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Tribute by David Cohen, MD, Board Chair, Housing Works, Inc.
On behalf of the Board, I'd like to extend my condolences and
support to Keith's parents and relatives, to Charles, and to
our entire Housing Works family.
It has been my honor to be Keith's colleague for more than a
decade and my privilege to have been his friend. I first had
the opportunity to work with Keith on a project to help control
the spread of Tuberculosis in New York. At our first planning
meeting we reviewed our strategy to identify, treat and follow
infected individuals. Everyone in the room seemed to be on board
with the plan until Keith, ever the quiet and retiring one,
shouted out, "So you want us to play Tuberculosis police I'm
not doing that!" Once I was scraped off the ceiling, I realized
Keith was right. He wasn't trying to be difficult. He was pushing
us all to find a better way to engage people in their own care.
And that was characteristic of Keith; merely good was not good
enough. People could do more, could do better. More and better
that was his essence. Whether evaluating a new program, providing
a new service, planning a new event, advocating, lobbying, traveling,
learning counseling, or teaching, Keith was tireless. And his
enthusiasm spilled over into everyday life. What a pleasure
to see Keith become ever more animated while describing a new
restaurant, a new drink, the latest fashion. I know he'd be
fussing about wardrobe today. But his real passion was for his
family at Housing Works. No detail was too trivial, no problem
too big or small for him to take on. He'd call me often to share
his joy at getting a new grant, to share an idea for a new research
effort. He was tirelessly creative in developing programs to
cast a broad net to serve ever-increasing numbers of people
in need. He'd struggle to find new ways to motivate staff and
clients to do more, to do better, and he never stopped pushing
himself to do the same. I recall so many telephone conversations
with Keith concerning the health of clients and staff, but almost
none about his own illness. His energy seemed boundless, and
so, it is somehow incomprehensible for me to be here today…but
here we are paying tribute to a real leader and a great friend.
Keith really did do more for so many people than could ever
be expected and he never allowed success to be an end in itself.
He always did better. And that is his legacy to us to me
to continue to try to improve our world and ourselves as he
always did.
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