Kate Dettmer
Director of Housing, Alameda County

Kate oversees all of Abode’s housing programs in Alameda County and ensures those programs are in compliance with funding regulations, program goals, and stakeholder expectations. Kate builds relationships within Alameda County, seeking opportunities to expand Abode’s impact and reach and supporting funding applications. She supervises program managers and other key staff and collaborates with others on the senior leadership team to provide strategic vision to grow the impact of Abode. Kate is a skilled mental health counselor offering more than a dozen years of progressive experience meeting the needs of clients through direct care, crisis management, trauma counseling, and effective treatment planning. She has extensive experience supporting clients through structured programs consisting of multiple initiatives to improve health in fast-paced, constantly changing environments. In her prior role, she oversaw the implementation, evaluation, and coordination of services within San Francisco and Sonoma counties, and managed program development, goal setting, and engagement with external stakeholders. In other roles at Abode, she has provided leadership, supervision, and oversight within three regions to housing resource centers and staff within Coordinated Entry, working with assessors, housing navigation, outreach, clinical staff and peer specialists, as well as a 66-bed emergency shelter.

In 2020, Kate led a team of Abode employees who worked with state and Alameda County officials as part of Project Roomkey and Homekey, quickly rehousing homeless people especially vulnerable to COVID-19. Her work on those projects resulted in Kate receiving Alameda County Health Care for the Homeless’ 2020 COVID-19 Community Hero Award.

Kate holds a Master’s degree in social work from the University of Kansas, and a Bachelor’s degree in psychology from Tiffin University.