[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 9 (Tuesday, January 13, 2026)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E35]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             HONORING BARRY DEL BUONO'S LIFETIME OF IMPACT

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                          HON. SAM T. LICCARDO

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, January 13, 2026

  Mr. LICCARDO. Mr. Speaker, I rise along with my colleague, 
Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren, to recognize the life and contributions of 
Barry Del Buono, a champion for the unhoused and a longtime community 
leader in San Jose, California, who passed away on December 26, 2025. 
Mr. Del Buono dedicated his life to building a more compassionate and 
equitable society, working tirelessly to ensure that every person, 
regardless of circumstance, had access to shelter, dignity, and a 
second chance. From the time I first met Barry as a child, I considered 
Barry as a hero for the way he transformed his quiet strength and 
potent faith to launch and lead organizations to which thousands of our 
most vulnerable neighbors owe their survival.
  Barry began his life of public service as a Catholic priest in San 
Jose, where he cofounded the Loaves and Fishes Family Kitchen to serve 
meals to the hungry--an organization that continues to serve our 
community to this day. Even after leaving the priesthood, he never left 
the mission. Instead, he expanded it. In the early 1980s, Barry became 
the first employee, and soon the executive director, of the Emergency 
Housing Consortium, later known as EHC LifeBuilder, and now HomeFirst. 
He built EHC into a dependable organization for Santa Clara County 
residents. He developed what was then a groundbreaking ``continuum of 
care'' model that extended beyond emergency shelter to transitional and 
permanent supportive housing. From San Jose to Gilroy, Barry launched 
programs that offered not just temporary relief, but a genuine pathway 
toward stability and recovery.
  Barry brought remarkable creativity to this work. He recognized the 
potential in empty farmworker cottages during the off-season and turned 
them into a winter family shelter.
  He helped run the cold-weather shelter at the National Guard Armory 
in Gilroy for nearly two decades. He secured public funding by 
mastering the machinery of government grants, writing proposals late 
into the night while running services by day. Through both lean years 
and economic booms, Barry made sure that EHC remained a lifeline for 
thousands of families and individuals.
  Though widely respected for his strategic mind and fundraising skill, 
Barry was most admired for his relentless conviction that homelessness 
could be solved. He built programs and mentored a generation of 
nonprofit leaders who now carry on the work he started. Barry was as 
fierce in his advocacy as he was generous in spirit.
  After stepping down from EHC in 2007, Barry continued to serve his 
community. He became a sociology instructor at San Jose City College, 
sharing decades of hard-earned wisdom with his students. He launched an 
educational nonprofit with his wife, Dr. Maile Del Buono, to help 
underserved workers and students access opportunities.
  San Jose's City Council appointed Barry to San Jose's Housing and 
Community Development Commission, lending his voice and experience to 
policymaking until the final year of his life. Throughout his multi-act 
career, he maintained a deep commitment to his family of five children 
and seven grandchildren, and to Maile. With her by his side, they 
battled cancer courageously for several years--both hers, and his own--
until he succumbed at age 74. Throughout his battle, he demonstrated 
the same quiet strength and powerful faith that made him a great 
community champion. We will remember Barry Del Buono not only for what 
he built, but for what he believed--that no one is beyond help, and 
that it is our shared responsibility to lift each other up. I extend my 
deepest condolences to his family and friends, joined by the grateful 
many he touched throughout his extraordinary life. May he rest in peace 
and achieve his hero's welcome in heaven.

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