Maria Elena Hernandez

Maria Elena Hernandez is a senior leader with the Residents United Network (RUN). Maria lives in the County of San Diego and has been in California for over 30 years, hailing from Chicago, IL. She is a single mother of a beautiful daughter who is currently in school to be an esthetician. Maria serves on the board of directors for Community Housing Works (CHW) as well as being a resident at one of their apartment complexes. She is currently a resident leader at her apartment complex. She is a reading coach for a reading program at her complex for 3 years. She has been with RUN since the beginning for the past 10 years. Prior to RUN she was part of the Resident Popular Educators (RPE) through San Diego Housing Federation where she learnerd how bills became laws. Since being part of RUN she has become a strong advocate for affordable housing. She has met many legislators in both state and city. She has spoken at both state and city council meetings about the need for more affordable housing. Maria regularly speaks to local media outlets in San Diego about affordable housing and not to criminalize the unhoused. Her story was shared with Governor Jerry Brown on September 29, 2017, the day he signed 15 housing bills into law. Maria is looking forward to being part of the Housing California Board of Directors and to advocate for more affordable housing.