Ray Bramson

Chief Operating Officer, Destination: Home

Housing and Homelessness Columnist

Column 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.

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Columns

People at voting booths inside an elections office

October 14, 2024October 14, 2024by Ray Bramson

Bramson: Setting expectations for housing and homelessness on the 2024 ballot

This November you’re not going to see any money for affordable housing on the ballot locally. Nor will you see funding to help support people living on the streets or in deep poverty. There are a lot of reasons for why it ended up this way, but the bottom line is that your vote this...

Columns

Lived in vehicles parked alongside a sidewalk

September 9, 2024September 24, 2024by Ray Bramson

Bramson: The experience of failure

Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote the essay “Experience” in 1844. Following the death of his son, the essay considers the differences between adhering to abstract theory and conventional wisdom, as opposed to direct engagement when navigating the twists and turns of life. In many ways, it’s a heartbreaking piece about the impossibility of escaping loss and...

Columns

San Jose city workers dismantle a large homeless camp

August 12, 2024September 9, 2024by Ray Bramson

Bramson: Shifting the narrative doesn’t solve homelessness

In his 2019 State of the State address, Gov. Gavin Newsom forcefully proclaimed that “housing ends homelessness.” With a history working on this issue, Newsom was making a bold statement that the crisis on our streets would be a focus of his administration. And that attention would be directed toward a regional response with the...

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