Drifter fi nds a home in the Bronx
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, J BTR ULY 16-22, 2021 17
BY JASON COHEN
Josh Stephenson, the man
who crisscrossed the country
throughout much of his early
life, has fi nally put down roots
here in the Bronx.
In October 2019, Stephenson
was tabbed the executive director
of West Bronx Housing &
Neighborhood Resource Center
in Norwood. Recognizing how
important housing is in the borough,
especially now as people
try to rebound from COVID-19,
Stephenson says he loves his job.
“I’m glad that I’m able to do
something positive for NYC and
the people in the Bronx,” he told
the Bronx Times. “This is truly
an amazing city and borough.”
However, the path to his new
position did not happen overnight.
Stephenson, 36, was born in
Nebraska and as a baby moved to
Miami with his mom. Raised by
a single mother, Rebecca Stanton,
they lived in the poor communities
of Liberty City and Little
Havana. As Stanton worked
and went to school, Stephenson
had Spanish-speaking babysitters
who quickly taught him
their language. While those areas
were crime-ridden, he never
noticed.
“I didn’t know I was in danger,”
he said.
From Miami, they picked up
and moved to Syracuse where
his mom earned her masters degree
before, again, relocating to
California. “We moved house
to house every year or two,” he
said.
Stephenson loved science and
wanted to be an astrophysicist,
but chose to pursue political science
and international relations
at UC Berkeley instead. He graduated
in 2010, but could not fi nd a
job, so for three years he worked
at a pizzeria and made pizza. His
mom, who had moved to NYC
without Stephenson, suggested
he move there. Stephenson took
her advice and relocated to the
East Coast.
In New York, he continued
in the food industry and waited
tables for a while until he landed
a job at a lobbying fi rm. But in
2015 everything changed when
he got an internship with then-
Councilman Andrew Cohen.
He was quickly brought on full
time as the director of constituent
services. “He Cohen was an
excellent boss,” he stated. “He
trusted me to do my job and I did
it well.”
According to Stephenson,
while the job covered an array
of topics and he dealt with residents’
complaints on a daily basis,
it was the housing aspect he
fell in love with. During his time
there one of the people he spoke
often with was Sally Dunford,
the executive director of the
West Bronx Housing & Neighborhood
Resource Center. In
2019, she informed him she was
retiring and based on that relationship
she offered him the position.
Caught off guard, he accepted
the role and began a new
chapter in his life, again. Since
taking the reins, Stephenson has
seen the impact he has had on
the community.“With this job I
actually got to do what I was passionate
about,” he said.
Stephenson explained that
many in the Community Board
7 area like Norwood, Bedford
Park and Kingsbridge face housing
issues. Furthermore, many
of his clients are Spanish-speaking,
live on fi xed incomes and
don’t know the housing laws. He
helps them with things such as
tenant organizing, eviction prevention
and paying arrears. He
was busy before the pandemic,
but once COVID-19 began there
was an even greater need for assistance,
he said.
Making matters worse is the
fact that most of his staff retired
due to the pandemic, leaving just
him and one employee to run the
center. But Stephenson has not
let that stand in his way.Since
July 2020, his organization has
met with more than 8,000 people
and characterized the past year
as quite emotional, with many
Bronxites worried about losing
their homes.
“People are terrifi ed,” he
said. “A lot of people have been
in their apartments for ten or
twenty years.”
Stephenson noted that during
the height of the pandemic people
had to choose between paying
rent or buying food, which
forced thousands to wait on long
lines at food pantries. However,
he still fears that when the statemandated
eviction moratorium
on rental apartments is lifted at
the end of August, many people
will end up homeless.
Looking to the future, Stephenson
wants to fi nish his master’s
in public administration at
Baruch College and continue to
grow the nonprofi t. While this
isn’t something he imagined as
a career when he was a child, he
wouldn’t trade places with anyone.
“I love working with people
and like focusing on housing,”
he said. “The law protecting tenants
is only good if the tenants
know their rights.”
Josh Stephenson, executive director
of West Bronx Housing &
Neighborhood Resource Center.
Courtesy of Josh Stephenson
COMMUNITY
CHIROPRATIC
of Throggs Neck
Kenneth P. Gonoud D.C.