Joel John Roberts

Chief Executive Officer, PATH

Housing and Homelessness Columnist

Column contributed fourth Monday of every month

Joel Roberts joined PATH in September, 1996 and currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer for PATH. In 1996, PATH was a local one-site project in West Los Angeles.

Under Joel’s leadership, the agency has grown into a multi-site, nationally-recognized leader in social services, known for its innovative co-location approach. Joel’s professional background is in International Relief and Development.

He holds a Master’s Degree in Cross Cultural Studies from Fuller Seminary and a Bachelor’s Degree in Communications from California State University, Long Beach. When Joel has spare time, he likes to travel to exotic places around the world.

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Columns

March 22, 2021March 21, 2021by Joel John Roberts

Roberts: A year like no other—COVID’s impact on homeless services

A year ago, the rumors were subtle but alarming. A deadly virus began its global spread and landed in California. Whispers of quarantines, stay-at-home orders and airports shutting down traveled quickly. The homeless services and housing agency I lead had nearly 700 workers spread across the state at the time. We just didn’t know what...

Columns

January 25, 2021January 22, 2021by Joel John Roberts

Roberts: No homeless count: Are we counting them out?

I sit on two regional Continuum of Care (CoC) boards in California — Santa Clara County and San Diego County — and in both bodies I voted to not count people who are homeless this year. The federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) created the Continuum of Care Program in order to funnel their resources through...

Columns

December 28, 2020December 29, 2020by Joel John Roberts

Roberts: The year of the essential homelessness worker

Who would have imagined that nurses and doctors would fall into the same category as grocery store clerks and meatpacking workers? They all became essential workers, a term we used rarely before March. Of course, who would have imagined a worldwide pandemic would arrive on the shores of America, shutting down society? I remember when...

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