YWCA Silicon Valley loses federal funding for rent subsidies

YWCA Golden Gate Silicon Valley will no longer be able to provide as much rental assistance, leaving domestic violence survivors at greater risk.

Domestic violence survivors enrolled in YWCA’s rapid rehousing program received a letter March 26 informing them their rental assistance won’t be renewed after June 30. The program received money through the federal Continuum of Care (CoC) grant, which provides rental subsidies and supportive services to vulnerable populations. Santa Clara County received nearly $48 million in CoC grants in January from former President Joe Biden’s administration, but the administration didn’t renew YWCA’s grant, leaving the county with no money to fund the program.

While the loss of federal funding will be felt by survivors, YWCA will continue to provide limited rental assistance through the county’s homelessness prevention system.

“The CoC program is a competitive grant program, and during each competition … some grants are not selected for renewal,” Kathryn Kaminski, acting director of the Santa Clara County Office of Supportive Housing, told San José Spotlight. “We are currently working with the YWCA to explore all options to continue supporting each of the individuals and families served in this rapid rehousing program.”

People receiving rental assistance from YWCA are scrambling to find ways to pay rent on their own — or face eviction.

Shereen Jarrett became homeless last November after being evicted. Her life took a downturn after multiple life tragedies, including a family death and the schools she ran closing due to the pandemic. She floated between living in a friend’s storage unit and with relatives. Jarrett got connected to a YWCA caseworker, and after months of searching landed an apartment in downtown San Jose for $2,250 a month.

Jarrett has been weaning herself off rental assistance and is at the tail end of her yearlong subsidies. But others who just started the program will have the ground ripped from under them.

“(The government) is choosing to cut domestic violence programs,” Jarrett told San José Spotlight. “I referred a lot of people to (YWCA) because they were one of the better programs.”

YWCA provides rental subsidies, case management, support groups, therapy, legal services and more to survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault and human trafficking. Without YWCA’s help, people fleeing violent situations could end up on the streets.

Nearly 10,000 people are homeless in Santa Clara County, and for every household that finds a home, nearly two fall into homelessness. San Jose has the fourth highest number of homeless people per capita in the U.S., with 6,340 unhoused residents. That number could drastically increase, without systems in place to support new families becoming homeless.

The slashing of  the rapid rehousing program will make it harder for survivors to gain stability. Jarrett was only able to secure her apartment, after multiple rejections, because she showed proof of enrollment in the YWCA housing program. Most landlords required Jarrett to make three times the rent, she said.

“For a lot of people, this is the only way to get into a place,” she said. “I know I cannot qualify to get into a place of my own.”

YWCA is reshuffling all its workers who oversee its rapid rehousing program and is trying to connect them with other opportunities in and outside the agency, Chief Program Officer Melissa Luke said.

“We’re (also) working with our clients to connect them to other resources,” Luke told San José Spotlight.

Now that Jarrett has stable housing, she’s going to do whatever it takes to keep her apartment. She wants to start her own tutoring business, but in the meantime, she’s willing to work multiple odd jobs to keep the roof over her head.

“I just have to make that work somehow,” Jarrett said.

Azazel Holmkvist, another participant in YWCA’s program, said he’s going to barely scrape by without rental subsidies.

Holmkvist was supposed to get assistance until next January. He’s staying at an apartment in downtown San Jose dedicated to low-income individuals. Rent is $1,250 a month, and it will cost him nearly his entire disability check.

Holmkvist, whose had spells of homelessness, said he’s a survivor of sexual abuse as a child and domestic violence. His scars have left him with anxiety and bipolar disorder. He’s dependent on his medications, and is looking to get a part-time job to keep him afloat. He’ll have to get food from the food banks once his subsidies run out, he said.

“I will just barely get by. But if Medicare and Social Security get cut, I will be unhoused and I will no longer be able to take care of myself,” he told San José Spotlight.

Contact Joyce Chu at [email protected] or @joyce_speaks on X.