About HART of Folsom

Doing what he loves while making the world better by advising and implementing Salesforce for Higher Education and Nonprofits; amplifying their mission for their communities and around the world. He is a Sr. Solution Architect at Salesforce for the last four years but has always been in the Salesforce ecosystem since 2003.

Joined HART as part of the Welcome Team at the Winter Shelter in 2018 with his family setting up the clients bedding when they came to the shelter. He digitally transformed the Intake to Welcome process by building an app that allows the welcome team at the shelter know in real-time who’s checked in at the intake center, helping streamline the process for getting the clients settled in. Pete is on the Administrative Council of Oak Hills Church, a ministry partner for HART of Folsom. He is our communications and technology support on the Board.

I was born in Klamath Falls, Oregon but when I was 4, my family moved to Camino, California – more recently known as “Apple Hill”. Camino was a unique community by today’s standards; rich in community spirit and caregiving for your neighbors. I always felt blessed for having been raised during one of the best of times (the 50’s), and in one of the best small towns around. I attended the newly constructed Camino Elementary School from kindergarten through 8th grade; then high school at El Dorado High in Placerville; and onto college at Sacramento State.

During those wonderful growing up years in Camino, I was blessed to have been raised in a Christian home with a family that cared deeply about their community. My sister and I were fortunate enough to have those values nurtured in us as well.

I married right out of school and lived and worked in the Sacramento area for about 15 years – during which time I was blessed with the birth of my oldest son. I then relocated to the Yreka area, where I lived and worked for the next 12 years and raised my second son. After that we were on our way to Wyoming, where I lived and worked in the Jackson Hole vicinity for the next 8 years before returning back “Home” to the Placerville area in 2000.

During my years in Sacramento, Yreka and Wyoming, I was privileged to have had wonderful job opportunities, and long term jobs, which allowed me to continually grow in my beloved career of Accounting. I was fortunate to have thoughtful mentors along the way who took the time to teach and groom me in the principles of accounting and the business world at large. With that continued good luck and God’s grace, I found yet another exceptional accounting job upon returning back “Home”. It was a hard and demanding job for sure, but I had such a good boss, a truly fine and caring man who worked hard at building a hugely successful company and I got to help him do that. I worked there for the next 18 years and he honored me in my retirement in 2018 with a fabulous, first class trip of a lifetime……. 4 days in Paris, 5 days in London, and 7 days in Ireland. Such a gift!!!!

In my retirement years I enjoy a simply life on my beautiful 5 acre property in Rescue. My oldest son and his wife live in Washington State, while my youngest son, his wife and my two precious grandchildren live close at hand in the second home on my property. It is a great joy for me to be sharing day to day life with my Grandchildren.

Upon my return to the area in 2000, I became involved with the Oak Hills Church community and continue that membership today. During these past 20 years, I have faithfully served in the Children’s Ministry, the Kitchen Team, along with various other serving opportunities that came along over the years. One of those opportunities came with the introduction to Power House Ministries. This was my first awareness to the homeless and the disenfranchised in our community and my heart was forever touched. I participated in several volunteer programs with Power House which further nurtured my heart. When the opportunity to serve on the Board of the HART of Folsom organization, also introduced to me by Oak Hills Church, it seemed like a natural fit. Utilizing my accounting skills and knowledge for this caring organization is a privilege and I look forward to what the years of service will bring.

After living in El Dorado County for 30 years, Bev moved to Folsom in 2014. She retired in 2018 after working 13 years for the State of California in software development. While working downtown Sacramento, she saw people every day who had nowhere to spend the day and night but on the street. She saw that God had always provided what she needed and more, her heart was moved with empathy and concern for these people. We are no different in God’s eyes – God loves and values each one of us. When HART of Folsom began in 2017, Bev and her husband Gary knew that they needed to be part of serving unhoused folks in Folsom. She’s excited to see all the services that HART and other groups caring for the homeless community have been able to provide since that time.

Bev has been involved with the HART Winter Shelter each year since its inception. In 2022, Bev is the Winter Shelter coordinator, following after Judi Alexander. She is always reminded that (1) we are all in this big boat together – what affects one, affects all and (2) we all do better when we all do better. We don’t want to leave anyone behind if we have the ability to help them on to a better situation.

My father always worked but without a high school diploma he didn’t make a lot of money.

I guess I get my heart for homeless from the way I was raised. I never thought about peoples status, I saw everyone as God’s people. My parents used a VA loan to buy a house here in Folsom. A few years later my father seriously injured his back at work, and my mother found out that she was having a surprise baby. Well… We now had NO income. Family friends brought us salmon and steelhead and we held onto the house because dad had disability insurance on the loan. We could have easily been homeless… again but now with 4 kids.

I left home and started working at 16 years old. I met my spouse of almost 33 years at 18. We have 3 grown children, 1 with ADHD and OCD ,1 with Asperger’s and 1 with ADD, OCD and Autoimmune hemographic Anemia.

We started feeding hungry and homeless or as I now like to call them “unhoused” people in the parks of Folsom about 8 years ago.

Today, with many volunteers, we feed 2x a week. We serve them a full meal and sit and talk with them. We get to know their stories and always talk about resources to help them find a better way in this life we are all doing together.

The 1 thing to take away from my story is that….Anyone can become homeless thru no fault of their own.

Mr. Watters has been actively involved in efforts to create a model transitional community with medical and other appropriate training and services since 2009. He served as a volunteer, board member and later, executive director, of Safe Ground Sacramento (a Section 501(c)(3) exempt organization) for several years and then founded First Step Housing, bringing together diverse advisory and executive boards to work closely with public and elected, city and county officials.

Previously, he worked as a Program Director, Technical Director and various Administrative Director positions in telecommunications for many years. Mr. Watters also served as President and General Manager of a Swiss subsidiary U.S. start-up for seven years. He has been teaching cultural anthropology for Los Rios Community College District since 2012.

Mr. Watters supports transitional village proposals and believes they represent a replicable and cost-effective solution to the growing number of unsheltered homeless living unsheltered throughout on Sacramento County. He believes the Folsom HART transitional projects are urgently required to close the gap between the number of those in the homeless community and the number of affordable housing units existing and that can be built in the near future.

“God teaches us to love and help one another.” As a young Christian in her teens Judi took this to heart, organizing food drives and working in Baltimore’s inner city day cares. As an adult she taught her family the joy of giving to others. They worked together to support PADS (Public Action to Deliver Shelter) in So. CA. The problems of the homeless/mentally ill/ addicted became very personal when her son passed away because of these conditions.

Judi retired from her position as a Legal Assistant in 2016 and became active as a representative of Oak Hills Church for the Folsom Faith and Homelessness Initiative, organized by the Folsom Police Dept. This program evolved into HART of Folsom in 2017. Judi organized the Folsom Winter Shelter and ran it for 4 years, turning it over this year to a new leader as she took on the duties of HART President. Judi also volunteers for the CAPS program at the Folsom Police and Fire Departments and at Harris Center for the Arts.

She is graduate of Gettysburg College; an active member of Oak Hills Church; and proud parent of 2 daughters and 4 fabulous grandchildren.