Executive Team

Mary-Margaret Lemons was appointed president of Fort Worth Housing Solutions in December 2017 after serving as the agency’s General Counsel from 2015 to 2017. She previously served as an attorney specializing in oil and gas and earlier as General Counsel at a local $1.2 billion bank overseeing Risk Management, Compliance and Vendor Management.

Under her leadership, FWHS has transitioned from a traditional public housing authority to one that has deconcentrated poverty by providing a variety of safe, affordable housing opportunities to the city’s workforce and low-income residents throughout Fort Worth. About 60 percent of the agency’s revenue now comes from non-federal funds. FWHS pays landlords about $68 million each year, a powerful economic impact.

Today, FWHS manages approximately 6,500 rental assistance vouchers across various programs that help more than 34,000 people cover housing costs every day. The agency closed the city’s last two, aging public housing communities – Cavile Place and Butler Place – in 2020 and worked with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to allow residents to relocate to homes of their choice in higher opportunity neighborhoods.

Since 2015, Lemons has significantly expanded the agency’s real estate portfolio. Today, FWHS operates 52 mixed-income, residential communities with properties in each City Council district, totaling more than 10,000 units with 85% operating at multiple levels of affordability to serve Fort Worth households.

In 2020, Lemons partnered with the City of Fort Worth and private development partner Ojala Holdings, LLC to apply federal CARES Act funding to the renovation of an extended-stay hotel that is now the city’s largest permanent supportive housing community for chronically homeless residents. The 119-unit Casa de Esperanza apartments in northeast Fort Worth offers residents case management and wrap-around support in partnership with numerous agencies in a model proven to help previously homeless residents move toward self-sufficiency.

Lemons also led the intense, community-focused, collaborative planning effort that preceded HUD’s $35 million Choice Neighborhood Implementation grant award to the City of Fort Worth and FWHS in 2020. The grant has seeded a massive revitalization plan for the historic Stop Six community in Southeast Fort Worth with investment in the neighborhood totaling more than a half-billion dollars. City leaders, FWHS and numerous partners have begun construction on six phases of new, mixed-income housing with ground-level retail space as part of the effort. Fort Worth voters in 2022 approved bonds to build a new Stop Six community hub and aquatics center for the neighborhood. The first phase, Cowan Place, opened in 2023.

Lemons serves on the Board of Trustees for the national Public Housing Authorities Directors Association, VICE CHAIR North Texas LEAD and the VICE CHAIR Continuum of Care for Tarrant and Parker counties. BOARD FOR TXNAHRO.

The Fort Worth Business Press honored Lemons as one if its Great Women of Texas in April 2022, and Fort Worth Inc. magazine has named her repeatedly to its list of the 400 Most Influential People in Fort Worth. She was honored as “Communicator of the Year” by the Greater Fort Worth Chapter of Public Relations Society of America in 2019. The Texas Wesleyan School of Law named her 2012 Alumnus of the Year. She was named to the Fort Worth Business Press “40 Under 40” list of for young leaders in 2012.

Lemons earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Public Relations from The University of Texas at Arlington and a juris doctor from Texas Wesleyan School of Law.

Sonya A. Barnette, Deputy Director and Senior Vice President, Housing & Client Services, also manages the Stop Six Choice Neighborhood Implementation grant that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development awarded Fort Worth Housing Solutions and the City of Fort Worth in April 2020.

Barnette joined Fort Worth Housing Solutions in 1993 as a Resident Liaison Coordinator. She previously served as Vice President of Housing Operations and Client Services and was responsible for the oversight of public housing, Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) site conversions, relocations, and multiple grant-funded programs, including Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (VASH), Continuum of Care, Directions Home, Health Community Collaborative, Single Room Occupancy (SRO), Family Self-Sufficiency/Homeownership Program and Resident Services.

During her tenure, Barnette has helped transform public housing through the RAD program, which added 1,625 affordable units to Fort Worth Housing Solutions’ portfolio. She also helped establish one of HUD’s first Family Investment Centers, a Neighborhood Network center and HUD’s first Texas EnVision Center at Fort Worth’s Martin Luther King Community Center on Truman Drive.

Prior to moving to Texas, Barnette served as an assistant director for Northeastern Family Institute and as a program manager for Communities for People, both in Massachusetts. She earned her undergraduate degree in psychology from Suffolk University in Boston.

Brian Dennison rejoined the staff as Senior Vice President of Development and Asset Management in March 2019 after serving as Senior Vice President of UrbanAmerica, a national real estate and development company. He was named Chief Development Officer in 2024. Prior to UrbanAmerica, Brian worked at FWHS as Vice President of Development and Asset Management for nine years.  Brian was instrumental in establishing multiple revenue sources to support the agency’s ongoing operations, and he created the agency’s long-term plan for the de-concentration of low-income housing.  He led FWHS to be the first housing authority in Texas to be selected for RAD.

Dennison brings to the agency more than 30 years of experience in commercial real estate lending, finance, asset management and liquidation.  He was a Senior Vice President at both Guaranty Bank and Bluebonnet Savings Bank; a Section Chief and Liquidator-in-Charge for the FDIC; and a prime contractor with the Resolution Trust Corporation.

Heather Raiden, General Counsel, is responsible for identifying legal issues and providing legal guidance to all departments, including employment matters, contracts, regulatory compliance and company policies.  She earned a B.A. in Political Science from the University of North Texas and graduated cum laude from Texas Tech School of Law.  She has served on the board of directors of Tarrant County Young Lawyers and been named a Top Attorney in Fort Worth, Texas magazine since 2010.

Raiden has practiced law in Fort Worth for her entire career, including with a local firm and in-house with a national corporation.  While not a native of Fort Worth, she landed here as soon as she could, and is proud to continue her career in service to this agency and community.

Hector Ordonez, Vice President Finance and Accounting, leads the agency’s fiscal business operations in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles and current business trends, as well as directs the agency’s administrative services including Information Technology.

Before joining FWHS in June 2021, Ordonez served as assistant Chief Financial Officer for the Dallas Housing Authority since January 2020. He previously served as Director of Finance & Chief Procurement Officer for the Regional Transit District in Santa Fe, N.M., and as the Deputy Finance Director – Housing Controller in Eagle County, Colo. His early career included accounting positions with a Las Vegas resort and a CPA firm.

Ordonez earned his undergraduate degree the University of Nevada in Las Vegas and his MBA with a dual specialization in accounting and finance from Regis University in Denver.

Lanesha Combs, Vice President Housing Operations and Client Services, is a seasoned administrator with more than 20 years of experience with federal affordable housing programs, Fair Housing compliance and grant management. She has a vast knowledge of community resources and has worked with a variety of target populations.

Combs joined Fort Worth Housing Solutions in 2013. She directs the operations of the Housing Choice Voucher program, grant administration for all homeless programs and oversees Fair Housing and 504/ADA compliance for the agency as a whole. Prior to joining FWHS, she managed several areas of operation for the Arlington Housing Authority for 11 years, including homeless services, the Housing Choice Voucher program, and Fair Housing/ADA compliance.

Combs serves on the Tarrant County Homeless Coalition ICT committee, and serves on the MHMR Homeless Community Advisory board.  She earned a B.S. from North Texas University and M.B.A. from Texas Woman’s University and obtained certification as an ADA coordinator from the University of Missouri-Great Plains ADA center.

Thaddeaus Green, Vice President of Development, has nearly a decade of experience in real estate development and work with public housing agencies. Previously, he worked at the Housing Authority of Prince George’s County as the Development Officer, responsible for 86 acres of HAPGC property-related activities, including real estate acquisitions, dispositions and development.