A Few Minutes with David Estrella

David Estrella. Director of Housing and Community Development Services. Health and Human Services Agency. County of San Diego

While pursuing his Mexican-American Studies degree at San Diego State, where he became the first member of his family to graduate from college, David Estrella decided his life’s work would be helping others who were less fortunate.

Since then, he’s carried that generous spirit to his current role as director of the County’s Housing and Community Development Services, which oversees the departments of Health, Housing and Human Services.

Formerly the county’s Deputy Chief Administrative Officer, Estrella has been with the government agency in various roles since 2002. Prior to that, he served in executive positions with San Diego’s Fair Housing Council and the Legal Aid Society.

Looking back, he proudly points to his 1995-96 stint with AmeriCorps as a “key moment” in his career path, which soon led to his earning a law degree at California Western School of Law.

Q: What’s the most compelling problem you’re facing?
A: Right now, it’s meeting the needs of the county’s homelessness which requires an “all-hands-on-deck” attitude and strategy. Our departments are working closely together – along with all other regional agencies -- in terms of street outreach, mental health treatment, and housing intervention. We’ve got a path forward, and like all things, we need to fit those pieces together to achieve our ultimate goal.

Q: What exactly is your role?
A: My job is to administer federal and local funds to develop permanent affordable housing and programs that assist low-income individuals for housing-related services. We administer the federal Section 8 voucher program and various entitlement programs to help low-income, high-rent burdened individuals who need our services. Our approach is based on the County’s model of “Live Well.”

Q: What’s the focus of that campaign?
A: We do our best to help people who experience the harsher realities of our economy and today’s unforgiving market for affordable housing. Plus, so many of our program participants have serious mental illness or problems with substance abuse or trauma – disorders that go beyond finding a secure place to live.

Q: What is it about you, perhaps in your childhood, that makes you care so much about people in need?
A: I’m the son of Mexican immigrants whose parents came to this country as farmworkers. Eventually, my father had his own very small farm in North County, two of them, in fact. But both of them went out of business. So I got to see first-hand the living conditions of farmworkers in the 1970s – plus, I saw our own personal financial struggles.

Q: What do you remember about that time in your life that changed you?
A: When you can live in a stable, affordable housing environment, you have opportunities that others don’t have. When you’re able to pursue your dreams – like education, employment – you have peace of mind. When you don’t have those opportunities, you always worry: How can I afford to live? How can I stay healthy? How can I improve my children’s education? How can I get a good-enough paying job to support myself and my family? Without opportunities, you can’t.

Q: When you go home at night, what are you most proud of?
A: In this line of work, you have plenty of peaks and valleys every day because there’s so much work to do. Despite the obvious challenges, there are enough times when I go home with “good news” stories, like when individuals go through our self-sufficiency programs, or when someone we’ve worked with finally gets a loan to buy their first home. When I think of those stories, I know we’re helping people make better lives for themselves.

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David Estrella
Director of Housing and Community Development Services
Health and Human Services Agency
County of San Diego
david.estrella@sdcounty.ca.gov