Stephanie Thomas, President
Stephanie Thomas has worked in disability rights and housing for nearly four decades. As a person in a wheelchair, she knows firsthand the difference that accessible housing makes in improving one’s quality of life. Stephanie led the effort for the 1996 voluntary compliance agreement between ADAPT of Texas and the City of Austin to address widespread housing discrimination against people with disabilities. This led to Austin’s Visitability Ordinance, the accessibility in SMART housing, and the development of hundreds more accessible units in Austin.
Prior to moving to Austin, Stephanie worked with the Atlantis Community in Denver where she developed positive integrated housing options. In addition, she has authored numerous articles, white papers and other informational pieces on housing rights for people with disabilities. As one of the founders of AHA!, Stephanie is proud of how the organization operates, partnering people with disabilities with people of various housing expertise to create viable integrated, accessible housing solutions that are affordable to low-income families and individuals.
Sharon Lowe
Sharon grew-up in Richmond, Virginia where she witnessed the impact that discrimination and social isolation had on lives. She set her sights on becoming an advocate for non-violent communication, inclusion, and community.
Sharon has more than 30 years of professional work experience, starting as a public higher education attorney in Massachusetts. In Texas, she has worked as a government attorney, high technology manager, lay pastoral minister and nonprofit executive.
In 2000, Sharon left high tech for pastoral care studies at Seminary of the Southwest and began volunteering for nonprofits serving the poor and poor in spirit. Between 2004 and 2017 Sharon worked in several roles at Foundation for the Homeless, including almost 10 years as Executive Director, building collaborations to improve conditions and opportunities for people who were experiencing or at risk for homelessness. In July 2017, Sharon joined Front Steps, first, as a fundraising consultant, and later, as Human Resources Director. In 2020, Sharon joined Austin Clubhouse as Executive Director where she facilitated their mission of community-based, non-clinical mental health recovery for adults. She retired from this position in October 2022.
Prior to joining the AHA! board of directors, Sharon held volunteer leadership roles with Seton Cove-Ascension, One Voice Central Texas, ECHO, Best Single Source Plus, CTXVOAD, Community of Hope and others.
Paul Hilgers, Secretary
Paul Hilgers is the past CEO of the Austin Board of REALTORS®, a nearly 10,000-member professional organization that serves 18 Central Texas counties. Prior to his current position, Hilgers served nearly 10 years as the City of Austin’s Director of Neighborhood Housing and Community Development managing federal and local housing and community development programs in Austin, including the expansion of the Austin Housing Finance Corporation, which issues housing bonds and tax credits. More recently he served three years as deputy general manager of the reorganized Pedernales Electric Cooperative (PEC) to help bring major changes to that organization.
An Austin native, Hilgers is a graduate of Whittier College and holds a Masters degree from the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at The University of Texas at Austin. In addition to the City of Austin and the PEC, he has worked for former Governor Mark White, as a long-time district director for former Congressman Jake Pickle, and as a federal and community relations manager for the Lower Colorado River Authority.
Jean Langendorf, Treasurer
Jean Langendorf has worked on housing issues for many years. Previously, she served as the Vice President of Community and Housing Services at Easter Seals Central Texas. Jean was also the Executive Director of United Cerebral Palsy of Texas (UCP Texas), which merged with Easter Seals in the beginning of 2010. During her tenure with UCP, she served as the Project Director for the Texas Home of Your Own Coalition, a program designed to expand home-ownership opportunities to Texans with disabilities.
Jean has served as a consultant, providing technical assistance to Public Housing Authorities for Project Access and Fannie Mae, as well as to housing and homeownership programs throughout the United States. Jean was one of the disability advocates who helped to found Accessible Housing Austin! to address the great need for accessible, affordable housing in Austin.
Sarah Mills
Sarah has been an advocate for disability rights her entire life being that she was born with a genetic condition which resulted in the need for her to use a wheelchair for mobility. She currently is Co-Owner and a founding partner of Treaty Oak Strategies which provides effective strategic counsel on health care policy. Prior to Treaty Oak Strategies, she was the Director of Government Affairs and Regulatory Services for the Texas Association for Home Care and Hospice (TAHC&H) for 6 years. While at TAHC&H, Sarah was dedicated to ensuring that individuals received care in their homes and not in an institutional facility. She is a staunch advocate of “aging in place.”
She has experience with a broad array of Texas Medicaid programs as she worked as a Policy Advisor in the Office of Policy in the Medicaid/CHIP division at the Texas Health and Human Services. Sarah also worked for 11 years at Disability Rights Texas (DRTX) (formerly Advocacy, Inc.) in their policy unit advocating to the legislature and state agencies regarding the civil rights of Texans with disabilities in the areas of housing, education, accessibility and transportation. During her tenure at DRTX, Sarah was selected to serve on the Early Childhood Intervention (ECI) Advisory Committee by then Governor Rick Perry. Sarah also served as the Chair of the Disability Policy Consortium for a two-year term.
Sarah has her Bachelors of Liberal Arts (BA) degree with a concentration in psychology from Austin College in Sherman, TX. She earned her Masters of Science degree in rehabilitation counseling from the University of North Texas (UNT). Sarah previously volunteered for 8 years on the Austin Tenants Council as both a member of the Council and as the Board Chair for 5 years in which she led the Board with completing their fiduciary responsibilities and guided them through the process of hiring a new Executive Director.
Renee Lopez, Member-at-Large
Renee Lopez, is an organizer for ADAPT of Texas. Renee has thirty years of experience working in disability services. She has also worked as an activist and advocate with disability rights organizations. She earned her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the University of Texas at Austin.
From 1987 to 2013, Renee worked for the state of Texas adjudicating Social Security-Disability claims. She has served on the advisory board for SafePlace Disability Services since 2010, and on the board of VSA Texas, which is the State Organization for Arts and Disability.
Trey Nichols, Executive Director
A passionate advocate for mental health, accessible housing, and disability services, Trey joins AHA with over 20 years in non-profit social services experience. He began his career in Fort Worth while working towards his Master’s Degree in Family Therapy at Texas Woman’s University in Denton. In Fort Worth he worked at Tarrant County Samaritan House, a permanent housing provider. While there, in addition to providing clinical counseling, he oversaw allocation and management of operational grants, facilitated annual performance audits and responses, and conducted Annual Performance Reviews (APRs).
After moving to Austin, Trey spent several years at Foundation for the Homeless as the Director of Programs and Operations before moving on to Front Steps, better known as the Austin Resource Center for the Homeless (ARCH), the downtown emergency shelter for adult men. While serving Austin’s homeless community at Front Steps, he advanced to Director of Operations in a leadership role directing operational activities of 80 staff members in support of policies, goals, and objectives for the $7M agency. Most recently, Trey has worked with the Homeless Services Division of the City of Austin managing one of the Bridge shelters created as a result of COVID-19.
