Santa Clara County is using its latest round of federal funding for homelessness to rapidly house people in apartments. The county received nearly $600,000 from the Emergency Solutions Grants Program, which can be used to fund shelter operations, outreach, homelessness prevention or rapid rehousing. Over the past five years, the county has received $2.5 million in these...
Santa Clara County considers safe parking site for women
Homeless women face exacerbated safety risks on the streets, and Santa Clara County officials are considering a safe parking site for women who become homeless to escape intimate partner violence. Santa Clara University researchers raised the idea in a report to county leaders last year. The study found that women and children fleeing domestic violence face...
San Jose says RV parking site is unpermitted
A San Jose safe parking program on VTA property is in violation for operating without proper approvals. The city served VTA a notice after a Dec. 9 inspection found vehicles parked at the Santa Teresa station aren’t storing trash properly and that the site is operating without permits or approvals, among other violations. The site...
2025 in review: Silicon Valley’s state of housing and homelessness
This year was daunting for Silicon Valley leaders and their efforts to confront homelessness. Actions to stem the growing tide of people falling into homelessness were threatened by federal and state funding cuts, on top of a record number of people losing their housing, driven by rising costs. Santa Clara County and San Jose leaders...
Santa Clara County homeless deaths are declining
Homeless deaths have dropped more than 20%, even though homelessness continues to rise in Santa Clara County. Approximately 155 homeless people died between Dec. 1, 2024 to Nov. 30, down from 197 the previous year, according to data provided by nonprofit HomeFirst. A majority of the deaths, 187, were male. The oldest homeless person who...
More South County homeless receive health care
Local officials are reporting a sharp uptick in homeless people seeking health services in South County – a trend they credit to successful outreach. South County patient encounters with the Valley Homeless Healthcare Program — which provides mobile and fixed-site primary care, substance abuse and oral health services — have exceeded last year’s totals. As...
Santa Clara County joint lawsuit halts federal grant guidelines
President Donald Trump’s administration has backed off from upending federal grants to permanent housing programs — for now. A lawsuit filed by Santa Clara County and 10 other governments and nonprofits against the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) last week has pushed the department to revise federal grant guidelines for homeless funding...
Hundreds of Santa Clara County families face displacement
Santa Clara County has helped thousands of families secure permanent housing over the past several years. Yet homelessness continues to rise, and the end of a federal program that houses many families threatens the county’s progress. In 2021, the county launched the “Heading Home” campaign to reach “functional zero” of homeless families by 2025, or...
Homelessness no longer top issue for Bay Area residents
The number of Californians who are “very concerned” about homelessness has plummeted below 30% over the last six years. The percentage of Bay Area residents who are “very concerned” about the presence of homeless people in their community has dropped from 63% in 2019 to 28% in 2025, according to annual surveys conducted by the...
San Jose mayor looking for ‘change agent’ governor
San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan hosted several gubernatorial candidates at a tiny home site Friday, in the hopes of showcasing the city’s approach to slash homelessness through building temporary housing — and to get their buy in. During a tour of the city’s newest tiny home village at Cherry Avenue, Mahan said he’s looking for...