Meet Adrianne Hillman | CEO/Founder, Wife and Mother

We had the good fortune of connecting with Adrianne Hillman and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Adrianne, can you talk to us a bit about the social impact of your business?
Salt + Light’s mission is to cultivate community by providing dignified homes, jobs, and healing for our neighbors experiencing homelessness in the Central Valley of CA. Our organization’s values— dignity, radical hospitality, compassion + love, abundance, cultivating community and belonging— are central to our work. Our organization embodies our values and utilizes them as a lens for our service and program work with the community and specifically with people experiencing homelessness. Headquartered in Visalia, Salt + Light was established in 2019 to serve neighbors experiencing homelessness in Tulare County. Salt + Light has a proven track record of making positive change in our community and with our neighbors experiencing homelessness. Our effective approach is two-fold: we address immediate needs and work towards long-term change. Our organization seeks to address the existing gaps in services for people experiencing homelessness in Central California by offering a comprehensive, empathic, holistic solution to access, resources, employment, and housing with a people-first approach.

Our flagship project, The Neighborhood Village–a 53 unit 100% permanent supportive housing village community for people who have experienced chronic homelessness–is the first of its kind in the state of California. With our entire team of 25 onsite, we offer full wraparound services to help our neighbors settle, heal and flourish so that they can stop the cycle of homelessness. We contend that affordable housing alone is not a lasting solution to combating homelessness because survivors who have experienced the trauma of living on the streets need much more than a roof over their heads. Their needs are complex, and intensive, human-to-human care is necessary to ensure the best chances of successful recovery. Our village is designed with those needs in mind, and the community we have created within the village has not only benefitted the neighbors who live there, but it has improved the lives of our staff, volunteers and anyone who has been connected to this project. We are changing perceptions and shifting the hearts of our community at large to begin embrace people experiencing homelessness as their neighbors.

With our mobile food truck operation, we have been able to bridge gaps between the community at large and the community of people who are experiencing homelessness on the streets. The volunteers who go out on the food truck many times are afraid to go or are afraid of people experiencing homelessness, and what we’ve learned is that people experiencing homelessness are also afraid of the community at large. Our food truck has provided a bridge to understanding between the two groups. We’ve also been a conduit to services that our neighbors experiencing homelessness otherwise would not partake in because of trust issues. Because our food truck is consistent and goes out many days a week, and provides palliative relief items as well as food, our neighbors experiencing homelessness have come to deeply trust us. This is changing the lives of people who have needed assistance because we are removing barriers to care and the road to healing.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Salt + Light is more than just a nonprofit; it’s a movement to change the landscape of homelessness in Central California. We’re pioneering an innovative approach by building California’s first 100% permanent supportive housing community, The Neighborhood Village, in Goshen—a town often dismissed due to its poverty. This 53-unit master-planned community provides not just housing but dignity, healing, and belonging for people experiencing chronic homelessness. What sets us apart is our relational approach: we don’t just offer services—we create community, provide job opportunities, and foster healing through relationships.

I’m most proud of the resilience and determination it took to get here. Salt + Light was born in 2019, just before COVID-19, without money, donors, or volunteers. Starting from scratch in a skeptical and often hostile environment was not easy. We had to teach our community a new, compassionate approach to homelessness while navigating public negativity and “Not In My Backyard” (NIMBY) attitudes.

The challenges were immense, but we overcame them with unrelenting passion and a refusal to give up. My journey to this point was shaped by my own quest for belonging. My life’s journey has led me through some real setbacks–namely a difficult divorce– and rebuilding my life, finding love, and eventually leading this nonprofit—has taught me the power of resilience and the importance of belonging to one’s self in an effort to cultivate connection with others. Those lessons helped me connect with the profound stories of trauma and exclusion shared by our homeless neighbors. We’ve built Salt + Light on the foundation that true belonging can transform lives.

Along the way, I’ve learned that the best ideas often face the most resistance. But with unwavering commitment and a vision rooted in love and abundance, it’s possible to create something extraordinary. Salt + Light’s story is proof that even in the hardest places, belonging can flourish.

What I want the world to know is this: no one is too far gone, and no community is too broken to experience transformation. Whether it’s a small rural town or a single person struggling with homelessness, change begins with connection, compassion, and the belief that everyone deserves dignity. At Salt + Light, we’re living that truth every day.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Of course, the first place I’d take them would be The Neighborhood Village, because there is truly nothing like witnessing a village where community is cultivated. We always say that love lives here, because it totally does, and there is no better way to start the day than to experience that love and community first hand. They don’t call us the heartland of California for no reason.

Tulare County is the breadbasket of the state, consistently ranking as the top dairy-producing county in the United States, also supplying over one-third of the United States’ vegetables, 65% of its fruits and nuts, and 20-25% of the world’s citrus. I’d love to take them to a dairy farm and drive around the county to see the beautiful crops and orchards cultivated here.

Next, I would take them downtown Visalia to visit any number of family-owned, artisan restaurants which showcase the goodness and bounty of Central California. Bravo Farms, The Ranch, The Vintage Press, Pita Kabob, Elderwood and Fugazzis just to name a few. It would be hard to choose! We’d definitely need to visit some of our craft breweries–Barrelhouse, Lake Bottom Brewery and Distillery, Kaweah Brewing and Sequoia Brewing.

The name of the last brewery would be a hint to the piece de résistance of the trip, a short drive through the foothills and into the Sierras to visit Sequoia and Kings National Parks. The crown jewel of Tulare County, Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks typically receive about 1.5 to 2 million visitors annually. These two adjacent parks are renowned for their giant sequoia trees, including the famous General Sherman Tree, and breathtaking mountain scenery. While Sequoia National Park tends to attract more visitors due to its iconic sequoia groves, Kings Canyon is equally admired for its deep canyons, rugged wilderness, and stunning vistas.

On the way back down the hill to the valley floor, we would stop in Three Rivers, a charming town nestled in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains, where the Kaweah River winds through the landscape, giving the town its name. The town is surrounded by rolling hills, oak woodlands, and a stunning backdrop of granite peaks. It sits just a few miles from the entrance to Sequoia National Park. We’d have an appetizer and drink next to the roaring white waters of the river at The Gateway Restaurant, followed by a visit to Reimer’s Candy Shop. I’d recommend indulging in a scoop of the delectable Three Rivers Wild Blackberry ice cream. I’d cap the day watching the sun go down over the citrus trees of Lemon Cove, just at the base of the foothills.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
There are so many people who have helped me along the way, but the credit goes to my little family of 5. The love and support from my husband Scot has been a game changer. Having him by my side and really believe in me, seeing the best in me and supporting me on good and bad days alike has been unlike anything I have ever experienced. I always say that Salt + Light would not exist without him, and it is 100% true. There is just something really incredible about having a constant safety net of deep love to build the confidence and courage it takes to create a non-profit from scratch, and keep going when it seems impossible. My three sons are equally loving, supportive and caring, and have sacrificed a lot of mom time while I have been building the business. I acknowledge that sacrifice and shout it out as often as I can, because they need to know that their sacrifices are recognized and appreciated. Also, knowing that they are watching me is a motivator to keep going, because I want them to see that anything is possible with hard work, dedication, and love from family. My hope is that they are inspired to dream big and to have the courage to reach for those dreams. They have seen me fall down and proverbially scrape my knees plenty of times, and I think it is important for them to see that it is the rise after the fall that is a necessary piece of making dreams come true. Rising strong has only been possible because of the love of my family for sure.

Website: https://www.saltandlightworks.org

Instagram: @saltandlight.works and @adriannehillman

Linkedin: Adrianne Hillman

Facebook: Adrianne Hillman

Image Credits
Gigi Kraus (headshot only)