San Jose hits some homelessness goals, misses others

San Jose is inching toward its housing and homelessness goals, but still has a ways to go before it can shelter thousands of unhoused residents.

The city released its latest annual homelessness report in early November detailing its progress in cleaning up the streets and waterways, sweeping encampments and building temporary housing. It met some goals, such as expanding weekly trash pickups and sanitary services to RV residents. But a number of goals missed the mark, like providing 300 people with short-term rental assistance through its rapid rehousing program and hiring people with lived experience to do street outreach for those in need of  mental health services.

Mayor Matt Mahan said he’s asked for more frequent progress reports, not just yearly updates, to ensure funding is properly spent on reducing the number of unsheltered people. There are roughly 6,340 homeless residents in the city — with about 4,400 being unsheltered — and nearly 10,000 countywide.

“We can and will do more to get people off our streets and out of our creeks. This report highlights the progress we’ve made since shifting to an all-of-the-above approach and shows us how much more we still need to do to end the era of encampments in San Jose,” Mahan said. “We need to be able to see what’s working and what’s not on a regular basis so we aren’t wasting taxpayer dollars on programs that aren’t moving the needle.”

This fiscal year, the city converted two hotels to temporary housing through state funding from the Project Homekey program. The 72-room Pacific Motor Inn had its grand opening last month, operated by nonprofit People Assisting the Homeless (PATH), and will provide temporary housing, meals and supportive services as individuals transition into permanent homes. The former 61-room Pavilion Inn, renamed Sunrise Pavilion, was converted into 43 studio and one-bedroom affordable apartments to house youth emerging from foster care.

The expansion of the Rue Ferrari tiny home site in South San Jose also broke ground last month, with 107 homes being added by next year with the capacity to house up to 146 homeless people. By the time the city’s four other tiny home projects come online, San Jose will have a total of nearly 1,300 beds.

But the city has also faced setbacks with tiny home sites experiencing various delays. The modular homes at Branham Lane had numerous problems, including mold and plumbing. The latest issues found were deficiencies in the factory-installed waterproofing, as well as faulty installation of exterior protective finish.

San Jose has also ramped up removing trash around the waterways to address pollutant levels and encampment sweeps. The city set aside $27 million to clear out the estimated 1,000 homeless people living along creeks and rivers in response to orders by the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board.

During fiscal year 2023-24, the city removed more than 9 million pounds of debris and trash from encampments and swept 298 encampments, up from 287 last fiscal year, according to the report.

It has also implemented “no return zones” within a two-block radius around tiny home sites. Starting next year, the city will establish no return zones along waterways where encampments have been swept.

One goal not met this past fiscal year included having a person who experienced homelessness sit on the housing department’s evaluation panel, as part of the committee that reviews developer proposals and funding requests. The city is revamping its procurement process and will not carry this goal forward until it finishes restructuring.
The city also set a goal to serve 300 homeless individuals through its rapid rehousing program to provide short-term rental assistance last fiscal year, but failed to meet the goal. The report doesn’t say how many people the program housed.

The city intends to add 40 new sites to the weekly trash service routes. In addition to releasing an annual report, the housing department will provide quarterly updates to track its progress.

“We are committed to an all-of-the-above approach to ending unsheltered homelessness in San Jose,” Erik L. Soliván, director of the city’s housing department, said in a statement. “We are focused on centering the needs of unhoused residents and restoring public spaces in our neighborhoods. The strategy for implementing our work through the lens of the Housing Continuum, a model that combines shelter and housing services, will help us move toward functional zero so no one goes unsheltered.”

Contact Joyce Chu at [email protected] or follow @joyce_speaks on X, formerly known as Twitter.