Feb. 20, 2025

For Immediate Release

Redwood City – Amy Davidson learned early in her career that simply moving people indoors is not a solution to homelessness.

“The shelter I worked at had been a hotel at one point with a big ballroom with mats on the floor and blankets we would hand out,” Davidson said.

“I met a lot of elderly and seriously mentally ill people who I understood were going to be living in the shelter for the rest of their lives,” she said. “It’s great if it’s an alternate to being outside but I didn’t want people to spend the rest of their lives sleeping on the floor on these mats. That’s what got me really excited about permanent supportive housing.”

Davidson will now combine her compassion with two decades of experience as she charts a new path for the San Mateo County Center on Homelessness.

The Center has been elevated to a division of the County’s Human Services Agency with Davidson – formerly the deputy director of the Department of Health, Housing and Community Services for the City of Berkeley – as its head.

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