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After losing a $6 million contract to run a San José shelter, LifeMoves, a regional provider of interim housing with locations in Mountain View and Redwood City, is in the midst of a leadership shakeup.
CEO Aubrey Merriman, who served at the helm of the nonprofit for five years, left the organization on April 7, according to LifeMoves spokesperson Maria Prato.
Despite the timing, his departure was a mutual decision that was not driven by any single event, Prato told this publication.
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“[Merriman’s] leadership, expertise and skillsets were instrumental during a five-year period of significant growth,” Prato said in an emailed statement. “With LifeMoves and the homelessness sector evolving rapidly, all agreed that new leadership will bring fresh perspective and approach to guide future strategic priorities.”
The former CEO did not respond to a request for comment. But in a shared statement with LifeMoves, Merriman said he was proud of LifeMoves’ staff and highlighted the growth the nonprofit has seen over the past five years.
“Alongside our government and private-sector partners, we’ve expanded LifeMoves’ reach and served more clients than at any point in our 40-year history,” he said.
Chief Operating Officer Nick Hodges, who joined LifeMoves five months ago, has stepped in as interim CEO while the nonprofit looks for a permanent successor, according to the LifeMoves statement.
Merriman’s departure follows a shakeup at one of the nonprofit’s interim housing sites in San José at Branham Lane, which opened in 2025. As reported by San José Spotlight, the 204-unit facility has been beset by structural and managerial problems, including the arrest of an employee last month for allegedly selling drugs to residents. Days after the arrest, the city terminated a $6 million contract with LifeMoves to run the site. The interim shelter is now slated to become permanent supportive housing, according to Spotlight.
The complaints in San Jose echo allegations of similar problems with the management of LiveMoves’ Mountain View shelter in 2023.
Prato told this publication that the nonprofit will continue to focus on supporting its clients and will provide a continuity of care.
“We are committed to working with the city of San Jose to ensure any transition at Branham Lane and as an organization, support the advancement of all housing as a part of the solution for ending homelessness in Silicon Valley,” Prato said.
Looking back at LifeMoves
LifeMoves launched over a decade ago, after the merging of InnVision and Shelter Network, with the aim to help people experiencing homelessness move into stable housing. The nonprofit has 26 sites in the region. Besides running interim housing sites in Mountain View and Redwood City, a new transitional housing project is scheduled to open in Palo Alto this spring.
In the 2024-25 fiscal year, LiveMoves served 6,317 individuals and families in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties, providing temporary housing as well as case management and other support services, according to the nonprofit’s most recent impact report.
Early on, LifeMoves drew praise from state leaders, including from Gov. Gavin Newsom who celebrated the opening of one of its shelters in Mountain View in 2021. The 100-unit housing complex on Leghorn Street was built in eight months using modular, prefabricated materials. At the time, Newsom touted the quickly built homes as an innovative, less expensive model for tackling the state’s homelessness crisis.
But the Mountain View site faced strong headwinds, not unlike some of the issues reported at Branham Lane. A year-long Voice investigation in 2023 revealed that the nonprofit struggled to place residents in permanent housing, despite promises to do so within three months.
A dearth of affordable housing in the region was one reason for the longer stays at the Mountain View site. But residents also told Voice reporters that they did not receive case management or other support services they were promised while participating in the program, leading several to return to living in their vehicles.
The Voice investigation also uncovered allegations of mismanagement and abuse in Mountain View, including reports of sexual harassment, physical altercations and health hazards related to unsanitary bathrooms and showers.
Merriman did not respond to the Voice’s repeated requests for comment on the publication’s findings at the time.
Two years later, however, at a celebratory opening of the Brennan Lane shelter, Merriman reflected on some of the lessons learned from Mountain View. He told this publication that it was an iterative process and the Mountain View site was the “beta” for subsequent housing projects, including the one at Branham Lane.
“[It’s] inherently imperfect,” Merriman said at the time. “[We’re] trying to be smarter about it and carry on.”
