By next fall, San Jose aims to have a long-awaited temporary housing site on the south side of the city for homeless individuals, though some are questioning why it’s taking so long. The temporary emergency housing site will be built across from the Blossom Hill Hampton Inn on land owned by Valley Water. The 2.5-acre site...
Heat wave highlights Silicon Valley homeless response problems
Los Gatos’ temperature hit 107 degrees as Mason, wearing a black coat and backpack, walked from his camp in the brush toward Highway 17. He started having heat-related symptoms and laid down, heaving. He didn’t want to die on the streets. Mason, who asked to only use his first name, made it back to the...
San Jose ramps up funding to enforce ‘no return zones’
San Jose is set to pay for more employees and police patrols to enforce “no return zones” for homeless camps along the Guadalupe River and those surrounding temporary shelter sites citywide. An initial plan to expel more than a dozen homeless residents off the trail between Julian Street and Woz Way earlier this year has expanded to...
UPDATE: Silicon Valley water agency delays decision to fine homeless people
The penalization of homeless people living along regional waterways appears to be less imminent after leaders of Santa Clara County’s largest water agency delayed a policy on penalties and fines for later this year. The Valley Water board of directors on Tuesday postponed voting on a policy that poses $500 fines or up to 30...
Silicon Valley homeless nonprofit CEO steps down amid turmoil
HomeFirst CEO Andrea Urton is stepping down, leaving questions about the future of one of Santa Clara County’s largest homeless support service providers. The group’s board of directors said today Urton’s departure is effective immediately. She led the nonprofit through expansions and setbacks during her nine-year tenure. In recent years, HomeFirst has come under intense...
San Jose homeless motel transfer delay impacts residents
A San Jose motel riddled with mold and roaches that houses formerly homeless residents is in ownership limbo as a continued slew of problems plague the property no matter who operates it. The former SureStay, a motel-turned-housing site that provides rooms for older adults and disabled individuals, was supposed to change ownership from San Jose to...
Will Supreme Court ruling change San Jose’s homeless policy?
San Jose homeless resident Antonio de Viche prefers the streets to shelter or temporary housing, where he doesn’t feel safe. But that could all change with today’s U.S. Supreme Court decision that will allow cities to ban homeless people from sleeping outside. The Supreme Court ruled in a 6-3 decision that it is not unconstitutional...
Silicon Valley officials worry about homeless shelter transition
Homeless residents, advocates and local officials have questions about the Sunnyvale Shelter as the facility changes nonprofit operators. The Santa Clara County-owned, 145-bed homeless shelter will change operators on July 1 from HomeFirst to the Bill Wilson Center. Residents are fearful they will be kicked out as the shelter switches from serving unhoused individuals to...
San Jose has 4th highest homeless population in U.S.
San Jose has the fourth highest number of homeless people per capita in the U.S. based on a recent survey, and advocates blame it on multiple problems. An Insider Monkey report shows that for every 100,000 people per capita, San Jose has 363 residents that are homeless. New York City ranks third, Los Angeles ranks...
UPDATE: San Jose to study potential cost of safe sleeping sites
San Jose officials came through on their promise to add safe sleeping sites throughout the city as they come closer to getting homeless residents off the streets and the waterways cleaned up. In order to reach the city’s goal of moving people living along the waterways, the San Jose City Council on Tuesday voted unanimously...