Alex Maitre (CAS’93) of Escondido, Calif., writes, “I retired from the US Navy in north San Diego County in 2018, after 25 years of service, the last 13 as an operational planner (war planning and disaster response). I took seven months off and worked around the house (which included falling off the roof and breaking both my feet; heckuva way to start my military retirement). After I recovered,
I began volunteering at Interfaith Community Services, which specializes in working with those struggling with homelessness or housing/food insecurity in north San Diego County. After dabbling in several different subspecialties, I decided to focus on work as a homeless court advocate; HCAs gather a case to bring before a judge to have clients’ tickets and fines and fees dismissed so that they can get their licenses back, stop wage garnishment, and other things that help increase their stability. I also began independently working with people and organizations focused on homelessness. That’s how I met the founder of Duwara Consciousness Foundation (DCF), in early 2020. DCF was initially focused on feeding people from a food truck/ trailer when it was founded in 2018; in 2020, it purchased and began operating the largest shower trailer in Southern California to help people struggling with homelessness clean themselves and their clothes (it’s got two washers and two dryers, too). This summer, I was asked to serve as the chief operations officer for DCF, and I enthusiastically accepted. I’d love to hear from anyone I knew at BU, especially my fellow NROTC shipmates. And yes, before you ask, my dad was a professor at BU for 30 years and dean of the College of Communication: [the late] Hans Joachim Maitre.” Email Alex at maitre.alex@gmail.com.