Director & Founder, Trinity Place Shelter
Kevin Lotz is the founder and director of Trinity Place Shelter, a transitional, harm-reduction focused shelter for low-income, homeless LGBTQ youth and young adults on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Lotz oversees full shelter operations, programming, finances, supervision of staff and the coordination of the board of directors. Formerly, Lotz was employed as a “fee-for-service” part-time social worker/therapist at a New York State Office of Mental Health in East Harlem.
Originally from north St. Louis (Ferguson, MO), Lotz has lived in New York City’s Spanish Harlem for the past twelve years. He earned his Bachelor of Social Work from Missouri State University in 2002, where he received the Wall Street Journal/J.N. Boyce Public Affairs Award. He earned his Master of Social Work degree from Washington University in St. Louis in 2003, where he was awarded the Thurgood Marshall Award for Social Work Leadership. Kevin is currently a fifth year, full-time PhD candidate at the NYU Silver School of Social Work. He is preparing for a career in social work teaching and research. His research interests include substance abuse, incarceration and homelessness.