Becky Marigo - 2022 (Brinley)
Becky Marigo knew early on in life that helping people, in a very hands on way, was her purpose.
Growing up in Davis — she graduated from Davis High School in 1988 — Marigo started volunteering at a young age and went on to obtain a degree in social work from Cal State Northridge.
She returned to Davis and in 2001, took a position as family case manager with Davis Community Meals and Housing, which serves low-income and unhoused individuals and families.
“I like working with people, doing that hands on, and that’s always been my strength,” she said. “We all have that super power and mine is connecting with people and listening and I like to get things done.”
A year after joining DCMH, Marigo became program administrator, a position she holds to this day.
“Becky has been a fabulous employee with us for over 20 years,” said Bill Pride, DCMH’s executive director. “She is caring, compassionate and empathetic to all who we serve. She is an expert who is able to help all with a wide variety of issues they face. Many, many individuals have turned their lives around with her assistance.”
But it is Marigo’s work outside her day job that really highlights her invaluable service to the community, and why she is this year’s recipient of the Brinley Award — a Davis community award that recognizes outstanding service benefitting the city.
“Our job is not an eight-hour job by any means so I volunteer a lot of my time,” she admits.
She does so, she said, because the folks Davis Community Meals and Housing serves need that.
“We are like family to them,” Marigo said, adding that she and her coworker are the emergency contacts for most homeless people in Davis.
“So hospitals call us and the families call us. The clients don’t necessarily have our numbers but a lot of other people do. The police department will call when there’s something going on with somebody or ask me to come and help. Like Saturday, somebody needed to get to the ER because he has a broken neck and he wasn’t going, so I went out Saturday morning walking the camps until I found him. It’s that kind of thing.
“The other night I went to somebody’s camp and brought her a heater because she was really cold,” Marigo said.
“My daytime stuff is one thing, but, honestly, my connection with folks and what I do outside of my job is probably my favorite part. It’s really great to volunteer my time. I don’t want them to ever feel like there’s something that can’t be done to help them if they’re cold or they’re hungry or they need something. We’re always available. That’s really important to me.”
Those she has served are grateful.
“You said you’d always love us and it means the world,” said Julie J., a DCMH client, in the nomination letter supporting Marigo for the Brinley Award. “You made a difference in my life and you made a big difference in all our lives.
Said another client: “Thank god you are still here — I am so thankful.”
Also grateful for her work are city and police officials.
“Becky has been a partner with Davis PD for years,” said Officer Keirith Briesenick. “She provides resources to the unhoused and is often their advocate. However, she doesn’t allow her clients to violate the law at the facility and has firm boundaries.
“Becky has also assisted in several investigations that involve her clients as victims of crime. She is no nonsense, works hard for those in need of housing and helps them develop a path to employment and mental health assistance. Becky is truly an asset to the city and the police department.”
The job is by no means easy, given not everyone is ready for the help, but Marigo doesn’t give up.
“I’m going to just keep doing it every day. It’s OK with me if they’re not ready. Because in my view, I greet them every day and when they’re ready to make that change, I’m here. I will be here. I’m not going anywhere.
“Literally today a woman came back. I had not seen her in 20 years and she walked in and said, ‘Becky, do you remember me?’ And I do… She lived with us in the shelter 20 years ago.”
Recently another woman Marigo has known for 20 years, who has been on the streets in Davis, was placed in a senior housing complex.
News came of an opening and “we just helped her get all of the documents ready, and I went to interviews with her, we did all this stuff, we got her furniture and she got approved. And for me, it was really important. Because she’s in her 60s now and … she just got housed.
“I just keep working until it happens. And when they’re ready, they usually come and tell us, ‘Hey, I’m ready.’ And once they’re ready, we take little steps. And if it works at that moment, great. It doesn’t matter if it’s now or 10 years from now, I’m going to keep helping.”
Helping the unhoused in Davis is about to get a bit easier thanks to Paul’s Place, which is expected to open in the next few months on H Street, providing emergency beds, transitional housing, supportive housing and all of the services DCMH provides on site.
“Paul’s Place is going to be such a great resource,” Marigo said.
There will be longer hours in the resource center, more laundry facilities and more bathrooms and showers
“This to me is really exciting,” she said.
Having individual rooms for clients is also a game changer, Marigo said.
“Because folks come home and they need to gather their thoughts, maybe they had a rough day, and they just need to have a little space rather than being in a room with three or four other people. It’s going to change their mental health because they’re going to have their space where they can work on themselves.”
And when they need anything, Marigo and her colleagues will be just downstairs.
“One of the biggest pieces of working with the homeless is the consistency, the consistent care and love and helping and doing that all, all the time,” she said.
Her colleague at DCMH, Harmony Scopazzi, advocate/resource center coordinator, said Marigo does that well.
“Becky’s work within the unhoused community is about meeting the clients where they are and then helping them become the best version of themselves,” Scopazzi said. “She has continually gone over and above for our clients. Clients know that if something needs to get done, Becky will get it done.”
Marigo’s volunteer work in Davis actually extends well beyond her job and after-hours work for Davis Community Meals and Housing.
The mother of two young adults, who grew up in Davis like her, has been a Girl Scout leader, softball coach, CASA volunteer and more, all of which was highlighted in the nomination submitted for the Brinley Award by a group of seven Davis residents.
Marigo said she feels honored to be recognized.
“I love what I do and love to talk about it and love just being able to help the community I grew up in,” she said. “And I love that people know they can count on us and me.
“It’s not just my job. This is my heart. It’s all encompassing for me because it’s just a part of who I am. So I feel very honored to have people feel it’s important as well. And to honor me with this is very kind.”
Both the Brinley Award and the Citizen of the Year Award — honoring Sandy Holman this year — will be presented at the Davis Chamber of Commerce’s annual installation gala scheduled for Feb. 18 in the UC Davis ARC Ballroom, For tickets, contact bvaughn@davischamber.com.
— From the Davis Enterprise - December 25, 2022. Reach Anne Ternus-Bellamy at aternus@davisenterprise.net. Follow her on Twitter at @ATernusBellamy.
