Author: Laura Sandoval (Laura Sandoval)

Sandoval: New hopes for a new year

In the early hours of Jan. 19-20, hundreds of service providers—including our PATH outreach teams—and volunteers will be deployed across Santa Clara County to find and conduct a by-person count of all observed individuals experiencing homelessness. The biannual Point-in-Time Count, which was paused last year due to COVID-related risks, will resume in the new year....

Sandoval: Creating communities at home

When a resident moves into a PATH apartment building, they are connected to more than a rental unit—they are joining a community. “Community” is one of those nebulous concepts that looks different for everyone. For some, community means enjoying the company of others with common interests—joining a faith-based fellowship, special interest club, a neighborhood association....

Sandoval: Back to school brings new challenges, hopes for unhoused students

With the return of in-person learning, familiar challenges emerge for families experiencing homelessness. School registration can be complicated due to the loss of critical documents that may have been lost upon becoming homeless. Youth may be reassigned from their former schools (and friend groups) if their address changed while their family temporarily relocated in order...

Sandoval: Vaccine outreach to the unhoused population

Santa Clara County is making great strides in our progress in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. By mid-August, arguably the height of summer season, our county reports reflected an average of 284 new cases reported in the past seven days. Sure, that’s higher than our mid-June 26-case average, but it’s also drastically lower than our January...

Sandoval: Housing and homelessness are LGBTQ+ issues

Everywhere you look this month, you see rainbows for LGBTQ+ Pride Month. From major corporations changing their logos on social media, to local shops displaying every type of rainbow product you can imagine, to cities, counties, and states raising the rainbow flag. San Jose is no exception, where the new police chief continued the tradition...

Sandoval: Creating connections to change lives

Homelessness can be extremely isolating and people experiencing it are commonly disconnected from family, friends and support systems. Their primary way of communicating may be just a sign that states an immediate need—Hungry! Cold! Anything helps! They may rest on the sidewalk or sleep somewhere out of sight from the public. Days may pass without...

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