Mayor Sam Liccardo is among nine mayors across California’s biggest cities to support proposed legislation that would reduce state tax breaks for homeowners, raising funding to tackle the state’s burgeoning homeless crisis. Assembly Bill 1905, introduced by San Francisco Assemblymember David Chiu, would eliminate the mortgage interest deduction (MID) for taxpayers’ second homes. It would...
Housing
Housing
How is Silicon Valley helping the homeless amid coronavirus pandemic?
As Santa Clara County undergoes expansive measures to slow the spread of the coronavirus outbreak, questions remain about how people experiencing homelessness will receive information and resources. With an increasing homeless population totaling more than 9,700 countywide, and close to 8,000 unsheltered per the 2019 homeless census, officials say they’re increasing outreach and resources related to COVID-19...
Comcast to provide tech, training to San Jose tiny homes residents
Days after residents moved into San Jose’s first tiny homes community, Comcast announced it will provide the formerly homeless residents with a first-of-its-kind technology program that includes internet access and digital literacy training. The California-based Comcast team got involved in the city’s tiny homes project, which opened two weeks ago on Mabury Road, after a...
Nonprofit seeks developers to take first bites of Apple’s $2.5B housing commitment
Nearly four months to the day after Apple Inc. promised $2.5 billion to spur housing and address homelessness in the Bay Area, the first $150 million of that commitment is up for grabs by developers. Cupertino-based Apple in November granted San Jose-based nonprofit Housing Trust Silicon Valley the $150 million to use for low-interest loans...
Housing nonprofit to San Jose Diridon Station area planners: Go big
As community members and San Jose officials work to revamp development and growth plans around Diridon Station, one housing nonprofit has been working on its own vision for the area — and it includes a lot more housing. Silicon Valley at Home on Friday unveiled an analysis showing how San Jose could feasibly allow up to...
Tiny homes community opens in San Jose
San Jose’s more than 6,000 homeless residents will have more opportunities to get off the streets and find permanent housing with the opening of 40 tiny homes in the northeast corner of the city. The first “bridge housing community” in the city provides a safe and stable place to stay and supportive services while its...
Silicon Valley leaders talk homeless prevention, push for new property tax
Silicon Valley leaders on Thursday touted the successes of recent initiatives to prevent homelessness, while using the data to make a last-minute pitch for voters to approve a new property tax to fund affordable housing. “The solutions we know that work in this crisis are housing and prevention,” San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo said during...
Dying on the cold streets of San Jose: The story of Deborah Pino
To many, Deborah Pino remains a statistic: She’s one of the more than one hundred homeless deaths in Santa Clara County last year. But Pino was more than homeless — she was a person who had hope. Despite living at “Jurassic Park,” a sprawling homeless encampment at Coyote Creek, she led her life with dignity that...
Report: Minorities in Santa Clara County are overrepresented in homeless population
Nearly 61 percent of Santa Clara County’s homeless population is Latino or black, a new report found, a figure that’s dramatically higher than the general population of those minorities in our county. The report, prepared by Destination: Home in partnership with Supporting Partnerships for Anti-Racist Communities Initiative, detailed racial trends in the county’s homeless population....
New San Jose housing project will house more than 100 homeless residents
After 17 years of being homeless in San Jose, a woman who identifies herself as “Fireball” was thrilled when she learned in April that she had a spot in a homeless housing development project that was underway in the city. “I’ve been dreaming and wishing for a place to live,” said Fireball — who received...