Ernest Rady on pandemic
From Ernest Kirkland and Ernest Rady speak on the Rady Center · · The Salvation Army San Diego
“When the pandemic led me to become unemployed I was living and working as a bus driver and was forced to live in my car for two months at a safe parking lot program; a social worker gave me the number to the Salvation Army men's program and I was able to move into the STEPS program, secure temporary work, and eventually get a one-bedroom apartment.”
On , Ernest Rady, Executive Chairman of the Board at AMERICAN ASSETS TRUST INC, spoke about pandemic during Ernest Kirkland and Ernest Rady speak on the Rady Center on The Salvation Army San Diego.
About Ernest Rady
Ernest Rady, executive chairman of American Assets Trust, has continued his long-standing philanthropic focus on homelessness and education. In November 2024, Rady spoke at an event for the Rady Center, a Salvation Army facility set to break ground in 2025. He expressed admiration for the Salvation Army, stating he knows "no other organization that is so devoted to good" and that he and his wife Evelyn wanted to help the homeless after seeing "people living in tents." He added, "I would love to see the ground broken if I live long enough to see it." The event also featured a testimonial from a program graduate who described becoming unemployed during the pandemic, living in his car, and eventually securing housing through the Salvation Army's STEPS program. Rady has previously made major donations to San Diego institutions, including a $120 million pledge to Rady Children's Hospital in 2014 and a $100 million donation to the Rady School of Management at UC San Diego in 2019. In a 2019 speech at the school, he said he "got more than I gave" and expressed gratitude for how the school added "meaning to our lives." He has also been recognized with an honorary degree from the University of Manitoba and as a 2018 Horatio Alger Award recipient, where he stated, "I always was convinced that you not only take from society you give back to."