Homelessness

Homelessness

Silicon Valley water agency flops on outreach ahead of sweeps

Santa Clara County’s largest water agency has begun banning homeless encampments on its property, reversing a commitment to let nonprofits and advocates do outreach prior to enforcing its new policy. Although Valley Water planned to start training nonprofit groups to provide information to homeless residents prior to enforcing an encampment ban on Jan. 2, that hasn’t...

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Rows of bunk beds in a homeless shelter in San Jose

San Jose homeless shelter gets a facelift

San Jose’s largest congregate homeless shelter serving individuals has been updated to offer more privacy for residents. The 250-bed Boccardo Reception Center on Little Orchard Street, operated by nonprofit HomeFirst, has gone through a $150,000 renovation funded by Housing Industry Foundation. Upgrades include adding privacy panels between every bed, installing panels between the main shelter...

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A crowd of people at tables watches three people on a stage speak

San Jose asks churches to lend a hand with housing

San Jose has a homelessness crisis — and the city is turning to religious institutions to lighten the load. Mayor Matt Mahan held a breakfast and two panel discussions Thursday to educate religious leaders on how church parking lots or empty spaces can be utilized for temporary or affordable housing. By the end of the event, nine...

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Man sitting on bed

Santa Clara County veterans still living in subpar conditions

Veterans living in a substandard housing facility in East San Jose said it’s getting worse, more than a year after Santa Clara County purchased it and months after a new service provider took over. The county purchased the facility at 10 Kirk Ave. in November 2023 for $14.5 million and contracted nonprofit Abode Services to...