The Alliance for Rights and Recovery congratulates Melissa Wettengel, Chief Executive Officer of Hands Across Long Island (HALI), for being named a Long Island Power List Honoree by Long Island Press and Schneps Media!
This prestigious recognition celebrates the most influential individuals making an impact across Long Island. Melissa’s leadership at HALI exemplifies the values of equity, compassion, and community empowerment.
HALI, a proud member of the Alliance, is a peer-led mental health nonprofit providing essential services like supportive housing, reentry support for people leaving jail and prison, a fresh food pantry, and a mobile shower fleet that brings dignity and outreach to the streets. Under Melissa’s leadership, HALI continues to transform lived experience into life-saving support for people experiencing mental health and substance use challenges, homelessness, and food insecurity.
Melissa has spent her career advancing peer-led, trauma-informed systems, having previously helped develop innovative crisis alternatives like MHA Nassau County’s Turquoise House and FCA’s Sherpa. She also led the Long Island Regional Planning Consortium, tackling behavioral health system challenges under managed care. A Fort Salonga resident and Stony Brook MPH graduate, Melissa brings both professional expertise and personal experience to her work—and we are thrilled to see her leadership recognized.
Congratulations, Melissa, and thank you for all you do to move our movement forward!
