Wallick Welcomes Elizabeth Bluhm & Erin Shvetzoff Hennessey to Board of Directors

Wallick Communities is pleased to welcome Elizabeth Bluhm and Erin Shvetzoff Hennessey to our Board of Directors.

In their new roles as Board Members and experts in the respective fields of affordable housing and senior living, Ms. Bluhm and Ms. Hennessey will advise the senior management team on organizational strategies to help the company meet its goals and objectives.

Elizabeth Bluhm holds 30 years of experience in the affordable housing industry, first on the financial side and, more recently, as a developer. Beginning her career on the financial trading floors of New York City, she eventually headed the low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC) equity business of Red Capital Group, a national multifamily lender, investor and syndicator, from 1994 to 2001.

Fittingly, Bluhm’s initial experience as an equity investor for LIHTC was with Wallick, and she collaborated with the company on its own first LIHTC deal. Bluhm quickly developed a passion for affordable housing.

“What has kept me in the business of affordable housing for the last 30 years,” she says, “is that I can see the difference it makes in people’s lives. Every grand opening you go to, you witness people whose lives have been transformed by having a clean, safe, secure place to live. Nothing has been more rewarding than that. And I think that’s exactly what Wallick is setting out to do. It fits perfectly into my notion of what value I can add to the world.”

In 2001, Bluhm opened Red Capital’s San Diego office, offering debt and equity products for affordable and market-rate multifamily projects throughout California, and headed that office until 2010.

Before her years with Red Capital, she was employed by Credit Suisse First Boston in institutional sales in New York and Los Angeles, specializing in municipal bonds. In 2018, she became a project manager and then Development Director at Wakeland Housing and Development, a nonprofit affordable housing developer in San Diego, managing the development and construction of affordable housing projects in Southern California before retiring in 2020.

Ms. Bluhm served as Chair of the Board of Directors of the California Housing Consortium in 2008-2009 and Chair of the Board of Directors of Wakeland Housing from 2015 through 2017.

Bluhm resides in San Diego, CA. Outside of work, she loves travel, French culture, photography and spending time with her four kids and three grandkids. She holds a B.A. in Philosophy from Scripps College and an M.B.A. in Finance from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Erin Shvetzoff Hennessey is a certified gerontologist with 20 years of experience in senior health care. As chief executive officer and principal of Health Dimensions Group, she advises post-acute care providers on operational performance, financial improvement and development of health care strategies.

Hennessey has been connected to the senior care industry since childhood, with her father serving as a nursing home administrator, and her mother volunteering at the same facility. Sharing her parents’ passion, she entered the senior living industry in 1998 as a dietary aid.

Over the past two decades, she has worked in various areas of the industry, including marketing, activities and as an executive and regional director. Beyond her executive role, Hennessey brings hands-on experience as an administrator and senior leader in skilled nursing and senior living facilities across many states.

Hennessey aligns with Wallick’s genuine commitment to embodying the company’s core values through its dedication to associates and the resident experience. She looks forward to impacting residents’ well-being from her position on the Board of Directors.

“We live in a culture that doesn’t always honor age. I’ve been able to see the connection between providing care for great places to live and taking great care of people,” she says. “I would love to see senior living communities become a location of choice for living, for care, for employment in their markets, and as a go-to place to be an associate and a resident.”

Ms. Hennessey was named a 2019 Senior Living Leader Under 40 by Argentum, a national senior living association. She has been named to the LeadingAge Minnesota board of directors and was chosen as a 2021 Women in Business honoree by the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal. Most recently, she was recognized by Modern Healthcare as one of the Top Women Leaders in Healthcare for 2023.

A Minneapolis native, Hennessey enjoys skiing, traveling, and dog rescuing with her husband and daughter. She holds a B.A. in Business Administration and legal studies from the University of St. Thomas and an M.A. in Gerontology from Bethel University.

“I’m thrilled to have Erin and Elizabeth join our board,” says Amy Albery, Chief Executive Officer. “They will bring fresh energy, experience and ideas to the board, to me and to Wallick’s leadership team.”

Please join us in welcoming Ms. Bluhm and Ms. Hennessey to Wallick.