19th Annual Housing Heroes Awards Recognize Community Leaders

The 19th annual Housing Heroes Awards took place on Wednesday, October 21 at the Redwood Shores Library. Each year, the event honors community partners and colleagues who have demonstrated exceptional leadership in providing and/or maintaining housing for San Mateo County Residents with co-occurring mental health and substance use issues.

This year, founding member of the Housing Heroes event Lee Harrison gave a warm welcome, shared a brief history of the event, and introduced the program, including lived experience speaker, Jasmine Babineux, keynote speaker, Board of Supervisors President Noelia Corzo, and the eight Housing Heroes recipients.

Harrison shared, “For 19 years we have been celebrating this work, and the people are the reason that we do it. We think this is a reflection of the spirit of San Mateo County leadership and partners that keep the importance of affordable supported housing a recognized priority.”

He added, “The founding members were a group of BHRS employees who believed that stable housing was a critical cornerstone of recovery. As behavioral health providers, they saw how difficult it was for people to engage in treatment when they did not have stable housing. Providing those supportive opportunities was seen as visionary and insightful at the time.”

President Corzo shared, “When I think about my lived experience and the many ways in which I think about how housing played a pivotal role for me… how that gave me the foundation to become who I am, to live in one place, to have the stability to excel in my education, to live in one community and grow strong roots. Not everybody gets that, but everybody deserves it. What you all do for your clients, you are giving them that.”

2026 Housing Heroes:

1. Samaritan House (Gerryk Madrigal-Ayala, Lupe Filimoehala, Gema Corrales Ruíz)
2. David Carducci, Legal Aid Society of San Mateo County
3. Jack Fuller, Hearts for Homeless
4. Stephanie Smith Gurvitz, Elder Care Alliance
5. Peer Support Specialists Desiree Fortune and Estefanie Hernandez
6. Board and Care Homes, Lulin “Lucy” Wu (Arcadian Residential Community); Grace Aqunio, (Diana’s Care Home); Jonabell Tolentino (Scott Villa)
7. Mental Health Association Staff (Jovana Ibarra, Tiffany Bailey, Tabitha Halverson)
8. Honorable Carole Groom Housing Leadership Award: Mental Health Association of San Mateo County

Thank you to the Housing Heroes Awards planning committee: Laura Angel, Brian Baluyot, Tara Currie-Martinez, Kelsey Dattilo, Maria Lorente Foresti, Terrell Fortune, Lee Harrison, Gozel Kulieva, Jessica Nguyen and Daisia Williams.