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San Mateo County’s Navigation Center, located in Redwood City, unveiled a new mural during a brief ceremony on Friday, with the hope of adding color and joy to the lives of its unhoused clients.
“It (the mural) shows a space with unity and stability,” said Jose Reyes, who has been living at the center for a little over 90 days. “The streets are ugly, so to be in a place like this, we feel alive.”
Designed by artist Heather Hardison, the mural transformed a once-gray wall outside the center’s dining hall into a colorful canvas of overlapping hands, symbolizing the power of positive community connections.
The Navigation Center opened in April 2023. It’s an initiative led by the county in partnership with nonprofit LifeMoves, with the mission to help people experiencing homelessness find permanent housing and employment.
According to Anat Leonard-Wookey, vice president of programs at LifeMoves, the center serves about 250 clients at a time who all have their own rooms. Most units also have private bathrooms.
“So we’re really able to support folks who may have had more traumatic experiences in their background, where having their own space is deeply powerful to help them feel safe, get a good night’s sleep and really start to heal and move on in their journey towards permanent housing,” Leonard-Wookey said.
She added that each client is paired with a case manager to understand their experiences and needs on a personal level.
Aimee Shapiro, executive director of the San Mateo County Office of Arts and Culture, told this publication that the department received funding from former Supervisor Warren Slocum to bring a public art piece to the Navigation Center, leading to the project’s creation. The county then issued a call for artists, assembled an art review panel and met with various candidates before selecting Hardison for her concept, which celebrates community connections.
To capture the essence of the people living at the center, the El Cerrito artist asked residents questions like “What does home mean to you?” and “What does inclusion mean to you?” The words on the mural represent the answers she received in different languages like “Aiga,” or family in Samoan, “Hogar,” home in Spanish, “equity” and “everyone is given a fair shot.”
Hardison’s end goal was to uplift the voices of the center’s residents and place their perspectives at the heart of the artwork.
After the pandemic, Hardison began experimenting with community-focused art featuring hands, inspired by the isolation people had experienced. She wanted to create something that prioritized human connections over individualism.
“I also think it’s a lot of American individualism that has led to the public homelessness crisis that we have,” she said. “And we don’t value everyone equally.”
As for the mural at the Navigation Center, Hardison hopes it brings more brightness and positivity to the space and empowers its residents with a sense of safety, comfort and stability.
