Highlights Part 3 - Housing & Wrap Around Services

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Enjoy our slide show of photos from the organizations that are featured below in our Highlight Episode Part Three focused on Housing from our Covid-19 special series.

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"Large one-time cash transfers to people experiencing homelessness reduce time spent homeless, increase spending on essentials (rent, food, transit), do not increase spending on drugs or alcohol, and even save governments money—showing that trusting people with cash is both humane and cost-effective.” - Dr. Jiaying Zhaoh

What if trust, cash, and community could end homelessness more effectively than punishment or bureaucracy? This episode spotlights frontline leaders who pioneered peak-pandemic innovations: direct cash transfers, guaranteed income pilots, tiny-home villages, and radically hospitable shelters that moved people into stable homes. Our guests include Miracle Messages founder Kevin Adler, Coalition on Homelessness executive director Jennifer Friedenbach, Youth Spirit Artworks founder Sally Hindman, and Dr. Jiaying Zhao from Foundations for Social Change, among others. Each offers data-backed lessons and hopeful blueprints for change. Discover concrete examples and language to reimagine what's possible and influence policy in your own community.

Meet every guest, explore their work, and use the bios below to find meaningful ways you can support their efforts, share these ideas, and advocate in your own community.

Kevin Adler—Founder, CEO of Miracle Messages

Kevin Adler is the Founder and CEO of Miracle Messages. Previously, Kevin co-founded three education technology startups, and authored a book on how shared traumas can bring us together. Kevin is a graduate of Cambridge University and Occidental College, where he was the 2018 Young Alumnus of the Year and where Barack Obama's favorite professor said, "in 40 years of teaching, Kevin is the single best student I’ve ever had." To find out more about the origins of Miracle Message and Kevin’s story please visit: https://www.miraclemessages.org/backstory Discover how Miracle Messages reunites families in episode 1 and launched Miracle Money during the pandemic in episode 75 and episode 102

Shannon Eizenga—Executive Director, The Gubbio Project

Shannon serves as the Executive Director of The Gubbio Project. She brings to the role more than fourteen years of non-profit leadership experience. Shannon is passionate about building just, caring communities and to improve lives through compassionate care and social engagement. Shannon holds a Master’s of Divinity from Starr King School for the Ministry at The Graduate Theological Union. Don’t forget to check out the original interview with Shannon in episode 7. Listen to parts one and two of Finding Home Live to hear Executive Director Lydia Bransten share updates on Gubbio Project's compassionate work.

Mary Kate Bacalao—Director of External Affairs & Policy, Compass Family Services

Mary Kate Bacalao is the Director of External Affairs and Policy at Compass Family Services, where she leads budget advocacy and policy efforts to prevent and end family homelessness. Mary Kate also co-chairs the Homeless Emergency Service Providers Association (HESPA), a coalition of 30 community-based agencies working on the front lines of San Francisco's homelessness crisis. Mary Kate holds a B.A. in Philosophy from Columbia College, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and a J.D. from Columbia Law School. Her writing has appeared in The Nation, CityLab, the Stanford Social Innovation Review, the Nonprofit Quarterly, and local newspapers. Find out more about Compass Family Services work in the original interview with Mary Kate in episode 68. Listen to CEO Erica Kisch share Compass Family Services's latest work in part one and part two of Finding Home Live.

Marc Slater—Executive Director, Raphael House

Marc Slater the Executive Director, joined Raphael House in 2016. He comes to Raphael House with over a decade of nonprofit experience in marketing, media, and development. Marc was born in Los Angeles, he grew up in Malibu California, and he has been enjoying the food, culture, and people of the Bay Area as a resident since 2004. Marc has based his professional career on being in service of others. This idea was fostered as a young man after saving a mother and her two children during a flash flood in 1991. This experience defined his life, and later his professional career. Marc started his career working in film and marketing and later dedicated his career to serving others as a director for the Boy Scouts of America and by heading shelter operations for the Humane Society. He is excited to continue his mission of serving others and having an impact on our local community as part of the Raphael House family. In his free time, Marc enjoys rock climbing, running, and backpacking with his wife Autumn, and he is an avid golfer, archer, and softball player. Fifty years keeping families together. Ceci and Marc share wraparound services and success stories in the, full-length interview in episode 69.

Ceci Ferber—Director of Family Services, Raphael House

Ceci Ferber, the Director of Family Services, joined Raphael House in October 2013. Ceci holds an MS in Social Work with a concentration in International Social Welfare & Services to Immigrants and Refugees from Columbia University, and a BA in Psychology with a minor in Latin America and Latino Studies from UC, Santa Cruz. She has provided guidance and support services to families in need for over 18 years. Ceci’s professional and volunteer experience includes nonprofit work in Mexico, the Greater Bay Area, and on the East Coast (New York State). Prior to joining the Program Department at Raphael House, Ceci provided direct services to clients in various settings, including assisted living for senior residents with Dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease, after-school tutoring to Spanish-speaking children, family and individual counseling, specialized services to children with special needs, psychoeducational support groups for teens, and court-based social services to low-income families facing eviction (case management and short-term counseling). As the Director of Family Services, Ceci ensures that program staff continues to offer the supportive services needed when families enroll and participate in our Residential and Bridge services. Hear more insights from Ceci in Episode 69.

Jennifer Friedenbach—Executive Director, Coalition on Homelessness, San Francisco

Jennifer is currently the Executive Director of the Coalition on Homelessness, San Francisco. She has worked for the Coalition for 25 years, as Executive Director, as organizing director, substance abuse and mental health workgroup coordinator, and fundraiser. Previous to coming to San Francisco, Jennifer was Director of the Hunger and Homeless Action Coalition of San Mateo County. Ms. Friedenbach has a long history of community organizing and has worked on a range of poverty-related issues including welfare rights, housing, homeless prevention, health care, disability, and human and civil rights. During her tenure, she has achieved significant victories alongside homeless people including crafting alongside community members, Prop C Our City Our Home a tax on corporations that pays for homeless housing and will double San Francisco’s efforts to address homelessness, the creation of a local housing subsidy serving hundreds of homeless families, the major expansion of prevention efforts resulting in the halting of displacement of more than a 1,000 households, expansion of substance abuse treatment resulting in decreased overdoses and shorter waits, spearheaded numerous legislative reforms protecting the rights of homeless people, and garnered public investments in programs that have saved countless lives.Visit Episode 76 for Jennifer's complete interview on compassionate solutions.

Quiver Watts—Editor, Street Sheet

Quiver Watts currently works in the background as the editor of the Street Sheet newspaper, designing the layout, assigning stories, and workshopping articles with the homeless and formerly homeless writers who make this newspaper so unique. In their time with the paper Quiver has started a cashless payments program to support the hundred regular vendors whose livelihoods depend on paper sales and also launched the podcast "Street Speak" to help answer your questions about poverty and homelessness. Before working at the Coalition on Homelessness, Quiver studied the privatization of cities and the impacts of Business Improvement Districts (BIDs, CBDs) on homeless folks and also organized to try to stop the eviction of longtime homeless residents at the Albany Bulb in the East Bay. Quiver also fronts the folk punk band Wayfairy and has a growing passion for learning about native plants. Listen to the complete, original episode 76 featuring Quiver and Jennifer.

Windy Click—Director of Community Engagement, Hospitality House

Windy Click, Director of Community Engagement, joined Hospitality House in 2013 as an on-call staff member working at all programs. As a formerly incarcerated woman who spent 17 years inside a women’s facility, Windy was determined to acclimate herself to society by providing service to others in need. In 2015, Windy joined the agency’s Community Building Program as a Peer Advocate Community Organizer utilizing her previous experience in community organizing while incarcerated. After developing her leadership skills, Windy was eventually hired to lead the Community Building Program as the Program Manager in December 2016. In February 2020, Windy was honored by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors for her success in community organizing and increasing voter turnout in the Tenderloin neighborhood. In October 2020, Windy assumed the role of the Director of Community Engagement overseeing the agency’s Shelter Program and Community Building Program. For the full story on job training and community impact, find the original interview with Windy, Janet and Joe from Hospitality House in episode 85

Janet Williams—Community Arts Program Manager, Hospitality House

Janet Williams, Community Arts Program Manager, spent the summer of 2010 working at Hospitality House's Community Arts Program (CAP). Inspired by their mission to connect people to the power of art through a harm reduction philosophy, she returned to her native Ireland in 2011 and set up a volunteer-run art program modeled by CAP in several Dublin City shelters throughout DePaul, Ireland. In 2016, Janet returned to become the Manager of CAP. She firmly believes everyone is an artist and art can save lives. Janet has a BA in Visual Art Practice and a Graduate Diploma in Community Art and Socially Engaged Practices., listen to the original interview with Windy, Janet and Joe from Hospitality House in episode 85

Joe Wilson—Executive Director, Hospitality House

Joe Wilson, Executive Director, was hired in May 2017 to succeed long-time Executive Director Jackie Jenks. Joe previously served as Hospitality House’s Community Building Program Manager as well as the Deputy Director of Programs. Prior to Hospitality House, Joe was the Assistant Organizing Director for the 1.6 million-member American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees (AFSCME), oversaw AFSCME’s Western Region training programs for emerging leaders, and was the director of the California Child Care Campaign to organize nearly 50,000 family child care providers. For nearly a decade, Joe was Associate Director at Coleman Advocates for Children & Youth, the City’s premier child advocacy group, and oversaw a multi-year policy and organizing campaign that secured nearly $140 million in local, federal, and state money for children, early educators, and working families. Joe has helped create numerous organizations, including the Coalition on Homelessness in 1987, the Coalition for Ethical Welfare Reform, Voices of Early Child Care Educators (VOICE), and has served on numerous nonprofit boards. In 1988, he co-wrote a study that leads to the formation of the Community Housing Partnership. Joe is the co-chair of Market Street for the Masses, the Steering Committee of the San Francisco Human Services Network, and the Executive Committee of the Homeless Emergency Service Providers Association (HESPA). Joe is formerly homeless, and a former shelter resident and staff of Hospitality House. For more about Hospit, listen to episode 85 with Windy, Janet and Joe

Sally Hindman—Executive Director, Youth Spirits Artworks

Sally Hindman has thirty years of management and other experience working with non-profit organizations serving homeless people. She previously directed Berkeley California’s interfaith Chaplaincy to the Homeless and set up its Telegraph Avenue drop in center for homeless youth. Sally is the co-founder of Street Spirit, the San Francisco East Bay homeless newspaper. Sally received her M.A. in Theology and Art and her M. Div. from Pacific School of Religion. She holds an undergraduate degree in Natural Resources (Environmental Conservation) from Cornell University. Sally is an adjunct faculty member at the Graduate Theological Union Center for Art, Religion, and Education and Starr King School for the Ministry teaching “Liberation Art.” In 1998 she received KPFA radio’s Alice Hamburg Community Service Award for her outstanding leadership in serving homeless people in the East Bay. Sally has been a member of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) since 1984 and is a member of Strawberry Creek Friends Meeting. To hear the full story of Youth Spirits Artworks tiny homes village and newspaper, listen to the original, interview with Sally and Reginald Gentry in episode 81.

Alan Guttirez—Manager of Housing Subsidy Programs, San Francisco's Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing

Alan Guttirez (He/Him) is the Manager of Housing Subsidy Programs at the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing (HSH). Over the last 5 years—and in partnership with people with lived experience, local nonprofit partners, and colleagues at HSH—Alan has led expansions to the portfolio of scattered site housing programs, increased the oversight and compliance among the Continuum of Care programs funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and helped to implement the inaugural Family Coordinated Entry System. Prior to his tenure at HSH, Alan worked at nonprofits in San Francisco with Justice-based missions and services menus that spanned HIV prevention and care, leadership development, suicide prevention, and case management services for unhoused LGBTQ youth, advocacy for survivors of domestic violence, and occupational health services for people who work in the sex trades. Alan arrives to this work after being galvanized by his experience working in the sex trades, as a survivor of domestic violence, and through the love, mentorship, and wisdom of his family and countless Black, Latino/a/x, Asian American, and South Asian trans and nonbinary visionaries. Today, Alan is guided by his family and mentor’s ideas and visions as he works to reduce houselessness by scaling new and existing housing projects through a Racial and Housing Justice framework. Hear the full panel discussion with Alan, Beth, Jugal and Shireen about how (HSH) supports unhoused SF community members in episode 104

Beth Stokes—Executive Director,Episcopal Community Services of San Francisco

Beth Stokes is the Executive Director of Episcopal Community Services of San Francisco, one of the City's largest, most comprehensive providers of supportive housing and services. She started her career in housing and homeless services over twenty years ago at the Coalition on Homelessness. Beth's prior experience includes serving as the Western Region Managing Director for the Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH), Director of Programs for the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, and Executive Director of Hamilton Families. Beth has also held a number of philanthropic and civic posts including serving as an Oakland Homeless Commissioner since her appointment by Mayor Schaaf in 2019, as a Board member for Amity Foundation, and previous roles on the Board of Directors for Homerise and the SoMA Community Benefit District. She received her MSW in Social Welfare, Administration and Planning from San Francisco State University.

Beth values a balanced approach to mental and physical wellbeing and in her free time enjoys taking advantage of the beauty of living in the bay area, exploring and cycling through local landscapes and seascapes with her partner and friends.

Beth values a balanced approach to mental and physical wellbeing and in her free time enjoys taking advantage of the beauty of living in the bay area, exploring and cycling through local landscapes and seascapes with her partner and friends. Hear the full panel discussion with Alan, Beth, Jugal and Shireen about how (HSH) supports unhoused SF community members in episode 104

Jugal Patel—Entrepreneur & Resident of Episcopal Community Housing Services

Jugal Patel is a 35-year-old Bay Area native and tech entrepreneur who lives in San Francisco. Jugal has previously experienced homelessness and spent six years cycling in and out of the streets, rehabilitation programs, shelters, and jail. With the support of City programs, Jugal was able to begin his journey in recovery and in 2019 acquired long term, stable housing with the help of Episcopal Community Services (ECS). Since entering into the ECS program Jugal has been able to finish his BS in Finance from San Francisco State University and found his own tech company. Outside of his career, he volunteers with several non-profits serving populations struggling with homelessness, mental health, and addiction issues, as a way of giving back what was so freely given to him.  Hear the full panel discussion with Alan, Beth, Jugal and Shireen about how (HSH) supports unhoused SF community members in episode 104

Dr. Jiaying Zhao—Principal Investigator & Professor, University British Columbia

Dr. Jiaying Zhao is a Canada Research Chair and Professor in the Department of Psychology and the Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability at the University of British Columbia. She uses psychological principles to design behavioral solutions to address financial and environmental sustainability challenges. Her paper “Poverty Impedes Cognitive Function”, published along with several colleagues in Science, drew significant attention from such media outlets at the New York Times, Associated Press, Washington Post, NBC, and TIME magazine.

Dr. Zhao earned her PhD from Princeton University in Cognitive Psychology and has a master’s in Cognitive Psychology (Princeton) and a master’s in Cognitive Science (University College Dublin). She is the current Canada Research Chair in Behavioral Sustainability and is a Researcher with the Centre for Interactive Research on Sustainability.

In 2015, she received the BX Award for Outstanding Research which recognizes outstanding research in the behavioral sciences and policy combining originality, rigor, a demonstrated or potential practical application, and the potential for lasting impact.

Most recently, Dr. Zhao has received research grants in the areas of climate change, sustainability in US forestry, and COVID-19. Dr. Zhao led the research portion of the New Leaf Project. She became interested in studying how direct cash transfers can contribute to individual development in people experiencing homelessness in developed countries and recognized the high likelihood of success from this innovative approach. Discover how New Leaf's $7,500 cash transfers reduced homelessness while saving taxpayers money—visit Episode 105 for the complete groundbreaking interview.

Heather Hay—Director, New Leaf Project, Foundations for Social Change

Heather Hay, RN, M.A., MSC (A) is a healthcare executive with extensive senior leadership experience across the health care system in Canada. She has vast experience in innovative program planning, evaluation, and development. With a passion for working with marginalized client populations and adapting systems to meet their needs, Heather led the development of ground-breaking harm reduction programs including North America’s first Supervised Injection Site, Canada’s only Community Court, and British Columbia’s first Drug Treatment Court. As part of the Olympic legacy projects, she developed a strategy to support complex homeless mental health and addiction clients and implemented a forward-thinking 100-bed treatment centre (Burnaby Centre for Mental Health and Addiction) and an 80-bed facility at the Crossing at Keremeos, a long-term treatment program, for youth.

Heather is the recipient of the National Deloitte Public Service Award and twice awarded the Premier’s Public Service award for Innovation and Collaboration. She has been recognized by the BC Business Association and is the recipient of Innovator of the Year Award. She is an experienced consultant who has provided services to a variety of clients both nationally and internationally and is a sought-after guest speaker. Heather has a strong interest in the Arts and is currently enrolled at SFU in the liberal studies program. She holds a Master of Science (Applied) from Montreal’s McGill University and a Master’s in Leadership from Royal Roads University in British Columbia. Learn how rising rents and vanishing COVID supports are creating new homelessness patterns—visit Episode 105 for Heather's complete insights and analysis.

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