Star House CEO Ann Bischoff to lead Community Housing Network
Nora Igelnik, Columbus Dispatch, August 19, 2026.
The Community Housing Network – the largest and longest-standing provider of permanent supportive housing in Franklin County – has announced it has a new chief executive officer.
Ann Bischoff, longtime CEO of Star House, which provides resources to teens and young adults experiencing homelessness, will take over as the Community Housing Network (CHN) CEO after two decades of experience in youth services, public policy and systems reform, according to an Aug. 19 press release. Bischoff will conclude her decade of work at Star House Sept. 4.
In her new role, Bischoff will oversee CHN's efforts to expand housing stability, strengthen community partnerships, support residents and address the growing need for affordable housing, according to the release.
The former CEO of CHN was Annissa Lambirth-Garrett, who joined the organization in January 2025. Lambirth-Garrett resigned from her position Oct. 23, 2025, to pursue new opportunities, JV Wulf, board chair of CHN, said in an email.
"The Board determined that the appropriate time for public communication was when we were prepared to share a complete leadership-transition plan and introduce the organization's next CEO," Wulf said. "Throughout the transition, CHN's operations, programs and community partnerships continued uninterrupted and were overseen by CHN's COO Tiana Purvis, who was named Interim CEO."
Bischoff said her first priority is to understand community needs
Bischoff told The Dispatch that it's been "the privilege of [her] life" to have served alongside her team at Star House and help vulnerable young people. However, what sparked her interest in a role at CHN was the fact that homelessness is undeniably on the rise, and the organization's approach to the issue is holistic.
"Community Housing Network understands that housing alone doesn't solve homelessness," Bischoff said. "If it did, we would have figured this out by now. It's really community. That's why their name is Community Housing Network. Neighbors helping neighbors, relationships that make the difference, and ending homelessness for people in our community."
CHN specializes in permanent supportive housing, providing people not only with housing, but with resources to address mental health or addiction, learn new job skills, raise their income level, attend school and more.
CHN offers more than 1,700 units of housing for people of all ages and backgrounds, Bischoff said.
"It is housing with wraparound services," Bischoff said. "Services like job connection, case management, therapy – services to ensure that the housing sticks long term. So, you'll notice their occupancy rate is high. The length of stay is high because the program is working."
Bischoff said her first priority will be to understand the needs of the community. She said she wants to meet with residents, neighbors and team members to learn more about different concerns and affordability issues. From there, she hopes to begin to build a strategic plan to not only create additional housing, but to improve and support CHN's current housing development.
The human services space is in the midst of a "historical moment," Bischoff said, which requires a "lean and mean" approach to survive shifts in government funding. Fundraising in innovative ways, turning existing assets into revenue, sharing back-office services with other agencies and considering new developments can help soften the blow, Bischoff said.
CHN has an opportunity to diversify its housing portfolio and bring in more revenue, Bischoff said. There are opportunities to expand from permanent supportive housing to workforce development and mixed-income housing.
"I believe CHN is uniquely positioned to play a major role in addressing our community's affordable housing crisis, and I'm truly honored to join this team," Bischoff told The Dispatch.
During Bischoff's transition to her role at CHN, Star House will maintain services with an interim leadership plan in place to support the organization while the search for a new CEO begins, according to the release.
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