Rev Richard Schuster

Stamford, CT – The Rev. Richard L. (Dick) Schuster of St. Luke’s LifeWorks has been selected as one of ten persons to represent Connecticut at the Nonprofit Congress National Meeting, on October 16 – 17 in Washington, DC. Over 400 individuals from 48 states and the District of Columbia applied to be delegates for this unprecedented initiative to unite nonprofits and strengthen the charitable sector.

The Nonprofit Congress is a national movement to build a diverse network of local leaders to identify and address the challenges that all nonprofits face in meeting and advocating for community needs. Nonprofit Congress organizers Audrey R. Alvarado, executive director of the National Council of Nonprofit Associations, and Robert Egger, founder and president of D.C. Central Kitchen, were recently honored as NonProfit Times’ Power and Influence Top 50, an annual list of “leaders shaping the nonprofit world.”

At the National Meeting, hundreds of delegates from across the country will converge on Washington, DC to identify the values that all nonprofits share, develop a vision and priorities for the nonprofit sector, and exercise a collective voice. Their work will be informed by data gathered from over 100 Town Hall meetings in 40 states and the District of Columbia.

Nonprofit Congress delegates will represent the broad interests of the nonprofit sector and mirror the geographic diversity of charitable organizations. Additionally, delegates will bring forward the concerns of traditionally underrepresented groups.

Registration for the National Meeting is open to at-large participants at www.nonprofitcongress.org/nationalmeeting.

“I am honored to represent Connecticut at the Nonprofit Congress National Meeting,” said Rev. Schuster. “It will be a wonderful opportunity to work with a diverse group of individuals who are committed to strengthening charitable organizations. I hope to bring new strategies and connections back to Connecticut that will make our state’s charitable organizations even stronger.”

Rev. Schuster has served over 20 years as the Executive Director of St. Luke's LifeWorks, one of the largest, broad-based, human service agencies of its type in Fairfield County. Under his guidance, the agency has grown and even merged with two other non-profit human service agencies Bread & Roses and Metcalf House. Today, St. Luke’s LifeWorks provides services to people at nine sites throughout Fairfield County, seven in Stamford alone, and employs 75+ people, with an annual operating budget of $5 million. Each year, St. Luke's LifeWorks helps more than 500 individuals, families, and people with special needs in their efforts to turn their lives around and become self-sufficient. The agency benefits from the services of over 1,200 volunteers a year that last year contributed 25,000 hours of voluntary services.

An ordained priest in the Episcopal Church, Schuster’s background as Assistant Director of Episcopal Social Services of Connecticut led to the development of a wide array of programs at St. Luke's LifeWorks. In addition to his role as Executive Director at St. Luke's LifeWorks, Dick is also credited with initiating the development of the Lower Naugatuck Valley Community Mental Health Center, founding the Inter-Faith Emergency Housing Project and being one of the co-founders of the Naugatuck Valley Project. He was also the first president of the Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness. He is one of four co-founders of Fairfield 08 – a regional initiative to provide supportive housing as a solution to ending chronic homelessness in Fairfield County Connecticut.

Schuster is currently chairing the State of Connecticut Board of Mental Health and Addiction Services, serves on the statewide Mental Health Investment Strategy Board, statewide Mental Health Transformation Oversight Committee and is Chair of the REACHING HOME Campaign Steering Committee. This campaign is designed to stimulate the development of 10,000 units of supportive housing in Connecticut to solve the problem of chronic homelessness. He was recently appointed to the Rensselaerville Institute’s National Center for Outcomes Advisory Council. His role as Chair of the Collaborative Alliance, a consortium of 60+ non-profit organizations in lower Fairfield County Connecticut has served as a platform to encourage not-for-profit organizations to work together in new ways.

His awards include the Religious Leadership Award from the Stamford Chapter of the NAACP, Outstanding Community Service Awards from both the Council of Churches & Synagogues and the Stamford Haitian Community, and the Bishop's Award from the Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut.

Schuster is called upon frequently to lead workshops on outcome management, strategic planning and visioning. He also counsels other not-for-profit organizations on development and management issues. He is a frequent public speaker on topics ranging from motivation, housing and homelessness, mental health and organizational change.


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For more information about St. Luke’s LifeWorks, visit www.stlukeslifeworks.org

For more information about the Nonprofit Congress, vist www.nonprofitcongress.org/nationalmeeting

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