Meet Bobbi, LUCHA's New Housing & Community Capacity Builder!

In September 2026, LUCHA welcomed AmeriCorps VISTA member Bobbi as its new Housing & Community Capacity Builder. In this role, Bobbi looks forward to strengthening LUCHA’s capacity to advance housing stability in the communities it serves.

Bobbi brings diverse skillset including experience in healthcare compliance, quality assurance, client support and community engagement.  She has logged several years of volunteer experience in support of literacy, food security, and health & wellness initiatives in the community. Additionally, she hopes that her lived experience will translate into valuable insight into addressing housing needs for the most vulnerable communities. 

What inspired you to join LUCHA as an AmeriCorps Vista member, and what excites you most about the opportunity? 

 

Bobbi: My main objective is to assist LUCHA in areas where a need has been identified, and that includes building capacity in the following areas: volunteer engagement, grants development, and marketing and communications. 

What do you hope to learn or accomplish by serving as an AmeriCorps VISTA member with LUCHA?  

Bobbi: I am looking forward to forming valuable relationships with stakeholders in the housing equity space, coalition building, and becoming better versed on housing legislation. I look forward to gaining valuable tools to help channel some of my ideas and passion into actionable goals that help prevent homelessness and keep housing affordable, as well as shore-up the wraparound services that often go hand and hand in ensuring secure and safe housing for people for years to come. 

Can you tell us a little about how you hope to translate past work, volunteer and lived experience into valuable resources to tap into your capacity building service at LUCHA? 

Bobbi: My past work experience spans industries. One overarching thread shared between these industries was the strong emphasis on quality interpersonal engagement. Enough can’t be said about learning to meet people where they are and making them feel truly seen and heard.   

I find serving others with purpose both meaningful and rewarding. My volunteering experiences have been centered around social initiatives that I care deeply about, such as literacy and tackling food insecurity. 

I previously volunteered for several years as an ESL tutor, and I am currently volunteering at a local food pantry when I have time to commit to a shift. With my role at LUCHA, I have an opportunity to be more involved with housing advocacy, and I am excited about working with this organization to address homelessness and securing affordable housing for all. 

My personal lived experiences help provide me with additional insight into the issues facing those most in need of affordable housing. It is my belief that it has provided me with an extra layer of empathy and understanding. I understand how job loss, familial obligation(s), and/or a health setback can impact finances to such a point that housing stability becomes threatened. 

The fall-out that arises from fighting an eviction or foreclosure is daunting and can have long-term negative consequences.  I have become keenly aware of areas of housing stability and affordability that need addressing and needs that may be overlooked.  

LUCHA believes housing is a human right. What does this mission mean to you? 

Bobbi: I share LUCHA’s belief that housing is a human right.   I believe that there are enough resources if allocated with thought and care to make affordable housing accessible to all communities. Housing instability helps to thwart upward mobility.

There is a negative ripple effect when people begin to ignore these issues in their communities. It has been shown through various studies that housing instability is a negative social determinant and adversely impacts areas of literacy attainment, health, and wellness. There is also a positive correlation to the increase in crime rates.  

Attempting to bring your best self to a job and/or job opportunity, contributing positively to one’s community or parenting to the best of one’s ability becomes a lot harder when you are fighting to secure or maintain housing. Access to safe, secure, and affordable housing is clearly one of the best ways to help combat a variety of societal ills. 

Why do you think continued investment in programs like AmeriCorps is so important for the communities they serve? 

Bobbi: AmeriCorps motto is centered around service to our communities. The deliverables harvested from the work that AmeriCorps does through their various corps make the investments in its programming worth the expense. Voices for National Services has noted that for every $1 dollar in federal taxes invested in AmeriCorps returns over $17 to society, program members, and the government. 

Social service agencies and other entities charged with helping to ensure the safety and quality of life measures in communities that they serve have been greatly impacted by across-the-board cuts to funding. AmeriCorps’ addresses gaps in providing valuable resources to communities that private resources do not match.  

The benefits of investment in AmeriCorps span several areas from community building to disaster assistance to supporting literacy and affordable housing initiatives and career development. Resources that are vital to establishing healthy and thriving communities. ■