San Jose aims to cut its homeless population by 20% by the end of next year through a new initiative to provide more housing and job stability. Mayor Sam Liccardo, joined by Councilmembers Sergio Jimenez, Dev Davis and Pam Foley, announced a plan called “Compassionate and Clean San Jose” Wednesday that would triple the number...
A coalition of San Jose residents are fuming that their elected leader left them out of discussions about a safe parking site for homeless individuals in their neighborhood. An empty parking lot in North San Jose just south of Highway 237 holds at least four RVs and four unhoused residents after close to 70 people were swept from an encampment...
San Jose Councilmember Matt Mahan has a solution to help end homelessness: Prefabricated homes on public land. That’s the proposal the District 10 councilmember will bring before the city’s Rules Committee on Wednesday. He hopes San Jose and Santa Clara County can identify sites to build prefabricated units, or housing that can be assembled quickly off-site while a foundation is being...
Backlash over a safe parking site in San Jose for the homeless has bled into a neighboring city. Santa Clara Councilmember Kathy Watanabe took to Nextdoor earlier this month to share an email she sent to San Jose Councilmember David Cohen. The email blasts a safe parking site at 71 Vista Montana for homeless people...
Despite decades of robust efforts and hundreds of millions of dollars spent, San Jose’s homelessness crisis continues to grow—leaving residents, officials and advocates frustrated. For some unhoused residents in Columbus Park, the largest encampment in San Jose, the solution to their problem is simple: Give them housing. “Everybody out here wants to live in a home,” said...
Some San Jose homeless residents could soon have a job that pays nearly $25 an hour. That’s the announcement that came from Mayor Sam Liccardo Thursday after he expanded the San Jose Bridge program, an initiative that employs homeless residents to pick up trash. The expansion will make room for up to 100 unhoused workers across...
When Charlotte Burris first called the Santa Clara County Office of Supportive Housing to get out of the van she uses for shelter, there were only spaces for unhoused residents with COVID-19. Burris said she tested positive shortly after calling and received temporary housing, describing it as a gift in disguise. “I’ve been homeless for...
Getting dozens of homeless residents shelter and services isn’t easy, especially when it has to happen in a matter of weeks. But HomeFirst CEO Andrea Urton said it’s doable when you have the right resources. Residents last week were forced to leave a massive homeless encampment at Component Drive in North San Jose on land...
Raymond Ramsey says he never relies on his property manager to share details about other tenants—because they often don’t. But he’s baffled that he learned about a recent COVID infection in his building through the local gossip mill. Ramsey, a former unhoused resident, moved into Santa Clara County’s first supportive housing complex, Second Street Studios...
The city plans to transform the dilapidated flatlands at Columbus Park in North San Jose into a premier public park and plaza—complete with playgrounds, sports fields and rest areas. But the “elephant in the room” is the presence of more than 200 homeless residents. The land surrounding Columbus Park is a sanctuary for unhoused people—and a...
