Irene Walcott (she/her), LMSW is the Director of Behavioral Health at
Lantern Community Services (2022-present). Irene held previous roles at
Lantern as Case Manager Supervisor at one of the organization’s
Brooklyn-based supportive housing sites (2019-2020) and as Assistant
Director of Health and Wellness (2020-2022). She also became a
member of MINT (the Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers) in
2022. In her current role at Lantern, Irene oversees training, learning, and
clinical capacity building at Lantern, developing and facilitating training
and implementation of evidence based practices and clinical
interventions including Motivational Interviewing, Trauma Informed Care,
Verbal De-Escalation, and Harm Reduction throughout Lantern’s
supportive housing and shelter programs. Irene collaborates closely with
Lantern’s Quality Improvement team around clinical documentation and
evaluation activities. Irene’s professional background is in case
management and health education in supportive housing, shelter, and
street outreach settings. Irene has also taught Social Work Evaluation at
the MSW level as an adjunct professor. Irene holds an MSW from Salem
State University and a BA from New York University with majors in
Sociology, Spanish and Metropolitan Studies.

Irene’s positionality statement: I am a white, cis-gender, heterosexual
woman. I have personal and familial lived experience of mental health
and substance use challenges. I recognize how my identities of privilege
impact my work with primarily Black and Brown folx impacted by
homelessness/poverty and with other traditionally marginalized identities
and actively participate in both racially/ethnically diverse and white
accountability anti-racist spaces to support me in living out anti-racist
and anti-oppressive values.