DeForrest Hancock

DeDe Hancock is a senior native of San Diego and was raised in the Valencia Park community of District 4 from the age of 5. She obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from The University of California San Diego and worked for 23 years helping organizations such as Neighborhood House Association and Pacific Bell with technical training, data, and special services.

Following a job termination in 2006, DeDe lost the home that she had purchased as a single mom and became homeless for seven years. DeDe believes that her greatest education and life skills were acquired during this seven-year journey of homelessness. It ignited a new purpose – to help San Diego truly become America's Finest City through her advocacy, leadership involvement on various boards and voice on panel discussions around homelessness. DeDe is currently a member of the Voices of Our City Choir and sits on the Choir’s advocacy team, Voices of Dignity. She is also a member of Homeless Experience Advocacy Leadership (HEAL) Network. She also participated in the 2022 UCSD-HEAL Homelessness Summer Research Collaboration Project: “Lived Experience Advocates as Co-Investigators” led by UCSD Doctoral Candidate Stacey B Livingstone.