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This is the second of a three-part series on Housing First. A few months ago, you lost your job at a local business because it was downsizing. Like most Americans, you don’t even have enough savings to cover a $1,000 emergency expense. When rent is due, you move out and spend a couple of weeks sleeping...
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...
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....
Bramson: Why the deepest affordability matters the most
The recent defeat of SB 50 – a controversial bill authored by Sen. Scott Wiener which ostensibly sought to increase residential density near transit corridors and job-rich areas – brought forth a somewhat troubling new dimension to an already complicated housing conversation. Not only was the bill opposed by the typical cavalcade of single-family homeowners,...
Loving: Measure E will help reduce and prevent homelessness in San Jose
We can solve homelessness in San Jose. We have effective, proven solutions but continue to lack the resources needed to scale them to meet the enormous need in our community. But, the good news is that on Tuesday, March 3, San Jose voters can help achieve this goal by voting in support of Measure E....
Chavez: We must double down on our affordable housing investment
In my recent State of the County address, I highlighted the county’s success with the voter-approved Measure A housing bond. Measure A is ahead of schedule, almost halfway to building more than 4,000 new permanent homes for the homeless. This week, I called for the county to double down on Measure A — to put...
Santa Clara County works to finalize five-year plan to eradicate homelessness
Santa Clara County housing advocates and leaders are in the final stages of finalizing the newest five-year plan to eradicate homelessness — or at least try to get everyone in the county housed by 2025. This week, the group leading the effort to build the plan unveiled its high-level framework as housing advocates and local...
Roberts: Put housing first, character second
This is the first of a three-part series on Housing First. They are people who are broke, and broken. They have insufficient resources to sustain housing, and tattered lives with barriers that sometimes seem insurmountable. Some are dependent on substances that misdirect, others are overcome by mental demons. All are unable to stand on their...
Peralez: Breaking silos to solve homelessness
Last year, the city of San Jose’s point-in-time count, a federally mandated count of the area’s homeless population, showed that homelessness spiked 42% in the last two years. Today, for every one person we house, three more become homeless. On any given day, there are more than 5,000 residents living on our city’s streets, however,...
Bramson: Homelessness trumps manners
Over the holidays, President Donald Trump took to Twitter to blast California for its homelessness problem. It’s not news to anyone that there’s a big crisis here and these tweets – coupled with a threat to somehow intervene if our state doesn’t get moving – have actually been a pretty regular overture from the leader...