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FOLLOW THE LEADERS OF FRANCHISING
What do ending homelessness and ice cream have in common? More than you may think.
Rosanne Haggerty's list of accomplishments is long and impressive. As the founder and director of Common Ground, one of the country's largest providers of supportive housing, she has brought business savvy and a holistic approach to ending homelessness that have changed the way New York City and many other cities around the world work to end homelessness.
Winner of the prestigious Drucker Award for Nonprofit Innovation, a two-time 60 Minutes subject and a 2002 MacArthur "genius grant" awardee, Haggerty has led the renovation and restoration of Manhattan's Times Square Hotel and The Prince George Hotel into supportive housing residences. While Common Ground has grown to an accomplished $16 million nonprofit organization, it is often recognized for its three Ben & Jerry's franchises.
In 1990, after visiting a Ben & Jerry's franchise in Baltimore, Haggerty recognized a new opportunity to enhance the services Common Ground provides to its tenants. "We saw that providing our tenants the opportunity to work at Ben & Jerry's would offer them what we have always thought was necessary in our work with the homeless," says Haggerty. "Linking housing, services and jobs makes it possible for people to rebuild their lives and become selfsufficient."
Upon her return...