Veterans living in a substandard housing facility in East San Jose said it’s getting worse, more than a year after Santa Clara County purchased it and months after a new service provider took over.
The county purchased the facility at 10 Kirk Ave. in November 2023 for $14.5 million and contracted nonprofit Abode Services to continue providing meals and supportive services to people living at the site. The Homeless Veterans Emergency Housing Facility, a nonprofit led by CEO Irvin Goodwin, previously provided case management, meals and housing to veterans at the site, which was in disrepair. The facility had mold, fire hazards and unsafe electrical systems, among other problems that have been going on for years.
Veterans say things have gone downhill since Abode became the service provider in October, and that the county hasn’t addressed the most pressing issues. One building has no hot water, and WiFi and cable service haven’t worked since the contract with the previous operator expired in November, making it hard for one veteran to order his prescriptions online. Veterans who dealt with bed bugs said there’s been no pest control, and the food provided is inedible.
“What bothers me is they made us a lot of promises at the beginning and very few of them (have) come through,” one veteran, who asked for anonymity for fear of retaliation, told San José Spotlight.
The 4.26-acre complex is made up of eight, single-story buildings with the capacity to house 150 veterans. There are approximately 15 veterans living there, down from about 40 in August.
Roughly seven veterans live in a building infested with mold, and some said they’ve developed health issues because of it.
Carl Koprek, who struggles with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, wheezes when he breathes. He said whenever he’s in his room his lungs tighten, his eyes burn and his head aches. Black mold is visible on the walls in his bathroom. When he approached Abode to move rooms, he said the site supervisor told him they’d have to evict him if he moved.
“I’m tired of being treated like that. It’s not right,” Koprek told San José Spotlight. “I was optimistic that things would be better. It’s worse off than before. Things were better with Irvin.”
San José Spotlight saw what appeared to be bed bug stains or shells on a mattress that had to be discarded. Veterans said they’ve told Abode staff about all the issues, but the nonprofit is unresponsive to their needs.
A representative with Abode declined to comment and deferred all questions to the county.

Deputy County Executive Director Consuelo Hernández said since acquiring the building more than a year ago, the county has done some major repairs, including fixing fire sprinklers, installing electric HVAC systems, repairing electrical systems and pumping standing water out of a community room basement. She said this year, the focus is on making interior fixes, including mold remediation and bathroom repairs.
“We received the complaint about the hot water, and then it was fixed. The team is also exploring the root cause of these issues since it does not appear to be an issue with the water heater itself,” Hernández told San José Spotlight. “Our internal county team and Abode both confirmed that there have been no calls for bed bugs. There is work happening right now with the buildings, including getting our bids for the mold remediation.”
Hernández had no response to why the veterans living in a building with mold haven’t been relocated into one of the buildings that’s been upgraded.
When Goodwin ran the property, two veterans who lived on the property made savory home cooked meals for them. They had a salad bar with 10 different dressings, and a dessert table filled with cake, pies, cookies and more. Now, veterans said the food is bland, the rice is undercooked and the vegetables are overcooked to a mush. Lunch is often a sandwich. Some veterans choose to buy their own lunch and dinner, even if it eats into their tight budgets. Others who don’t have access to transportation or extra cash choose not to eat. One said he’s lost weight as a result.
“Abode was paid half a million dollars for the last three months of (last) year. They’re not spending it on food,” the veteran told San José Spotlight. “I mean, we have residents that have to go out and buy milk … just to get milk for breakfast. It’s just like a lack of respect. They don’t care.”

The county initially set aside $668,174 for Abode to provide services from October to December while it waited for a contract with the Veterans Administration to be finalized, as the VA would typically fund services for veterans. That contract still hasn’t been finalized, so the county has extended its contract with Abode until March under the same budget.
Hernández told San José Spotlight last October that the contract with the VA has been awarded, but is pending inspections of the site. Hernandez could not comment on why the VA contract has still not been finalized.
District 3 Santa Clara County Supervisor Otto Lee, who served 28 years in the U.S. Navy, told San José Spotlight he’s working on getting the immediate issues, like lack of WiFi and cable television, resolved. He said he’s looking into why veterans living in rooms with mold and experiencing hot water issues haven’t been moved into the renovated buildings.
“Some of the buildings are perfectly good to go,” Lee told San José Spotlight. “Why don’t we move all the folks there as much as they can?”
Contact Joyce Chu at [email protected] or at @joyce_speaks on X.
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