyone at this table.

Kait is thrilled for the opportunity to bring her passion for justice to team NEOCH and continue to make an impact in our Cleveland community. In her free time, you can find her outdoors - catching the sunrise at Edgewater beach, hiking the trails in Cuyahoga Valley National Park, cheering on the Guardians at Progressive Field, or simply enjoying the peacefulness life can offer in the backyard on her deck, usually accompanied by one (or several) four legged friends. Homeless Service Advocate is Kait’s day job, and dog sitting is her second passion!

Kathryn Boor

she/her they/them

Kathryn joined the NEOCH team in August 2023 as a Communications Coordinator and manages NEOCH’s social media platforms, e-newsletters, and print media to increase public awareness of NEOCH’s mission, advocacy work, and resources available in Northeast Ohio. 

Kathryn graduated from The Modern College of Design in Dayton Ohio in 2022 with a Bachelor’s in Design Thinking and Graphic Design. They are passionate about linking their community with social movements through social media and the design thinking process. They were active in helping Love on a Mission in Mansfield, Ohio and helped found a GSA in college. Now Kathryn is focusing on applying their design work to helping create a better future one project at a time. 

Kai Saga

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Kai Saga brings a wealth of experience and passion to her role as Director of Street Outreach at NEOCH, where she champions healing, housing justice, and well-being. With five plus years of dedicated service in homelessness support and a national platform as a foster care advocate, Kai is committed to amplifying voices and driving change. Her vibrant energy and clear vision inspire others to join her in creating a more equitable and compassionate society. In her role at NEOCH, Kai Saga is not just a director; she is a catalyst for transformation, igniting hope and inspiring action.

Ange Mastandrea

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Ange is the Street Outreach Coordinator at NEOCH, where they have the pleasure of supporting the street outreach team and the wider Cleveland Outreach Collaborative.  They received their B.A. in sociology and gender studies from Cleveland State University in 2020 and are currently attending graduate and law school at CSU in pursuit of a joint J.D./M.P.A. Prior to joining as a NEOCH staff member, Ange worked primarily in the Cleveland nonprofit sector and focused on a variety of areas including leadership development, ageism, and intergenerational connection, disability advocacy, and other issues of inequity.

They hope to combine their education, professional experience, and passion for social justice to affect positive policy change in Cleveland for ALL current and future residents of the city. They are guided by their sociological imagination and a strong determination to confront and eliminate the oppressive constructs that are continually perpetuated in all facets of life and society.  At home, you can find Ange cuddling with their cats, crafting, and daydreaming about a world in which everyone has lost their capitalistic chains.

Jonathan “2 braids” Harris

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Jonathan Harris, who commonly goes by “2 Braids” to those who know him, has deep roots in his hometown of Cleveland. Jonathan began his work to end homelessness by experiencing homelessness himself. After staying at 2100 and working with street outreach workers in our community, he got into a place of his own and became an Outreach Trainee with NEOCH in 2018. He is now a full-time Outreach Worker ending homelessness for veterans in our community.

2 Braids has a passion for service, helping others, and building trusting relationships with people on and off the streets. In his free time, he is an active member of his church community and he loves to go on long drives (sometimes you’ll even find a client with him who has become a friend).

Dennis Ashton

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Dennis grew up in Washington D.C. and has lived in Cleveland for the last 40 years. Over the years, he has worked in a variety of trades, including pipefitting, construction, and manufacturing. Dennis started working with the unhoused at the Bishop Cosgrove Center and as a staff member at The Metanoia Project, providing overnight hospitality to those who are unsheltered during the winter months. Dennis started as an Outreach Worker at the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless (NEOCH) in November of 2019.

He enjoys the work he does because he loves helping people and giving back to his community. At NEOCH, Dennis spends his time out in the community, meeting people experiencing homelessness where they are and matching them with the resources they need to get into housing. Dennis lives in Shaker Heights and is the proud father of a son, Puff, who lives in Washington D.C., and a daughter, Taylor, who lives in Cleveland. 

Khorianna “Yanni” Randall

she/her

Khorianna, also known as Yanni, is the HOPWA Manager and Outreach Specialist for the Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA) program at NEOCH. She works closely with individuals with HIV/AIDS, experiencing homelessness and collaborates with the Nueva Luz Urban Resource Center and the Aids Taskforce of Greater Cleveland. Yanni ensures clients’ housing needs are always met and as an openly Black Trans woman with lived experience in homelessness, she brings an insightful perspective and knowledge to her clients and the systems she works in.

Khorianna is also a Public Opinion Leader (POL) for the LGBT Center of Greater Cleveland and an advocate for the Transgender community. With her extensive knowledge of HIV/AIDS, Monkeypox, and prevention, she goes out into the community to spread awareness, educate, and provide safe sex materials and community resources.

Yanni was able to take in two young individuals from the LGBTQIA + community who needed support and motherly love, becoming a “trans Parent” in her own right. At home, she enjoys spending time with her guinea pig, “Luna”, as well as making art, playing video games, and watching anime with her family.

Yanni hopes to shed light and bring change to the treatment of the Trans community, ensuring that trans individuals receive proper health care, equal opportunities, and compassion.

CAREY GIBBONS

she/her they/them

Carey’s career started as an AmeriCorps volunteer with the American Red Cross working as a case manager with displaced victims 23 days after 9/11 occurred. She spent most of her twenties boomeranging around the states. She lived in the woods of North Carolina, where she taught at-risk youth how to live their best lives. She was also a barista for both Starbucks and Caribou Coffee and found that working in the service industry gives you a better understanding of how to show up for folks.

In her 30s she was able to work for the LGBT Community Center of Greater Cleveland, where she was a Youth Program Coordinator and Community Engagement Coordinator. After her time at the LGBT Center, she took a position at May Dugan Center as a Crisis Coordinator. They saw firsthand the many disparities LGBTQ folks experience accessing services and resources. At NEOCH, Carey is our Queer Youth Outreach and Engagement Manager, working with LGBTQ folks who are homeless or at-risk. In her free time, Carey enjoys doing Stonewall Sports, specifically kickball, dodgeball, bocce, and volleyball.

Casey Brower

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Casey is part of NEOCH's LGBTQ+ Youth Navigator Team as of the fall of '24. She is a lifelong resident of the Greater Cleveland area and is passionate about bolstering community and  equity in the city she loves. Casey has a broad span of interests, which is reflected in her educational background from Cleveland State University, receiving bachelor's degrees in Social Work, Women's and Gender Studies, and Nonprofit Administration. She has a professional background in working in behavioral health with school-aged children as well as adults experiencing eating disorders, providing therapeutic interventions and compassionate care. She has a special interest in uplifting those who are often especially vulnerable to injustice, such as LGBTQ+ and neurodivergent populations and envisions a world in which no one is put at a disadvantage due to any facet of their identity or lived experience. 

Casey values creativity, empathy, and open-mindednesss, incorporating this into both professional and personal life. She aspires to one day finish a Master's in Social Work in order to have a greater ability to service those most in need of aid that existing systems so often fail to provide. Outside of work, Casey loves to spend time with her three cats, Lucy Moo, Mari June, and Agent Dale Cooper while watching reality tv, above anything else. Otherwise, she loves a good road trip, mixing patterned clothing, and getting into anything artsy.

Bronze Ogunbambo

he/him they/them

Bronze Ogunbambo (he/they) is looking forward to bringing their passion for advocating with and for our most marginalized neighbors to their role as the LGBTQ+ Youth Navigator at NEOCH (Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless).  Bronze centers empathetic and equitable access to resources, education, culturally resonant care and connection, and joy. These core concerns are the foundation of their work within campaigns, collectives, organizations, and universities in both Chicago and Cleveland. Bronze is grateful to have dedicated a decade of mutual uplift to their communities, and over 5 years of service to LGBTQ+ youth and young adults specifically.  They also value arts and culture, and believe strongly in the resiliency and power of the people as it shows up in archives, collective memory, storytelling, and creative works.

Jean Kosmac

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Raised on Cleveland’s east side, Jean worked 24 years at Orange Blossom Press, a collective dedicated to printing for the progressive movement. As a member of the Community of St. Malachi for many years, she volunteered at the Back Door Ministry and was a cook for the Monday Night Meal. More recently, (the past 10-15 years), she has been involved at the Catholic Worker Storefront. Jean's path has led her to work at EDEN, the Metanoia Project, and recently NEOCH as a Street Outreach Worker. She still spends her weekends hanging out at the Storefront, and can be found there on Sunday afternoons assisting clients with housing.

Jim Schlecht

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Jim joined NEOCH as a Street Outreach Worker in 2020. He has been involved in working and volunteering with a number of agencies and organizations serving those suffering from poverty and homelessness in Cleveland. During his long career of service to the community, Jim has worked at the Rose Mary Center, the West Side Community House, the West Side Catholic Center, and Care Alliance. A resident of the near West Side for the last 48 years, Jim has spent much of that time serving the community he calls home.

Jeffery Puchmajer

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Jeffrey Puchmajer serves as Street Outreach Specialist with NEOCH starting fall 2024 to assist with the City of Cleveland’s “Home for Every Neighbor” initiative. His goal in this role is to build rapport and assess the needs of community members experiencing homelessness. He acts as their first line of contact to connect unsheltered folks with opportunities and community resources.  

Jeffrey’s career started after serving time in prison for a criminal history associated with drug addiction. While incarcerated at Grafton Correctional Institution, he found opportunity for growth through programming including Steppingstones Therapeutic Community and Edwins Leadership Institute. Using Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and the “community is method” model, Jeffrey gained the tools that allowed him to reintegrate into society and gain independence. 

Through Edwins, Jeffrey became ServeSafe© certified which helped him gain employment immediately after release. He worked in the food service industry leading him to Ohio City Pizzeria and the Westside Catholic Center. OCP, being a Social Enterprise of WSCC, merged the two worlds of food service and community advocacy together. This is where he discovered his passion for service work and keeps what he has by giving back every day. 

Jeffrey spends his free time loving the outdoors and exploring the world with his pup, Hank.  

Chris Knestrick

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Chris Knestrick is the Executive Director of the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless.  He has over 10 years of experience working in homelessness in Cleveland and he has also directed advocacy efforts in the international and local community. Chris is committed to community organizing, undoing oppression, and promoting nonviolence that centers the voices of those most impacted by public policy.

His work has taken him from the streets of Cleveland to the mountains of Colombia. He is a graduate of the McCormick Theological Seminary. He likes to spend his days boating, fishing, and thinking about how to get the community to love so fiercely that homelessness is unimaginable.