Remembering Jeanette Duncan
In August 2025, Jeanette Duncan, who for nearly four decades was the very heartbeat of our organization, passed away.
Joining not too long after our founding in 1970 by a few volunteer community members and on the heels of the Fair Housing Act, Jeanette began her time as our first Executive Director with People’s Self-Help Housing, supporting individuals and families to build their own houses and achieve their dream of home ownership. Coming alongside those spirited volunteers as their shovels broke ground on those first houses, she subsequently recruited a core of professionals whose dedication would see the work of People’s expanding to serve thousands spread across the tri-counties of the Central Coast.
Under her leadership, Jeanette drove the organization’s ability to develop affordable and accessible multifamily housing, to which she further enriched with services and programming benefiting residents of PSHH communities – including onsite learning centers and on-staff social workers.
Jeanette always maintained that a People’s project shouldn’t just be in a neighborhood, it should add to a neighborhood. Hence, her insistence on quality design, beautiful landscaping (most often including her signature colorful roses), and exemplary maintenance.
During Jeanette’s tenure, she not only knew all her employees by name, but also the names of the residents and their families she was serving. She was a fixture at city council and county boards of supervisors’ meetings throughout our footprint and a strong advocate for affordable housing well beyond the reach of PSHH. Whether in Sacramento or in the hallowed halls of D.C., Jeanette was a sought-after expert in the field of affordable housing and a respected voice for those seeking a decent and safe place to live.
Long after leaving People’s Self-Help Housing, she continued to volunteer and advocate for affordable housing, benefiting numerous boards nationally and philanthropically.
Jeanette Duncan was an original. She was a force of nature, a force for much-needed change, and a force for good. She will be deeply missed.
Ken Trigueiro
CEO & President
If you would like to contribute a gift to PSHH in honor Jeanette Duncan’s incredible legacy, you may do so here by adding your dedication. Your generosity supports the invaluable services for our communities that Jeanette began and shaped over her many years leading PSHH.
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