Board of Directors

Eric retired from Leiner Health Products Inc., where he served as the Corporate Marketing Director and Assistant to the President. He is active in several outreach committees at Fullerton First Presbyterian Church. Prior to joining the Board of Directors in 2005, Eric was a volunteer for Pathways (then called Fullerton Interfaith Emergency Service, FIES) for over fifteen years. He believes in Pathways of Hope’s mission to support people who are in need.

Eric Higuchi served at Lehman Brothers Holdings, Inc. He is on the Board of Directors for HomeAid Orange County, and the Advisory and Management Committees for the Urban Land Institute Orange County District Council. Eric supports Pathways of Hope because he believes that we, as a community, have the resources to end homelessness in Orange County.

Bio coming soon!

John was the Emeritus Dean of Library and Learning Resources at Fullerton College. He serves as a Chairperson of Fullerton College Friends of the Library, Chariperson of NOCCCD Chancellor’s Latino Advisory Committee, Member of the School Advisory Board for Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in La Habra, Member of the Catholic Diocese of Orange County and OLG Parish Immigration committees, Member of Los Amigos of OC Education Committee, former Chairperson of Rosie’s Garage After School Learning Center in La Habra, Docent tour ministry (bilingual) for Christ Cathedral in Garden Grove, and a Member of REFORMA OC Spanish Speaking Library services professional group. John’s belief in helping the poor and less fortunate is faith and family-based. That’s why he serves as a member of the Pathways of Hope Board of Directors.

Tim Carey is a Technical Sales Leader for IBM with over 30 years of working in Analytics and Information Technology to help organizations reach greater analytical capabilities within their businesses. Tim grew up in the Fullerton area and graduated from University of Southern California with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Finance from the Business School and a Master’s Degree in Information Management Science from California State University of Fullerton. Tim follows in the footsteps of his mother, Fran Carey, who was a tireless champion of helping people less fortunate with her many years of service at Fullerton Interfaith Emergency Services (FIES) and Pathways of Hope. He believes in Pathways of Hope’s mission which is dedicated to ending hunger and homelessness for people who are struggling in North Orange County and to work together with other community members to further this important cause.

Bev Gunter worked as a realtor before becoming a teacher of social studies at Fullerton Joint Union High School District. She has retired from teaching and now spends her time volunteering for Pathways of Hope, St. Mary’s Church, and several other community organizations. She serves as a member of the Assistance League of Fullerton, the Muckenthaler, the Needlework Guild of Fullerton, and the CSUF Music Department guilds and Friends of Jazz. Bev is grateful for the opportunity to serve on the Pathways Board of Directors. She enjoys seeing first-hand the tremendous work of the Pathways staff and community of supporters in North Orange County, who make it possible to help struggling people back on the road to achieving housing, employment, and independent living.

Tim Houchen is formerly homeless, having lived at the Santa Ana Civic Center between 2011 and 2015. In 2013 Tim was a co-founder of the grass roots organization known as the Civic Center Roundtable which consisted of homeless persons there with the purpose of representing the homeless community and bringing important resources that previously were not available to homeless persons there. In 2015, Tim was placed in Permanent Supportive Housing and soon founded the nonprofit organization, Hope 4 Restoration, where he now serves as the Executive Director. Tim served as co-chair of the CoC’s Homeless Provider Forum in 2018. He now lives in Anaheim and serves the City of Anaheim as a Commissioner of the Housing & Community Development Board. Tim has been the lead organizer in events recognizing National Homeless Persons Memorial Day since 2014. Tim believes that it is important to share his personal lived experience to further solutions to end homelessness.

Sonny Kothari graduated in 1990 from the University of California, Santa Barbara. He has been a Financial Advisor at Merrill Lynch since 1990. Sonny has been a resident of Fullerton since 2001. He has been married to his high school sweetheart for 26 years, and the couple have three daughters together. Sonny believes in Pathways of Hope’s mission to lead a community effort to end hunger and homelessness in North Orange County and is proud to serve on the board of directors.

Debra is self-employed, working full time as a partner in Developers Edge, an LLC partnership. She is a member of the Friends of the Fullerton Arboretum and Fullerton Republican Women, Federated. She is also a member of the local YIMBY (“Yes In My Backyard”) nonprofit housing advocates. She regularly attends Planning Commission and City Council meetings and attends City of Fullerton functions such as ribbon cuttings and LOVE Fullerton. Debra supports Pathways of Hope because she believes we can be a part of the solution to end the experience of homelessness and hunger. She believes that Pathways of Hope is instrumental in engaging our community to help our cause.