{"id":12014,"date":"2023-09-28T12:00:53","date_gmt":"2023-09-28T19:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/?p=12014"},"modified":"2023-09-28T13:13:46","modified_gmt":"2023-09-28T20:13:46","slug":"the-tenacious-fighter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/2023\/09\/28\/the-tenacious-fighter\/","title":{"rendered":"The Tenacious Fighter"},"content":{"rendered":"

Shari Weaver is one of my (s)heroes, and I am in awe of her every day.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

As the director of the coordinated entry system at Harbor Interfaith Services, her superpower is meeting people where they are in their rawest moments and using that to herald positive change.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s dive into my candid and heartfelt conversation with Shari, an innovative and tenacious fighter for our unhoused neighbors.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What did you want to be when you grew up?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I can\u2019t say there was any one thing in particular, but I have always been very competitive. I roller skated competitively as a child for 14 years. In fact, my parents met at a roller rink in Long Beach. My sister and I both won the single women\u2019s national competition in different years. In high school, that competitiveness took me to the pool, and I became the first woman to compete on the boys water polo team \u2014 and even competed in synchronized swimming. I love the water, and now, as an adult, I could spend all my time in the ocean. It\u2019s how I decompress.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Tell me a little about how your career started.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"

Shari Weaver. (photo: Tammy Khan)<\/p><\/div>\n

After high school, I immediately started working for L.A. County, and just as I was turning 21, I joined the Sheriff\u2019s Academy and worked for L.A. County as a deputy sheriff for about three years. After I got hurt on the job, I had to reinvent my career.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Fast-forward some years, and after grappling with some of my own life curveballs, I was fortunate enough to be offered a six-month temporary position with Harbor Interfaith that turned into a 22-year-long career.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Describe a day in your life.<\/strong><\/p>\n

What\u2019s a typical day? Those don\u2019t exist. I generally get in the office about 6:30 a.m. and have to be prepared for whatever is thrown at me. The day could start out meeting with funders, move on to meeting internally with staff, looking at policies, and strategizing how to get resources for the folks we\u2019re currently working with. If I\u2019ve gone \u201cmissing\u201d from the office, that probably means I\u2019m out in the streets doing outreach because that will always be my passion. That\u2019s where the real stuff happens.<\/p>\n

To do this work, you need three things in abundance \u2014 patience, empathy, and tenacity.<\/p>\n

What drew you to the work?\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

From an early age, I knew whatever I did would involve helping people. It\u2019s how I\u2019m wired. Those closest to me know that I\u2019ve been there, living on the streets, struggling in recovery. So, yes, you find yourself in a situation, experiencing the unimaginable yourself. But then you also find a way out. And it just reaffirms what you already know \u2014 you have to help, you have to make it better, one person at a time. Honestly, that\u2019s what keeps me going: looking at whose life I made better today because I could help them. The bigger piece can feel overwhelming.<\/p>\n

What is a misconception folks have about poverty?\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

That it only impacts a certain group of people. Poverty doesn\u2019t discriminate.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In your experience, what are the biggest roadblocks in our system?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The system is overweight<\/i>. It\u2019s large and unwieldy and can\u2019t easily maneuver \u2014 this makes it so hard to serve humans where they are.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There are the people who go out and do high-touch work, engage with the folks on the street, and excel at being an advocate or a caseworker \u2014 this is their strength. But then we add processes and procedures to their plate that hinder the actual work getting done. We\u2019ve become our own worst enemy. This is one of the main reasons our people [case workers] burn out. On top of that, the workforce is skeletal, and we can\u2019t find qualified folks.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What is something that we all can do to help?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Be solutions-driven. If you can\u2019t be part of the solution, get out of our way so we can do the work. I\u2019ve been working with broken tools most of my career, and I still get the work done.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

___________________________<\/p>\n

I could write ten articles from this interview \u2014 and I might. From Shari\u2019s life experience to her hundreds of stories that articulate how much this work is truly seeing \u2014 and walking with \u2014 one person at a time. Shari emphasized how those experiencing the worst imaginable situation don\u2019t also need your judgment.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A waitress Shari knew happened to also be homeless. She was trying to get her life sorted \u2014 she had a job and was waiting on housing. Someone found out she was living on the streets, judged her for her circumstances, and she was eventually fired.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We can\u2019t have it both ways. We can\u2019t tell those experiencing homelessness that they should get a job and get their life together, then not extend them the grace and patience to do precisely that.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Shari will be retiring soon. Luckily, I know many advocates and workers who, like me, have had the chance to do eye-to-eye street outreach, problem-solve on a Sunday, or break some rules to save some lives with Shari Weaver. spt<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Interview has been edited for length and clarity.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Shari Weaver is one of my (s)heroes, and I am in awe of her every day.\u00a0 As the director of the coordinated entry system at Harbor Interfaith Services, her superpower is meeting […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":105,"featured_media":12033,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"0","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Tenacious Fighter - San Pedro Today<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/2023\/09\/28\/the-tenacious-fighter\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Tenacious Fighter - San Pedro Today\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Shari Weaver is one of my (s)heroes, and I am in awe of her every day.\u00a0 As the director of the coordinated entry system at Harbor Interfaith Services, her superpower is meeting […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/2023\/09\/28\/the-tenacious-fighter\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"San Pedro Today\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sanpedrotoday\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-09-28T19:00:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-09-28T20:13:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/san-pedro-today-shari-weaver.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Amber Sheikh\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@sanpedrotoday\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@sanpedrotoday\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/2023\/09\/28\/the-tenacious-fighter\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/2023\/09\/28\/the-tenacious-fighter\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Amber Sheikh\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b54d1772cc2a6f4b5a446d7a7bb72d33\"},\"headline\":\"The Tenacious Fighter\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-09-28T19:00:53+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-09-28T20:13:46+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/2023\/09\/28\/the-tenacious-fighter\/\"},\"wordCount\":890,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Community Voices\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/2023\/09\/28\/the-tenacious-fighter\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/2023\/09\/28\/the-tenacious-fighter\/\",\"name\":\"The Tenacious Fighter - San Pedro Today\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-09-28T19:00:53+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-09-28T20:13:46+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/2023\/09\/28\/the-tenacious-fighter\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/2023\/09\/28\/the-tenacious-fighter\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/2023\/09\/28\/the-tenacious-fighter\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Tenacious Fighter\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/\",\"name\":\"San Pedro Today\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"San Pedro Today\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/spt_logo_400x100.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/spt_logo_400x100.png\",\"width\":400,\"height\":100,\"caption\":\"San Pedro Today\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sanpedrotoday\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/sanpedrotoday\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/sanpedrotoday\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b54d1772cc2a6f4b5a446d7a7bb72d33\",\"name\":\"Amber Sheikh\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bc0dac62a330a3e213af6dab9e8ee0fe?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bc0dac62a330a3e213af6dab9e8ee0fe?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Amber Sheikh\"},\"description\":\"Amber Sheikh is a San Pedro resident, mother of two, community advocate, and owner of Sheikh\/Impact, a nonprofit consulting firm. She has nearly two decades of experience working in and with organizations solving homelessness and income inequality.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/author\/ambersheikh\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Tenacious Fighter - San Pedro Today","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/2023\/09\/28\/the-tenacious-fighter\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Tenacious Fighter - San Pedro Today","og_description":"Shari Weaver is one of my (s)heroes, and I am in awe of her every day.\u00a0 As the director of the coordinated entry system at Harbor Interfaith Services, her superpower is meeting […]","og_url":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/2023\/09\/28\/the-tenacious-fighter\/","og_site_name":"San Pedro Today","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sanpedrotoday","article_published_time":"2023-09-28T19:00:53+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-09-28T20:13:46+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1000,"height":1200,"url":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/san-pedro-today-shari-weaver.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Amber Sheikh","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@sanpedrotoday","twitter_site":"@sanpedrotoday","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/2023\/09\/28\/the-tenacious-fighter\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/2023\/09\/28\/the-tenacious-fighter\/"},"author":{"name":"Amber Sheikh","@id":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b54d1772cc2a6f4b5a446d7a7bb72d33"},"headline":"The Tenacious Fighter","datePublished":"2023-09-28T19:00:53+00:00","dateModified":"2023-09-28T20:13:46+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/2023\/09\/28\/the-tenacious-fighter\/"},"wordCount":890,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Community Voices"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/2023\/09\/28\/the-tenacious-fighter\/","url":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/2023\/09\/28\/the-tenacious-fighter\/","name":"The Tenacious Fighter - San Pedro Today","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2023-09-28T19:00:53+00:00","dateModified":"2023-09-28T20:13:46+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/2023\/09\/28\/the-tenacious-fighter\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/2023\/09\/28\/the-tenacious-fighter\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/2023\/09\/28\/the-tenacious-fighter\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Tenacious Fighter"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/","name":"San Pedro Today","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/#organization","name":"San Pedro Today","url":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/spt_logo_400x100.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/spt_logo_400x100.png","width":400,"height":100,"caption":"San Pedro Today"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sanpedrotoday","https:\/\/twitter.com\/sanpedrotoday","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/sanpedrotoday\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b54d1772cc2a6f4b5a446d7a7bb72d33","name":"Amber Sheikh","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bc0dac62a330a3e213af6dab9e8ee0fe?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bc0dac62a330a3e213af6dab9e8ee0fe?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Amber Sheikh"},"description":"Amber Sheikh is a San Pedro resident, mother of two, community advocate, and owner of Sheikh\/Impact, a nonprofit consulting firm. She has nearly two decades of experience working in and with organizations solving homelessness and income inequality.","url":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/author\/ambersheikh\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12014"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/105"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12014"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12014\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12058,"href":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12014\/revisions\/12058"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12033"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12014"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12014"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12014"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}