Santa Clara County commits millions to supporting foster youth

A foster youth complex in San Jose is set to receive millions more in funding from county officials, with a goal of expanding services and housing to continue supporting disadvantaged young adults in the county.

The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors has allocated $12.6 million to help kickstart the construction of the community center, called The HUB. This is in addition to the $20 million approved in 2021 for the affordable housing part of the project. The complex will be built by Allied Housing, which focuses on supportive housing development, and is slated for completion in 2025.

The center will offer services such as case management, subsidies for transportation, food, clothes and utilities for foster care youth ages 15 to 24. The four-story building on 1.62-acres will house the 17,000-square-foot community center on the ground floor and three stories with 81 affordable, supportive apartments.

The HUB will be located on Parkmoor Avenue and replace the existing facility located at 591 N. King Road. A new site is needed to provide housing, in addition to community services.

“These children are all of our responsibility,” Supervisor Cindy Chavez, who is leading the charge on the project, said at the June 27 supervisors meeting when the funding was approved. “And if we are truly to change… the futures of these kids, we have to be able to treat them exactly like we would… our own kids.”

Hilary Armstrong, deputy director of the office of supportive housing, said she is excited to see the community center project move forward. Since the current location will be county-owned and operated, she said this will enable foster youth to move into a home and receive the resources they need in a permanent building.

“Providing welcoming spaces and really stable housing is such an important part of getting transition-age youth stable as they transition into adulthood,” Armstrong told San José Spotlight.

The affordable housing component will be comprised of 40 apartments with a focus on providing housing for foster youth ages 15 to 24. Any remaining apartments will be for low-income residents, including 20 rooms for those who have been homeless for more than a year.

Dontae Lartigue, CEO and cofounder of Razing the Bar, a nonprofit focused on helping current and former foster care youth, said he is excited county officials approved the funding and looks forward to seeing the location be a one-stop-shop for necessary resources to assist foster youth.

“The space has a lot of opportunities for young people to get the resources that they need,” Lartigue told San José Spotlight. “The years that this process has taken was kind of daunting in many ways. But we’re just glad to see some of these things push through.”

Contact Julia Forrest at [email protected] or follow @juliaforrest35 on Twitter.