Gilroy to review plans to help homeless residents

Despite recent numbers indicating Gilroy’s homeless population appears to be in decline, the city remains without a plan for how to handle unhoused residents — and officials are divided on the best solution.

City Administrator Matt Morley said there is no policy in place to address Gilroy’s homeless community, which the most recent point in time count in 2025 estimated to be 959 people. Councilmembers Terence Fugazzi and Zach Hilton are against the city’s passive approach that is allowing “Camp Hope,” an encampment near the Sixth Street overpass along U.S. Highway 101, to persist.

Mayor Greg Bozzo is taking a different approach — he created an ad hoc committee which he insists will lead to a plan benefiting the city and its homeless residents.

“My goal by finding different solutions regarding homelessness is to better meet the needs of people in our community who are homeless and those who are not,” Bozzo told San José Spotlight.

Morley said Gilroy relies on two full-time police officers to work with the unhoused community, connecting them with service providers. The city also provides temporary shelter at the Gilroy National Guard Recruiting Center/Armory on Wren Avenue with roughly 120 beds. But the city prohibits encampments, public intoxication and leans heavily on sweeps, he said.

In May, Bozzo put together a 10-person committee to address homelessness in the city. The committee includes himself as chair, Gilroy Councilmembers Kelly Ramirez and Dion Bracco, Morgan Hill Councilmember Soraida Iwanaga, business and property owners Chris Vanni and Ann Marie McCauley, service providers and advocates Vanessa Ashford and Vicky Martin, and Aubrey Tasby and TJ Napihaa representing homeless residents as people with lived experience.

“This has been a conversation long overdue in our community,” Bozzo said. “I’m looking forward that staff will bring back some of those findings and recommendations … but I don’t want to speculate on what those findings are.

San José Spotlight reached out to several committee members who were either not immediately available for comment or declined to discuss the plans until the committee’s findings are released at the Nov. 2 City Council meeting.

Hilton and Fugazzi issued a recent memo with concerns about safety, sanitation, emergency access and more at Camp Hope. They wonder why the encampment is being dealt with differently than the rest of the city’s homeless residents.

“Why should (Camp Hope) be the only one to get special treatment and a pass on the law?” Fugazzi told San José Spotlight. “In my opinion, keeping the camp next to Costco even one more day is a bad idea.”

Camp Hope represents a tiny minority of the hundreds of homeless people in Gilroy, Fugazzi said — and any new program to address homelessness will result in residents giving up something like parks or will dip into the city’s reserves.

“We should always look for solutions to help those in need,” Fugazzi said. “But we cannot have unregulated and illegal homeless camps anywhere in the city, especially in our business districts.”

The city is searching for solutions that can help bridge the gap, though Morley said there is no timeline. The findings from the ad hoc committee could result in a policy that benefits businesses, residents and the homeless community.

“The goal is to find practical, compassionate solutions that recognize these connected needs and help our community move forward together,” Martin, the ad hoc committee member and executive director of South County Community Services, told San José Spotlight. “Progress will take time, but bringing these issues forward and having honest conversations is an important start. Keeping communication open and being willing to explore different approaches will be essential to finding solutions that work for our community.”

Gilroy lets Camp Hope stay

Gilroy let the roughly 25 homeless residents living at Camp Hope — which was relocated twice in a two-week span last fall — settle on a small patch of city-owned land just north of Costco on Camino Arroyo Drive. The encampment is located in District 4 along the border of District 6.

“Originally the intent was for the camp to self-manage to maintain cleanliness and order,” Morley told San José Spotlight. “The camp has done well in the way of order, but not on the cleanliness front.”

He said the city will conduct cleanups as needed, such as one on Oct. 22, to help reduce the accumulation of garbage. Morley added that continued reliance on service providers for social services is an integral part as well.

Martin said her organization regularly works on providing food, hygiene supplies, clothing and case management to the camp’s residents.

“Our outreach teams visit encampments three days a week, delivering food to people who cannot access it themselves,” Martin said. “Working closely with a case manager helps people identify a path out of homelessness based on their individual needs and circumstances.”

Gilroy resident Jan Bernstein Chargin, who co-founded PitStop Outreach in 2020, said an agreement with the city allows Camp Hope residents to be at the Sixth Street location on a month-to-month basis, which leaves her fearful it could change at any moment.

“If you sweep this camp, that doesn’t suddenly make these people not homeless,” Chargin told San José Spotlight. “It doesn’t make them leave Gilroy, and it doesn’t make them not exist.”  Tasby, an ad hoc committee member who works for Chargin at PitStop and lives at Camp Hope, said community support has enabled the camp’s residents to remain there since last November. Tasby said they’ve has seen a breakthrough in support from Gilroy residents, who have spoken in favor of keeping the camp at its current location.

“We appreciate (the city) allowing us to be part of the community, because we could have gotten kicked out a long time ago,” Tasby told San José Spotlight. “But they gave us a chance and we are a family, keep it clean and have no trouble, no violence.”

Contact Giovanni Albanese Jr. at [email protected].