Heroes Of The Homeless Crisis: How Guillermo Magallanes of Urban Alchemy Is Helping To Support Some Of The Most Vulnerable People In Our Communities
An Interview With Nancy Landrum
People are going through trauma and you need to meet them where they are. If you think they need mental health treatment, but they’re telling you what they really need is help finding a way to call their sister, help them call their sister. Working with them in good faith builds trust and can help get them past what you see as the problems.
As a part of our series about “Heroes Of The Homeless Crisis” I had the pleasure of interviewing Guillermo Magallanes, Deputy Director of San Francisco Operations.
After spending years in federal prison, Guillermo Magallanes now leads over 700 practitioners as Deputy Director of Operations at Urban Alchemy (UA) in San Francisco. Recently, he guided a woman experiencing homelessness who sought help at UA, helping her secure housing and a job within a week, allowing her to support herself and her son. Magallanes sees his role as a path to redemption, striving to assist others as he was helped. For him, UA provides an opportunity to transform lives through a compassionate approach.
Magallanes, who grew up in the San Fernando Valley’s tough environment, was involved in gang activity from a young age and was first incarcerated at 14. In 2020, after a federal sentence, he joined UA, a critical step in his rehabilitation. Working with others who share similar pasts, he finds purpose in helping people overcome addiction, homelessness, and criminal cycles. UA’s efforts in de-escalating crises and building community trust showcase his dedication to positive change — transforming lives one person at a time.
Thank you so much for joining us! Our readers would love to ‘get to know you’ a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your personal background, and how you grew up?
Everybody knows me as Memo. I grew up in the housing projects in Pacoima in Los Angeles County, and I have a mom and dad, two brothers, and two sisters. I went to prison for the first time almost immediately after I turned 18. I bounced in and out of prison for years, and I got out for the last time in 2020 at the age of 42 and moved to a halfway house in San Francisco. Then, I got a job with Urban Alchemy, and things finally got better for me.
Is there a particular story or incident that inspired you to get involved in your work helping people who are homeless?
For me, there’s a lot of stories of things I’ve experienced in San Francisco. There are a lot of people going through a lot — mental distress, trauma, addiction, the effects of being homeless. I feel blessed to be in this community. It takes a toll on your body and your mental stability, but it feels like we should be able to do something to help. For me, I did a lot of bad things for a long time, and to be able to do a good thing, a good deed — it feels like it erases the bad deeds I did in the past. It makes me feel good to be able to help people in need.
Homelessness has been a problem for a long time in the United States. But it seems that it has gotten a lot worse over the past five years, particularly in the large cities, such as Los Angeles, New York, Seattle, and San Francisco. Can you explain to our readers what brought us to this place? Where did this crisis come from?
I got out of prison during the pandemic — July 2020. When I got out, I came straight to the Tenderloin, and I’d never seen anything like this. I grew up around gangs and poverty, but it’s never been like this — open-air drug markets and drug use, people with untreated wounds, tents, people using the bathroom on the street. I’d never seen anything like it in my life. I was in shock. It felt like I was in Gotham City from Batman. I think the cause has to be a combination of drug use, COVID, and a lot of people dealing with instability and mental health crises.
A question that many people who are not familiar with the intricacies of this problem ask is, “Why don’t homeless people just move to a city that has cheaper housing?” How do you answer this question?
I can speak best about San Francisco, and the truth is a lot of people who already don’t have housing come to San Francisco because of the resources the city provides — it makes it a little easier. It’s a community that’s helping.
People experiencing homelessness also are going through a lot of trauma. Night and day, things are happening to people — there’s a lot of violence that’s not recorded or on the police radar. A lot of people are really suffering from mental illness, and that makes it hard to move somewhere with cheaper housing.
If someone passes a homeless person on the street, what is the best way to help them?
Try to assess the person — are they mentally stable? Are they addicted to something? Do they have shoes? Are they hungry? Are they hurt? Take an assessment and start the conversation to figure out the appropriate response. It varies depending on what help they need.
What is the best way to respond if a homeless person asks for money for rent or gas?
If a homeless person asks for money, it’s usually for food. I don’t see an issue with going and getting them food or a snack if you’re not comfortable giving them money. Or, better yet, take them to a local resource like a food bank and connect them with resources that can help keep them from being hungry in the future.
Can you describe to our readers how your work is making an impact battling this crisis?
When I came out to San Francisco, Urban Alchemy was in its infancy stage. It wasn’t deployed in all the spaces it is now. I came to the city and was impressed by Urban Alchemy’s impact based on building relationships with people — community members both housed and unhoused. That’s the way we’re able to negotiate with unhoused neighbors about antisocial behavior or behavior that’s not permitted. Taking an honest interest in someone builds equity with them no matter who they are.
How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected the homeless crisis, and the homeless community? Also how has it affected your ability to help people?
COVID secluded people. It put people who were or became homeless in a caste system — people working were told to stay home. If you don’t have a home, you build communities. You need a sense of community. People stand together, put tents together, hang together, create a sense of security. They had each other when there was nothing else.
Can you share something about your work that makes you most proud? Is there a particular story or incident that you found most uplifting?
I wake up every morning feeling blessed that I get up to help people. Urban Alchemy is not a job — it’s a way of living. Helping people solve problems every day is gratifying to me.
Without sharing real names, can you share a story with our readers about a particular individual who was impacted or helped by your work?
One person who stands out is a woman in her mid-30s, homeless, coming from a state out east. She had no job. I talked to my mentor, Artie Gilbert, about her story and that it touched my heart. He said let’s give this person a chance. We hired her to work at Urban Alchemy. Through relationships I’d built, I was able to contact an organization that helped get her housing as well. She got a place to live and a way to maintain herself. She’s doing good now — honestly thriving.
Can you share three things that the community and society can do to help you address the root of this crisis? Can you give some examples?
- Better wages. People need to be able to afford housing.
- More housing. If we built more houses and apartments, that would drive down the prices.
- Some type of work training and support for training. Most people want to work, but they can’t find jobs that pay enough money. We need free training for jobs that pay a real living wage.
If you had the power to influence legislation, which three laws would you like to see introduced that might help you in your work?
- Better medical care. Everyone needs to be able to see the doctor and see a specialist if they have a health issue that requires it.
- Better housing. Either the government needs to build more housing or find a way to get private companies to build more and better housing.
- Therapy access. Mental health is health. And even if you have insurance, it can be really hard to see a psychiatrist and/or therapist. It’s really hard to get better if you can’t get treatment.
I know that this is not easy work. What keeps you going?
My family keeps me going. I have two babies — 1 and 2 years old — and a 15-year-old. I also want to pay society back for giving me the opportunity to be home and free.
Do you have hope that one day this great social challenge can be solved completely?
I hope so. But in the meantime, we all have to do our part to help other people, no matter how little. A simple “hello” can make a world of difference for someone who’s living homeless on the street.
What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why? Please share a story or example for each.
For me, there are three main lessons:
- People are going through trauma and you need to meet them where they are. If you think they need mental health treatment, but they’re telling you what they really need is help finding a way to call their sister, help them call their sister. Working with them in good faith builds trust and can help get them past what you see as the problems.
- Listen as much as you can. You can’t learn if you don’t listen.
- Help as much as you can. You should always help, but recognize your own boundaries.
You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be?
I’d start a movement for more income equality and better wages. I feel like if we move in that direction, things could get better for humanity as a whole.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“Meet people where they’re at.” Things will be easier. We’ll be able to problem-solve easier. It’s easy to make assumptions about people’s needs. But assumptions can be wrong. It’s better to talk to them and ask them what help they feel they need.
Is there a person in the world, or in the US, whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them.
Daniel Lurie, the mayor of San Francisco. I want to be able to have a conversation with him and see what his plans are to end homelessness in SF.
This was very meaningful, thank you so much!
About the Interviewer: Nancy Landrum, MA, Relationship Coach, has authored eight books, including “How to Stay Married and Love it” and “Stepping Twogether: Building a Strong Stepfamily”. Nancy has been coaching couples and stepfamilies with transformative communication skills for over thirty years. Nancy is an engaging interviewer and powerful speaker. Nancy has contributed to The Washington Post, Huffington Post, Authority, Medium, Yahoo, MSN, Psych Central, Thrive, Woman’s Day magazine, and more. Nancy is the Founder of the only one of its kind online relationship solution, www.MillionaireMarriageClub.com. Nancy coaches couples across the globe in person and via Zoom. Nancy’s passion is to guide couples and families to happy lasting marriages where children thrive and lovers love for life.
Heroes Of The Homeless Crisis: How Guillermo Magallanes of Urban Alchemy Is Helping To Support Some… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.