Monarch Housing’s Staff
Monarch’s Staff are the Key to Our Success
Taiisa Telesford Kelly joined Monarch Housing Associates in March of 2006. In October of 2007, Taiisa joined the Ending Homelessness Team. On January 1, 2019, she was appointed as CEO.
Click here to read more about Mrs. Kelly.
Asish Patel was appointed as COO on January 1, 2019. He also works with the housing production team. During the past 24 years Mr. Patel has worked on numerous acquisition, rehabilitation and new construction projects; consisting of condo units, single family homes, multi-family apartment buildings, scattered site projects, as well as commercial spaces.
Primary responsibilities include site selection, coordination with the development team, funding applications, municipal reviews, construction monitoring, and general project coordination. Mr. Patel also currently serves as Project Manager for all projects under development at Monarch Housing Associates.
Mr. Patel graduated from the New Jersey Institute of Technology with a Bachelor’s degree in Architecture, with a History minor, and a Masters’ degree in Management. Mr. Patel attended Pratt Institute’s Community and Economic Development Internship Program. Mr. Patel was a housing scholar in 1994, and has continued to work for Monarch from that point forward.
Call Mr. Patel at 908-272-5363 ext. 223.
Jay Everett joined Monarch Housing Associates in 2013. His specialization in research surrounding impact assessment of social projects in housing, infrastructure, and health complements the work of the Ending Homelessness Team.
Jay has international public sector experience as Community Development Intern at AySA, Argentina’s largest public water utility, and he has also consulted with Colombian and American community development organizations. Most recently, Jay worked providing educational services to families with special needs students in New Jersey.
Jay is a graduate of Ramapo College of New Jersey and holds a Master of International Affairs and Development degree from The New School University.
Call Mr. Everett at 908-272-5363 ext. 232.
Deena Foster joined Monarch Housing Associates in June of 2018. It is her goal to strive to enhance the quality of life for individuals with disabilities and the elderly by working with organizations that implement policies and programs impacting health, fair access to housing and advocate for equitable services. Deena believes addressing social determinants of health, such as housing barriers in the communities, can lead to improved health outcomes for vulnerable populations.
Prior to joining Monarch, Deena has worked as a licensed Speech Language Pathologist in communities around New Jersey with children and adults.
She graduated with a B.A in Speech Language Pathology and Audiology from St. John’s University and a M.A. from Howard University in Communication Sciences and Disorders. Most recently Deena earned a Master of Public Health with a focus in Health Systems and Policy from Rutgers University.
Call Mrs. Foster at 908-272-5363 ext. 227.
Kate Kelly joined Monarch Housing Associates in March of 2011. Her responsibilities include writing policy and other website updates, coordinating state and federal advocacy update and assisting with fundraising efforts.
Prior to joining Monarch, she worked for seven years at the Partnership for Strong Communities in Hartford, Connecticut as the Reaching Home Campaign Manager. Managing the statewide effort to end long-term homelessness, Kate effectively implemented statewide advocacy campaigns to fund over 700 new supportive housing units for individuals and families.
At the Partnership, she educated state and federal legislators and staff about supportive housing homelessness issues and advocated for new funding sources. She has also developed public forums that led to formal policy recommendations and educated local constituencies such as policymakers, legislators and funders.
Ms. Kelly received her B.A. in government from the University of Notre Dame and an M.S.W from the University of Connecticut School of Social Work.
Call Ms. Kelly at 908-272-5363 ext. 224.
Sharon Levy has been involved in the affordable housing industry for over 25 years working for nonprofit organizations, for-profit housing developers, and state government. Since joining Monarch in 2005, Sharon has helped clients develop multifamily rental housing in New Jersey for households with special needs, seniors, and families.
Sharon is experienced in creating affordable housing through multi-layered financing structures including federal low-income housing tax credits; mortgage financing through the New Jersey Housing Mortgage Finance Agency, FHA programs, and private lenders; HOME; CDBG; Federal Home Loan Bank Affordable Housing Program; HUD Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) conversions; municipal Affordable Housing Trust funds; and state and federal special needs programs.
Sharon received a BA in Political Science from the University of Michigan in 1989 and a Masters in City and Regional Planning from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1992.
Call Ms. Levy at 908-272-5363 ext. 221.
