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Building a Brighter Future
Housing in Santa Clara County
There is a formal “10-Year Plan to End Chronic Homelessness in Santa Clara County” (May 2005).
In 2004 the Santa Clara County Homeless Census and Survey showed that there were 7,646 unhoused people in the County.
Of this number, 35% were chronically unhoused individuals, and in addition, there are many chronically unhoused families.
Over 1/3 of these unhoused people were in shelter facilities and nearly 2/3 were unsheltered.
As a result of this census survey, a Blue Ribbon Commission was formed to raise $25 million to end chronic homelessness by 2020. Chris Block has been heading this effort.
The Blue Ribbon Commission Key Goals are:
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develop new and increase existing sources of funding for affordable housing production; and,
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advocate and implement a series of land use policies that allow for increasing the production of housing.
Read more in their Executive Summary (November 30, 2007).
According to “Housing Silicon Valley: A 20 Year Plan to End the Affordable Housing Crisis,” prepared for Bay Area Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), and by The Institute for Metropolitan Studies, San Jose State University:
- 41,404 households across the income spectrum currently experience severe housing needs in Santa Clara County.
- 90,000 total new units of affordable housing needed over the next 20 years (approximately 4,500 new units per year).
Ending homelessness and solving the affordable housing crisis is an imperative from a societal perspective. Providing the skills and opportunities to move to self-sufficiency continues to be at the heart of what San Jose Family Shelter offers their families. The new San Jose family Shelter will be even more equipped with the space and staff to offer this support and appropriate services |
