Corinne Hammons is as serious about respecting the legacy of her vast and well-regarded health services agency as she is about advancing it into the future. After taking over as CEO of Little Flower Children and Family Services of New York in 2015, Hammons became the driving force behind the nonprofit’s strategic plan, one that emphasizes innovation and financial sustainability to care for those who are most vulnerable.
Little Flower—a nearly 90-year-old nonprofit with a staff of more than 600 and a $50 million annual budget—provides foster homes for more than 400 children in Brooklyn and Queens and residential care for 100 at-risk youth at its 117-acre Wading River campus. It also offers services for adults with disabilities.
The 41-year-old Baltimore native, who now lives in East Setauket with her husband, a physicist at Brookhaven National Laboratory, and their two daughters, previously oversaw operations at Community Development Corporation of Long Island and is a former vice president of financial operations at Safe Horizon, the largest victim services nonprofit in the country. At Little Flower, Hammons melds a litany of experience with an impressive educational background—a bachelor’s in economics from Harvard and a master’s in public administration from New York University—to forge plans that strengthen partnerships with governments, fellow nonprofits and other organizations such as healthcare systems. “We have many ideas for innovation, including increasing the scope and reach of our current programs throughout the region, developing new programs both at our sites and at our client’s homes, with a focus on health and well-being,” Hammons said.
“We want to make sure our children have access to healthcare. We want to empower them to have happy and safe lives. We’re a business that works for a mission. We want to make sure we’re financially healthy as well…Our vision for the future is that we will be an innovative, modern, thriving nonprofit that honors its unique history and legacy.”