This week on Homeless in San Diego, we are honored to welcome Jordan Verdin, Founder of Humanity Showers and Street Stories. Host and Interfaith CEO Greg Anglea was thrilled to sit down and discuss his admirable work. Jordan created Humanity Showers, a 100% volunteer project that now provides over 2,000 mobile showers each month across San Diego, Orange, and Los Angeles Counties. . His next initiative, Street Stories, aims to interview every single person experiencing homelessness in Oceanside to highlight their individual stories and challenge the stigma and stereotypes surrounding homelessness. Links:

https://www.instagram.com/jordanverdin/

https://www.humanityshowers.org/

https://streetstories.com/

From Homelessness to Homeownership! On this week's episode of Homelessness in San Diego, we welcomed back father-son duo, Tracy and Caleb. When we first spoke with them in 2019, Tracy shared his experience with homelessness and how Interfaith supported him. After living in his car and struggling with PTSD, he entered our Recuperative Care Program and began rebuilding his life. On that episode, Tracy shared how grateful he was for that support, while Caleb expressed how proud he is of his dad's resilience.

Today, they returned with incredible news: they bought a house together! Using a zero-down VA loan, Tracy and Caleb were able to purchase a place to call their own, a milestone that once felt out of reach. In this episode, Tracy reflects on his journey through homelessness and why timely support can make all the difference.

Links:

To listen to Tracy and Caleb's original episode click here

To get involved and volunteer at our Turk Recuperative Care Center click here

Special Podcast Alert! This week, Interfaith's Faith-Based Senior Manager Mitchell Snow takes over Homeless in San Diego. He joins PACE-TV's Ernie Alvarez to discuss Interfaith's Empathy Building Experience. Alvarez attended our 2025 annual meeting, where we hosted the interactive simulation.

Ernie was so moved by the experience that he wanted to explore it further. This episode discusses his takeaways, why empathy matters, and how your company or organization can bring this powerful activity to life.

Show links:

https://www.interfaithservices.org/get-involved/volunteer

https://www.pace-tv.org/

https://youtu.be/S8XZPJbVIJY?si=eYGaaxqCGv1QZWmF

On this week's episode of Homeless in San Diego, we sit down with Natalie and her daughter, Lulu, to hear their story. Natalie is a dedicated housing advocate whose personal experience fuels her passion for change. After losing bartending jobs during COVID, she and her family of five found themselves living in a motor home bouncing around San Diego until they found stability through a housing voucher — a lifeline now at risk due to funding shifts under HR1.

This episode shows why support systems matter. Having access to housing, resources, and community support can be the difference between instability and a path toward stability.

Links:

https://voiceofsandiego.org/2022/06/22/inside-one-familys-homelessness-nightmare/

https://give.interfaithservices.org/campaign/729839/donate

This week's episode of Homeless in San Diego features Elvis, a former family shelter resident with an incredible story of resilience. He shares how he and his kids found themselves without housing, their strength to overcome it, and the kindness that helped them rebuild.

It's a heartfelt reminder that homelessness can affect anyone and with the right support and determination, you can gain a sense of normalcy.

Links:

[email protected]

https://operationhopeshelter.org

https://interfaithservices.org/volunteer

In our latest episode of Homeless in San Diego, we're excited to welcome back Lisa Halverstadt, senior investigative reporter at Voice of San Diego. She returns to share about her new guide on ethically reporting homelessness, created in collaboration with the Homelessness Beat Reporters Collective.

Links:

Email: [email protected]

X: @LisaHalverstadt

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisa-halverstadt-781a283/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LisaHalverstadthttps://

https://www.poynter.org/ethics-trust/2025/how-to-report-cover-homelessness-unhoused-people/

https://voiceofsandiego.org/2025/05/28/experiment-to-clear-homeless-camp-seems-to-be-working/

https://voiceofsandiego.org/2025/06/30/black-san-diegans-disproportionately-arrested-on-prop-36-charges/

vosd.org/lisa

https://voiceofsandiego.org/ways-to-give/

In this week's episode of Homeless in San Diego, we welcome San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan to discuss the launch of their new Shelter Ready app. During its beta testing phase, Interfaith's Homeless Outreach Team (HOT) used the app to help connect community members with available shelter beds. In collaboration with the DA's office and several nonprofit partners, the pilot has helped demonstrate Shelter Ready's potential to better connect people with available services across San Diego County.

Links:

https://www.shelterready.org/

https://danewscenter.com/news/innovative-shelter-ready-app-expanding-countywide/

https://onesafeplacenorth.org/

https://voiceofsandiego.org/2025/06/30/black-san-diegans-disproportionately-arrested-on-prop-36-charges/

On this edition of Homeless in San Diego, we're honored to welcome Brother Batie, Social Services Program Director at the YMCA of San Diego County. He shares powerful insights from his work in the Transitional Age Youth (TAY) homelessness sector, as well as his own lived experience with homelessness as a North County native.

Recently recognized as Program Staff Member of the Year by the Regional Task Force on Homelessness, Brother Batie brings both expertise and heart to his work.

Links:

https://www.instagram.com/brother.batie/

https://www.instagram.com/ymcasandiego/

https://www.ymcasd.org/community-support/ymca-youth-and-family-services/

This week on Homeless in San Diego, we're honored to welcome Mario, a recent graduate of our detox and residential program, and his Certified Substance Use Disorder Counselor, Sandy. Mario shares his powerful story of recovery, the challenges he's overcome, and how his time at Interfaith's detox center gave him a renewed sense of purpose.

Links:

https://interfaithservices.org/services/treatment/

Withdrawal Management Number: 760 489-6380 *193

HIPAA Compliant Text Line: 760 203-3350

Tune in to this data-driven episode of Interfaith's Homeless in San Diego, where we explore the landscape of homelessness in our region. Joining us is Dr. Jennifer Nations, Managing Director of UC San Diego's Homelessness Hub, who shares insights from her new study, Homelessness Trends and Overnight Emergency Services in San Diego County, and explains how her applied research supports policy and program changes related to housing affordability, transportation, evictions, and health.

Homelessness Hub Website: https://homelessnesshub.ucsd.edu/ Report 1 Homelessness Trends and Overnight Emergency Services in San Diego County, June 2024. Access Report 1 here Report 2 Passing Through and Staying Put: Emergency Shelter Trajectories in San Diego County, 2018-2023, January 2025. Access Report 2 here