This week, The James Irvine Foundation announced that Brilliant Corners’ Chief Program Officer Chris Contreras was named as one of the 2023 Leadership Award recipients. The Award comes with a $250,000 grant to continue Brilliant Corners’ work of helping people exit homelessness through housing placements and supportive services.
The Award also spotlights the impact of the Flexible Housing Subsidy Pool, a system-changing innovation operated by Brilliant Corners in partnership with LA County Department of Health Services’ Housing for Health division. In his role as Chief Program Officer, Chris Contreras oversees this first-of-its-kind public-private partnership, which pairs rental subsidies with tenancy supports and case management services to help Los Angeles County’s most vulnerable populations secure and maintain housing in a more coordinated and streamlined way. Since 2014, Contreras and Brilliant Corners have facilitated permanent supportive housing placements for roughly 10,500 formerly unhoused Angelenos through the Flex Pool.
Check out this beautiful video featuring Chris sharing what inspires him to do this work, as well as Brilliant Corners Board Member Chris Ko and our amazing client, Jenna, sharing about the Flex Pool’s impact and how powerful housing stability is for people who have experienced homelessness.
Please join us in congratulating Chris on this outstanding achievement! Those of us who have been lucky enough to work closely with Chris and benefit from his leadership, wisdom, and system-level strategic approach know how well-deserved this award is. Thank you, Chris, for all you do for Brilliant Corners, and for our community.
Help us spread the word so we can inspire new audiences to support Brilliant Corners’ work. You can share our video using customized posts here on social media and with your networks.