To keep up with growing demand, Silicon Valley’s largest food bank is moving to a new home in the Alviso area of North San Jose. The new location for Second Harvest of Silicon Valley will consist of three connected single-story buildings covering approximately 250,000 square feet. The space will consolidate the food bank’s three locations to reduce costs and...
Santa Clara County limits water handouts for homeless residents
Some activists claim the county is no longer providing them water to take to homeless encampments—a service offered over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. Gail Osmer, an advocate for houseless communities, said throughout the pandemic she’s gotten multiple cases of water from the county Office of Supportive Housing to distribute. But earlier this month, she says the...
UPDATE: Santa Clara lawmaker apologizes for comparing homeowners to toddlers
The Santa Clara City Council will not censure Councilmember Kevin Park over his comment comparing homeowners to toddlers after Park publicly apologized at a council meeting Tuesday. “I do understand the need for an apology. I will repeat the intent was not to offend, but that’s not what happened, which was that people were offended,”...
San Jose breaks ground on affordable housing for seniors
Homeless seniors will have another place to live in San Jose next year—on the site of a historic market. Local elected officials and nonprofit leaders gathered Monday on the site of the former Dick’s Supermarket north of Japantown for the groundbreaking of Villas at Fourth Street, a 93-unit affordable housing project for chronically homeless seniors...
Churches could be San Jose’s next affordable housing sites
A house of worship could be the next refuge for people looking for a permanent home. San Jose and local faith leaders are proposing a change to the city’s affordable housing plans that would allow developers to build at gathering places such as churches, private clubs, lodges and theaters, bypassing the city’s often lengthy permit...
RV search highlights problems with San Jose towing practices
In December 2015, a tow truck took away the RV Scott Largent lived in. Six years later, he’s still not sure what happened to it. Largent, a longtime homeless activist in San Jose, said he started living in his RV after difficult financial times. On Dec. 29, 2015, San Jose police officers arrested Largent for allegedly...
San Jose expands eviction help centers
East San Jose residents, who face disproportionately higher rates of poverty compared to other parts of the city, will soon have a center to help them battle evictions. San Jose’s housing department plans to open an eviction help center in East San Jose in the Franklin McKinley School District, which is close to lower-income families...
Los Gatos expands housing advisory board to include residents
As the debate over Los Gatos’ plan to densify housing continues to escalate, the town is asking the public to join the policy-making process. Los Gatos is seeking up to four residents to serve on its housing element advisory board, which will help develop strategies and policies to accommodate new housing required by state law. The...
San Jose mayoral candidate opposes state housing legislation
San Jose Councilmember and mayoral candidate Dev Davis is taking a stance against two controversial state housing bills. “Adding density in an area of the city where infrastructure improvements are not made is a recipe for disaster,” Davis wrote in a memo. “These bills could dramatically affect our neighborhoods and our ability to deliver critical...
In San Jose, homeless camp services vary by location
Dumpsters that allow homeless people to keep their camps clean make a world of a difference. But getting that and other utilities can be challenging depending on where an encampment is located. Last week, San José Spotlight reported on a South San Jose homeless encampment that lacks dumpsters, hand washing stations and port-a-potties, leaving unhoused residents without a...