MEET OUR STAFF
Candice Blyden-Gill, M.P.A.
Program Director
Candice Blyden‑Gill has built her career on a foundation of compassion, strong advocacy, and community‑centered service. She has developed extensive experience supporting vulnerable populations, coordinating care, and fostering safe, dignified environments for individuals in crisis.
Known for her calm presence, strong communication, and problem‑solving skills, Blyden-Gill consistently creates meaningful connections with clients while maintaining professionalism and accountability. Her background includes roles in crisis response, client support, and program coordination, all driven by a deep commitment to equity and empowerment. These experiences have prepared her to bring leadership, empathy, and dedication to her work at CHHOP.
Erika Febres
Director of Finance / HR
Erika Febres joined CHHOP's finance department in 2018 and was promoted to office/finance manager soon after she was hired.
With a background in finance, insurance, and community service, Febres has been a great addition to the CHHOP team. Febres takes initiative and enthusiastically fulfills her duties and goals ensuring that she is able to keep CHHOP’s finance and human resources operations running smoothly.
Febres's passion for community service is deeply rooted in her upbringing. Her father was an avid advocate for new immigrants and people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds.
Febres's dedication and leadership skills are essential to fulfilling her role in maintaining financial structure for the organization and facilitating budgetary policy with CHHOP's CEO.
Jordan Alvarez
Tierra Solida / Solid Ground
Case Manager
Jordan Alvarez is a Case Manager with the Tierra Sólida / Solid Ground program at CHHOP. He holds a Master’s degree in Criminal Justice and is committed to supporting individuals and families as they navigate challenging circumstances. His work is grounded in listening, understanding each person’s unique needs, and helping connect them to the resources that can support their stability and well-being. Alvarez approaches his role with a practical, compassionate, and client-centered mindset.
Jana Bluestein
Finance Assistant
Jana Bluestein joined CHHOP finance team in October of 2022. In 2007, she graduated from CUNY Hunter College with a bachelor’s degree in sociology. She has an extensive background working in social services and affordable housing.
Bluestein is passionate in her beliefs that all members of the community have the right to affordable and sustainable housing and that this is the first step in finding stability. Bluestein’s role at CHHOP allows her to bring together her desire to advocate for members of her community in need and her love to work with numbers.
Ben Chadwick
Systems & Organization Analyst
Ben Chadwick joined CHHOP as the Systems & Organization Analyst in August 2025. He is a Westchester native that grew up in Ossining before attending college upstate at Skidmore in Saratoga Springs. After college Ben moved to Manhattan where he pursued his love of biology and psychology working as a research scientist and obtaining a Ph.D. in Neuroscience at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mt. Sinai exploring vulnerability to addiction and related psychiatric diseases.
Chadwick enjoys using his expertise in data analysis and programming to help facilitate CHHOP operations and client services. Ben's favorite statistical computing language is R.
Elvia Henriquez
Senior Domestic Violence Case Manager
Elvia Henriquez joined CHHOP in November of 2025 and was quickly promoted to the Senior Domestic Violence Case Manager position.
Henriquez has been working for social services for over 10 years and has a BA in Sociology. One of her greatest accomplishments is utilizing her soft skills to empathize with the clients she works with in order to help them achieve their desired goals.
Henriquez is currently working toward obtaining a master's degree and LISW license. This will signify her advanced expertise in social work allow her to provide clinical supervision to others.
Leah Lamson-Lindsey
Veterans Case Manager
Leah Lamson-Lindsey joined CHHOP in the summer of 2024 as the Veterans Case Manager. She provides case management services to veterans who are experiencing homelessness and who have been placed at the shelter by the Department of Veteran Affairs. She advocates for them and provides services for the veterans to obtain and sustain independent living.
Lamson-Lindsey graduated from the University at Albany with a BS in biology and education. Leah graduated with her Master's in Biomedical Sciences from Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences.
Ryan Maier
Office Assistant
Ryan Maier joined the CHHOP finance team in February of 2022.
After working in the insurance and financial services industry for years, Maier was in search of a career change. Realizing his passion for helping people, Maier decided to pursue human resources (HR), studying SHRM Essentials of Human Resources at Baruch College and earning a professional certificate in human resources and talent management from Michigan State University.
Maier loves that his role at CHHOP allows him to incorporate skills from his days in financial services, while also developing new HR and administrative skills. He finds a great deal of fulfillment in working for an organization with such a community based mission.
Robyn Nevers
EHAP Case Manager
Robyn Nevers graduated in 2020 with a Bachelor's Degree in sociology from Mercy University. She joined CHHOP as the EHAP case manager in January of 2025. She provides case management services to domestic violence survivors transitioning out of the support program and into permanent housing.
Nevers has three years of experience in case management. She plans to continue advocating on behalf of those whose voices need to be heard. Her favorite quote is, “No voice is too soft when that voice speaks for others,” from Janna Cachola.
Rowan Reyes
Fred’s Pantry and Community Partnerships Coordinator
Rowan Reyes, MSW, CYT (they/them), is a social worker and community builder committed to food justice and grassroots, community-led care. They joined CHHOP in April 2026 as the Fred’s Pantry and Community Partnerships Coordinator, supporting daily pantry operations while cultivating partnerships across the local food ecosystem.
Reyes brings a relational, trauma-informed approach to supporting Peekskill neighbors navigating food insecurity. They coordinate volunteers, support food sourcing and distribution, and collaborate with local growers, organizations, and community members to build and sustain a mutual aid food network. Their work focuses on strengthening connections—ensuring resources flow where they are needed, knowledge is shared, and people are supported with dignity and care.
They also bring a background in gender justice and community education, creating accessible, inclusive spaces for learning, advocacy, and empowerment. Reyes believes food access is a collective responsibility, and that communities are strongest when resources, knowledge, and power are shared. They are especially passionate about collaborative models like Fred’s Pantry that center collective stewardship and community power—shifting food access from charity toward solidarity.
Marcus Ryan
Operations & Community Partnerships Manager
Marcus Ryan is a community organizer and entrepreneur who has spent eighteen years working at the intersection of faith, community empowerment, and inclusion. He joins CHHOP as the Operations & Community Partnerships Manager, with responsibility for operations at Jan Peek House and Fred’s Pantry and for community partnerships across Peekskill.
On the Operations side, Ryan works to ensure that Jan Peek House and Fred’s Pantry are places of hospitality, health, and healing for everyone CHHOP serves. On the partnerships side, he works alongside the Peekskill Community Collaborative (PCC), clergy, community ambassadors, and neighbors to strengthen Peekskill’s mutual aid network.
Ryan believes CHHOP has a vital part to play in Peekskill’s web of care - making it possible for every neighbor to have access to healthy food, dignified food, and safety.