Heidi White entered the Santa Teresa safe parking site 19 months ago thinking it’d be her first step out of homelessness. Instead, her health has declined and housing is still a dream.
White said she hardly sees her caseworker and is never informed of when a new affordable housing development is opening. Since moving there in November 2023, she only knows of a handful of people who have been placed into housing: one couple who moved into the Via Del Oro tiny home site and an individual who moved into permanent housing.
“Our caseworkers don’t have speciality training,” White told San José Spotlight. “I haven’t seen her since March.”
San Jose’s first safe parking site opened July 2023 and provides space for 42 RVs to stay there without fear of getting swept. But residents said supportive services and help toward finding permanent or transitional housing are not being met. They said LifeMoves, the nonprofit housing provider managing the safe parking site, has tight rules for what residents can and can’t do, including who can visit. Some residents say they’d rather be on the street than stay there.
The site sits on a 115,000-square-foot lot next to the Santa Teresa VTA light rail station. San Jose has a five-year contract with VTA to lease the site for free, and pays $1.5 million in operational costs annually to LifeMoves. The contract renews every July.
A LifeMoves spokesperson said the organization has helped place 15 people into housing since 2023.
“As with most Silicon Valley-based interim housing programs, broader systemic challenges — such as limited affordable housing stock, inflation, increased cost of living, stagnant wages and limited subsidies and resources — can significantly impact a client’s ability to achieve a positive exit,” spokesperson Maria Prato told San José Spotlight. “While we work closely with clients to prepare them for stable housing, these external factors often create barriers that are beyond the scope of the program.”
Strict rules, no leniency
LifeMoves is kicking White out because her In-Home Supportive Services caregiver violated the visitor policy for failing to sign in and out numerous times. San José Spotlight reviewed the letter.
White said LifeMoves workers started harassing her after she began advocating for herself and other residents. She pushed for longer visitor hours, bottled water when their water source wasn’t working for three weeks and for LifeMoves to pay to fix her septic tank, which she said was broken by the contractor who flushed it.
In the letter, LifeMoves gave White an opportunity to appeal her case. White chose to leave earlier than her termination date because her brother, who is her IHSS worker, was no longer permitted on the site.
White said her fibromyalgia has been exacerbated since moving to the site, making it difficult for her to walk or stand. She relies on her brother to help her get groceries, run errands and walk her dogs.
Prato said LifeMoves can’t discuss individual client situations, but caregivers can be banned from the site if workers deem their behavior to be disruptive.
“The reason that people don’t want to come in is because they take away all of our rights,” White said, referring to Mahan’s policy to arrest homeless people who refuse offers of shelter.
Other residents expressed similar badgering by LifeMoves workers.
Debbie Cattivera, 62, was kicked out of the safe parking site last year after living there for half a year. Cattivera claims LifeMoves told her to leave because she left her car in the parking lot too long while unloading groceries.
“I was being harassed more by them than I was by the police on the street,” Cattivera told San José Spotlight.
White said Cattivera’s absence affected other residents because she helped people get gas and groceries. Many residents at the site don’t have operable RVs or cars.
One resident, who requested anonymity for fear of retaliation, said LifeMoves workers used to take them grocery shopping, but stopped.
“I’m even worse being here,” they told San José Spotlight. “They don’t help you. Nobody is getting on these (housing) lists.”
LifeMoves representatives said they offer cost-free transportation through Lyft to help residents get to the market or necessary appointments.
Prato said LifeMoves is actively interviewing for housing and employment specialists. She said workers are being asked to refrain from giving rides due to liability concerns, and have handed out a small number of bus and light rail passes.
“While we understand that this can present challenges, we encourage clients to lean on their personal networks when appropriate, as building and utilizing social support systems is an important step toward long-term independence and stability,” Prato said.
Homeless advocate Gail Osmer, who has been trying to help the safe parking site residents, said the city shouldn’t renew the contract with LifeMoves.
“We need to protect our unhoused and we aren’t,” Osmer told San José Spotlight.
Councilmember George Casey, whose District 10 covers the safe parking site, did not respond to a request for comment.
White is trying to get into the Berryessa safe parking site run by nonprofit WeHope, or the safe parking site in Mountain View run by MOVE Mountain View — but both sites are full. When she leaves the Santa Teresa site this week, White will try to find a place in Mountain View to temporarily park her RV, since San Jose has been making it difficult for people with RVs to park on the street due to its temporary, rotating RV ban.
“I regret coming in here,” White told San José Spotlight. “My physical body is deteriorating living in this place. We’re all adults here, but we are treated like we are in prison.”
Editor’s note: A past version of this story did not provide information about how LifeMoves assists clients and lacked information about one resident who could have appealed her termination from the housing site.
Contact Joyce Chu at [email protected] or @joyce_speaks on X.
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