Welcome, Invisible People Podcast Listeners

Podcast Episode Overview: Interview with Tamera Kohler, CEO of the San Diego Regional Task Force on Homelessness

In this powerful and deeply insightful conversation, Tamera Kohler shares her personal and professional journey — and what it really takes to create systemic change in homelessness. Key highlights include:

• Accessible Leadership: Tamera discusses why she created one of the most inclusive homelessness conferences in the country by keeping costs low, allowing frontline workers and entry-level staff to attend.
• Lived Experience Connections: She shares how she hired Curtis Howard as a lived experience consultant after reading his story on Invisible People — a testament to her intentional, community-rooted leadership.
• Utah to San Diego: Tamera reflects on her early work in Utah’s nationally recognized efforts to reduce homelessness, the loss of momentum, and how gender bias shaped her path forward.
• Faith and Upbringing: Growing up in poverty and trauma, and being part of the LDS church, gave her a lifelong commitment to service, equity, and amplifying unseen voices.
• San Diego’s Unique Challenges: She explains how aging populations, high utility costs, and military housing needs contribute to rising homelessness — despite record housing placements.
• Systemic Insights: Introduces the term "overprescribed" to describe how housing and homeless services require more than just scaling — they need individualized care and resources.
• Data Transparency: Her organization publishes a public dashboard showing inflow vs. housing exits, to educate the public and counter blame-shifting.
• Realistic Policy Talk: She explains the political landscape of San Diego County and the chess game of aligning city, county, and nonprofit actors toward real progress.
• Hope in New Generations: Tamera finds hope in both young workers and aging homeowners who are realizing how broken our housing systems are — and stepping up as unexpected allies.
• Powerful Closing Message: "Why not us?" — a rallying cry that this work belongs to all of us, and lasting change is possible with the right leadership, honesty, and commitment.