San Luis Obispo County Honorees

Mike and Charlotte Byrne, married right after college, began their teaching careers in Southern California, Charlotte in an elementary school and Mike in high school literature. Through the years, their teaching endeavors would change, Charlotte switching to part-time teaching while their three sons were young and Mike changing to teach Special Needs children. Eventually, the family would relocate to Atascadero and the two would once again begin to take on more and different roles within the academic arena. Charlotte would start the first parent education classes in San Luis Obispo in 1971, growing to open preschool labs in Atascadero and Morro Bay. And Mike, while teaching Special Needs students at Atascadero High School, would head up the teacher’s organization, assume the role of cross-country coach and begin the first high school soccer program at the High School. When the couple’s youngest son started middle school, Charlotte resumed her classroom career teaching primary grades in Shandon for 16 years. At that time she was chosen as the County Reading Teacher of the Year and Shandon’s Teacher of the year.

Additionally, Mike and Charlotte have always demonstrated generosity when volunteering their energy and time. One of their most impacting volunteer roles involved the Loaves and Fishes organization in Atascadero. Taking on the plight of the homeless, Mike, President of Loaves and Fishes, mobilized a group of like-minded volunteers to provide more help for the community’s homeless population. In 2000, the Byrnes and a group of eight friends began the first homeless shelter in North SLO County.  And in 2001, the Byrnes and their friends started the El Camino Homeless Organization (ECHO) and began serving hot meals on a daily basis and found six churches willing to serve (on a rotating basis) as the overnight location for the shelter. The ECHO continues now in a permanent location, shelters approximately 35 persons nightly, and is staffed all night by local volunteers.

When asked about their many efforts to help those in need, Mike states, “Much work needs to be done to see that the most fragile in our country are better-cared for.” Likewise, Charlotte shares that “As the chasm between the rich and the poor continues to widen, more Americans realize that we need to do more as a society to alienate poverty, hunger and homelessness.” It is easy to see how the Byrnes were selected as this year’s SLO County “Circle of Serving” honorees, their devotion to those in need and their abilities to rally their community to serve mirrors our agency’s quest for enhancing lives in partnership with our community. We salute you, Mike and Charlotte, for being exceptional leaders, forging ahead for the betterment of your community.