Ray Bramson

Chief Operating Officer, Destination: Home

Housing and Homelessness Columnist

Columns contributed second Monday of every month

Ray works systematically to meet Destination: Home’s goals by addressing key staffing, process, and infrastructure issues, while also overseeing the organization’s housing loan portfolio, grantmaking, and development functions.

Having focused on homelessness and affordable housing issues for the majority of his career, Ray previously worked for the city of San Jose, leading the city’s Homelessness Interventions and Solutions Division for over five years.

Prior to joining the city, he was a philanthropy manager at Silicon Valley Community Foundation, and before that Ray worked with HomeFirst–a Santa Clara County safety net organization–as director of development.

An alumnus of UC Santa Barbara, Ray spent the year following his graduation with the AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps serving impoverished communities throughout the southeastern United States. He is a senior fellow with American Leadership Forum Silicon Valley and a board member for Housing Matters. Ray is also currently pursuing his Masters in Liberal Arts from Stanford University.

Socials

Columns

July 12, 2021July 11, 2021by Ray Bramson

Bramson: Empty office and retail sites could be used for housing

Vacant storefronts with “For Lease” signs fading in the windows. Abandoned strip malls with a sea of empty concrete spaces. Massive corporate offices from a bygone, pre-virtual era, sitting unoccupied, desolate, forgotten. Sadly, this is the post-pandemic narrative for many California cities, suburbs and exurbs these days. Along with an unexpected financial collapse and a...

Columns

June 14, 2021June 14, 2021by Ray Bramson

Bramson: Stepping up or getting out of the way

In a recent 2021 poll by the Bay Area Council, homelessness dominated the concerns of most residents in our region. Raise your hand if you’re surprised. The fact is we all see the tragic impacts of people forced to sleep outside and it’s truly horrifying. Human beings living and dying along our highways and creeks....

Columns

May 10, 2021May 11, 2021by Ray Bramson

Bramson: How to build a downtown best in San Jose

On any given day, try taking a stroll down the main boulevard of Santana Row. There are people dining at expensive restaurants, sipping on decadent drinks, shopping at luxury stores and enjoying a safe, cultivated, undisturbed sunny afternoon. Some people think this carefully manicured Silicon Valley fantasy is the best San Jose has to offer....