Mike and Charlotte Byre

Married right after college, both Mike and Charlotte Byrne began their teaching careers, she in an elementary school classroom and he in a high school literature classroom in Southern California.

Charlotte changed to part time teaching during the time their 3 sons were youngsters.

Mike’s extraordinary gift for working with special needs children became apparent, and when the couple moved to Atascadero he changed his teaching efforts to working in the special day classes at that high school.

Charlotte began the first parent education classes in San Luis Obispo in 1971 opening pre school labs in Atascadero and Morro Bay. These classes continue to this day often called “Mommy and Me classes” although Charlotte points out that many fathers are students also.

The couple volunteered as scout leaders as their sons went through the scouting program…and afterward they continued to lead groups with their older sons helping.

At the high school, Mike headed up the teachers’ organization for many years and also assumed the role of cross-country coach. He began the first high school soccer program at Atascadero High School in 1980 as that sport became popular through community youth athletics.

Charlotte taught child development classes at Cuesta College, and when their youngest child went to Junior High School resumed her classroom career teaching primary grades in Shandon for 16 years. During that time she was chosen as County Reading Teacher of the year and Shandon’s Teacher of the year.

Summers found them volunteering at Loaves and Fishes in Atascadero. They discovered how hopeless it was trying to give groceries to people who were homeless and had no means to refrigerate food or prepare a warm meal. As Loaves and Fishes President, Mike began to interest like-minded volunteers in trying to provide more help for the homeless population.

In 2000 they gathered a group of eight friends and began the first homeless shelter in the north county. They were helped in this effort by the Interfaith Coalition for the Homeless, a group of 11 churches and 1 synagogue in San Luis Obispo who showed them how their group accommodates the overflow homeless on cots in church halls. In 2001 the El Camino Homeless Organization (ECHO) 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. ECHO continues now in a permanent location and shelters approximately 35 persons nightly with priority going to homeless families. The shelter is staffed all night by volunteers, and nearly every church, synagogue, club and service organization in the north county steps forward to provide a hot meal every night. Mike reports that he frequently finds that his past special needs students have “fallen through the cracks” of our society and need to use the homeless shelter. “Much work needs to be done to see that the most fragile in our country are better-cared for,” he says.

Charlotte continues to be amazed at the community members who constantly contact the ECHO organization to learn how they too can get involved.
“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. ”

The Byrnes are active at St Williams Catholic church in Atascadero, volunteer at the Performing Arts Center in San Luis Obispo and in their spare time enjoy biking, skiing and hiking.

Both Mike and Charlotte point to each other as the source for the energy, inspiration and passion that they bring to their efforts for the less fortunate in this community.

Mike and Charlotte Byrne have long admired the work done by the Family Care Network and are honored to accept the Circle of Serving Award.