When Annette Duffy first walked through the doors of Stepping Stone Emergency Housing, she wasn’t planning a career change. With more than a decade of experience in the medical field, Annette was simply answering a friend’s call to fill a temporary position. She had never worked in a shelter before. “It was a new world for me,” Annette recalls. “But I felt something shift.”
That shift became something deeper—a calling.
Annette joined the team in 2021 and, by November 2022, stepped into the role of Program Director. Since then, her passion for serving others has only grown. “Stepping Stone is a safe place for people to stabilize their lives and begin healing,” she says. “We meet people at their greatest point of need and inspire hope.”
Coming from the healthcare system, Annette had encountered individuals experiencing homelessness but admits she misunderstood the causes. “In the medical field, I believed what I was told—that people were homeless because of bad choices,” she shares. “But now I know it’s far more complex. It’s systemic. It’s layered. It’s human.”
Her work has opened her eyes to evolving trends—especially the alarming increase in elderly individuals losing housing despite having worked their entire lives. “It feels like the system works against them,” she says. “But our partners and our team work to break down those barriers. No one deserves to end up without shelter.”
Annette’s compassion runs deep, rooted not only in her professional journey but in her personal story. Over a decade ago, she and her children experienced homelessness after a house fire. “I know what it’s like to live out of bags, to wonder where you’ll sleep. I know the fear and uncertainty.” Her family found housing within 30 days, but the impact never left her. “That experience helps me connect with our residents in a very real way.”
She believes fiercely in the mission of Stepping Stone and the dignity of every person who walks through the shelter’s doors. “Our residents are human beings having a human experience. They deserve safety, stability, and respect. Homelessness is not just the absence of a home—it’s the absence of dignity.”
Annette embraces trauma-informed, person-centered care. “We give people the autonomy to rewrite their own story. Together, we can change the narrative of homelessness—but it takes all of us.”
As Program Director, she leads not only with experience but with empathy. “Shelter truly does save lives. But more than that—it restores hope.”