A team approach to helping others
Drew Moser always thought he’d be doing something in business, maybe climbing the corporate ladder or owning his own company. Instead, he went from working on sports-related teams to teaming up with others to help alleviate the suffering of homelessness with the Lucky Duck Foundation.
“For whatever reasons, the good Lord has sent me down the nonprofit path,” he says. “I’ve come to learn I’m more mission-driven than I’d previously thought, and I enjoy working with selfless, giving people to facilitate their generosity to create impact; it brings me a great deal of fulfillment and I hope it does the same for them.”
The foundation is a nonprofit organization that understands homelessness as San Diego’s most pressing issue and works to direct resources and support to programs and strategies to help people who are unhoused. They connect people to shelters, provide job training, distribute food and hygiene products, provide access to technology to facilitate securing housing and employment, collaborate with local colleges and other organizations to research and act on best practices for addressing homelessness, polling voters on homelessness and sharing those results with elected officials, among other programs.
Moser, 39, is executive director of the Lucky Duck Foundation, and lives in Clairemont with his wife, Whitney, and their children, Blake, Beau and Remi. He took some time to talk about his work with the organization and how teaming up with the right people can make all the difference. Q: Your organization’s website says that the foundation sees homelessness as San Diego’s No. 1 issue. Why is that? Why do you see it this way, and what informed that point of view?
A: In late 2019, our group polled registered San Diego voters on a variety of issues, and homelessness was cited as the most important issue for San Diego voters. Additionally, more than 80 percent said the city and county need to play a major role in addressing homelessness, and 84 percent said the city should use vacant, government-owned buildings as inclement weather shelters. Once the pandemic hit, polls showed that, besides the global pandemic, homelessness remained the top issue. Additionally, San Diego’s homeless population is (among the top 10 U.S. cities with the highest homeless population) in the country.
Q: Can you talk a bit about your weekly meetings to find best practices for addressing homelessness in the area? What are some of those best practices? And how did you come to deciding that these were some of the best ways to respond to homelessness in San Diego?
A: When (members of the board of directors) Peter Seidler and Dan Shea first teamed up, they organized a group of fact-based, action-driven business and civic leaders who agreed to study the issue and meet every Tuesday to determine how the private sector could most meaningfully accelerate progress. Since forming more than five years ago, the Tuesday Group has not missed a weekly meeting, including on Christmas and New Year’s Day. The group is fully committed and comprised of successful businesspeople who apply sound business principles toward making a difference. These best practices are largely where the foundation has invested: shelters, employment and job training programs, winter coats that transform into sleeping bags, food and water, fact-finding and more.
Q: You previously worked in sports, as executive director and president of the San Diego Hall of Champions and the San Diego Sports Association, and with the men’s basketball program at the University of San Diego. What led you to transition from a sports focus to a nonprofit centering on the needs of people experiencing homelessness? Where did your interest in helping people who are unhoused come from?
A: Teamwork was ingrained in me from probably kindergarten all the way through college. I was fortunate to play and coach at the collegiate level and have been on plenty of good teams, a few bad teams, and an even smaller number of great teams. I firmly believe there are few things better than being on a great team. I loved my time at the San Diego Sports Association because I got to work with great people to solve meaningful problems. The same is true with the Lucky Duck Foundation, only the problem is more challenging and often a matter of life and death, and I was hungry for a new challenge. Additionally, homelessness is such a wide issue that I believe it takes more than teamwork to make an impact; it takes teams of teams coming together to row in the same direction. The level of teamwork this requires really interests me.
Q: Why is this issue important to you?
A: I believe we are all created in God’s image and put on this earth to follow his teachings and become the best version of ourselves. Life can take all sorts of turns, good and bad, often out of our control. I believe we are called to find the good in all people and do what we can to help folks find their way back to the best version of themselves. If folks are on the streets for other reasons, we need to help them get to where they need to be. In my mind, it’s not much different than coaching or being a great teammate — you’re trying to help others be the best they can be.
Q: What’s been challenging about your work?
A: The work never ends. We don’t talk about solving homelessness; rather, we work every day to help alleviate the suffering wherever we can. It can be challenging to gain political will. Politicians have to talk and talk and talk in order to get the job they want or keep the job they have. In philanthropy, to be effective, you have to bring people together and then listen. You also have to be scrappy and resourceful because philanthropic resources are much more limited. I love our group’s approach of being a convener, listener, and then activator and leader. I also love our group’s chip-on-the-shoulder approach because sometimes it feels like David versus Goliath, but it’s actually more like David endeavoring to make Goliath better.
Q: What’s been rewarding about this work?
A: Many different things, but mainly hearing directly from people who are now formerly homeless and have benefited from some of the programs our organization supports. Just the other day, a formerly homeless youth who is now employed and going to college, gave me a big hug and thanked me for what we are doing. The thanks should be going in the other direction. She overcame a heck of a lot and continues to do so. Instead of shareholder dividends, the outcomes are saved and changed lives. It’s very humbling and rewarding to get to play a small role supporting the group’s work.
Q: What is the best advice you’ve ever received?
A: I have been very fortunate to be surrounded by many wise and positive influences throughout my life, so it’s hard to choose just one. The first one that comes to mind is from my parents: “Just do your best.” My wife learned the same from her parents, so we try to instill that in our kids. It goes well with (renowned NCAA basketball coach) John Wooden’s definition of success, which I love: “Success is peace of mind, which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best you are capable of becoming.”
Q: What is one thing people would be surprised to find out about you?
A: My senior year our basketball team set the all-time scoring record for all NCAA divisions by averaging 132.4 points per game. It was an unorthodox style of play, partially modeled after Paul Westhead’s Loyola Marymount University teams with (Gregory Kevin) Bo Kimble and (Eric Wilson) Hank Gathers. As a shooter, it was pretty fun because you really only got chastised if you didn’t shoot it quickly enough.
Q: Please describe your ideal San Diego weekend.
A: It would involve some early morning workouts or runs around Mission Bay, playing sports with my family at “Moser Field” (our backyard), watching our kids play sports and perhaps going to a sporting event, Mass as a family where the kids actually sit still, and time with family and friends.