Harbor Homes names Brian Morris as new executive director

Dr. Brian Morris has been named executive director of the Island nonprofit, Harbor Homes. 

Harbor Homes officials announced the new hire on Thursday, saying that Morris is well positioned to lead the nonprofit through a “transformational” period. 

The nonprofit is currently in the permitting stages of building a new winter homeless shelter in Oak Bluffs with their current temporary facility set to be demolished.

Most recently, Morris has worked as a mental health and substance use disorder access coordinator at Island Health Care; he also worked with Martha’s  Vineyard Community Services as a Recovery Coach and Supervisor of the Recovery Coach Program.

“Brian’s educational qualifications, combined with his extensive social service and leadership  experience here in our Vineyard community, really made him stand out from our pool of applicants,”  president of the board for Harbor Homes, Jennifer Frank, said in a release that was issued Thursday. 

Frank continued that naming Morris to the position comes at a time of increased need for individuals experiencing homelessness on the Island. 

“One of our goals is to increase our partnerships with community agencies to expand programming, share resources, and help to eliminate the structural causes of homelessness,” the board president said. “We believe that Brian’s leadership skills and passion will help us achieve  this goal. We feel he was just the right balance of optimist and achiever to lead Harbor Homes into this next phase of advancing our community impact.”

Morris takes over from former executive director Kristin Leutz, who served for six months. Director of community engagement at Harbor Homes, Meghan Burke said that Leutz served in a remote capacity with the intention of moving to the Island, but she wasn’t able to find housing. She added that Luetz made significant improvements to the nonprofit during her tenure.

Morris recently earned his Doctorate of Social Work from the University of Southern California Dworak-Peck School of Social Work which followed his master’s degree in Rehabilitation Counseling from UMass Boston School of Global Inclusion & Development and his bachelor’s degree in Sociology from Princeton University. 

“I feel my entire adult life has led me to this opportunity, which is why I’m so grateful to join the  incredible team at Harbor Homes,” Morris said in a statement. “I’ve collaborated with Harbor Homes in my various other professional roles here on the Vineyard and have long admired the outstanding work they do. The issue of being unhoused is a very real concern. What’s happening nationally is what’s happening here on Martha’s Vineyard. Many Islanders face the harsh reality that they may be on the verge of having no roof over their head, no safe place to sleep. The work we are doing is life-saving, and precious few others are doing it in our community. I look forward to adding to the not insignificant foundation that Harbor Homes has built and continuing to make profound and  impactful changes in the Vineyard’s unhoused population.”