SESLOC Credit Union is proud to honor Jack Lahey as a SESLOC Young Change Maker. Jack recently earned the award for his dedication to serving the unhoused community with Community Action Partnership of San Luis Obispo County (CAPSLO).
The SESLOC Young Change Maker Award is given to a young person or young professional under 40 doing significant work to benefit their community. Anyone can nominate a young person for the SESLOC Young Change Maker award on the Wild 106 website.
For Jack, working with unhoused communities isn’t just a job – it’s been his life’s work since graduating from Fordham University in New York. After finding his way to the West Coast, Jack worked with the University of Southern California in social work positions while earning his master’s degree in social work. He began his work with CAPSLO in 2021, building off experiences at the Skid Row Housing Trust and LA Family Housing.
As Director of Homeless Services, Jack works directly with those unhoused in San Luis Obispo County to provide emergency shelter, housing navigation and wraparound support to the area’s most vulnerable communities. During his tenure with CAPSLO, Jack has worked to reduce the homeless population by 19% from 2022 to 2024.
In addition to working to reduce homelessness in San Luis Obispo County, Jack actively participates in research to create permanent solutions across the United States. Jack founded the Journal of Social Justice and Innovation while completing his graduate work, giving a voice to emerging research. He has co-authored peer-reviewed studies on permanent supportive housing, COVID-19’s impact on unhoused populations and the links between incarceration and homelessness. He is a member of the American Public Health Association, the Society for Social Work Research, the Society for Prevention Research and the Council on Social Work Education. He also is a peer reviewer for the Society of Social Work Research.
“He is one of the primary reasons San Luis Obispo County has a coordinated, thoughtful, and humane response to one of the most pressing issues of our time,” his peers write about his work at CAPSLO. “He approaches this work not as a job, but as a calling, and the people we serve on the Central Coast are better for it.”
SESLOC congratulates Jack for being named a SESLOC Young Change Maker!