As Santa Clara County starts to plan what the next five years of tackling homelessness will look like, officials have reviewed the past five years — what worked and what continues to be a challenge. The county connected 17,485 homeless individuals to permanent housing as of 2024, and is on track and may even exceed...
San Jose homeless advocates create support network
As San Jose turns up the heat on abolishing homeless encampments, advocates have organized to prevent unhoused residents from losing what little they have. The Rapid Engagement Support Team (REST) works to assist homeless residents caught up in sweeps. REST aids with recovering a person’s property after a sweep, providing information on how to get...
Santa Clara County homelessness hits new high
Homelessness has increased in one of the most expensive regions in the nation, a tell-tale sign of what could come. Santa Clara County has 10,711 homeless residents, up 8.2% from two years ago, according to preliminary results from this year’s point in time count conducted in January 2025. This has happened despite significant investments in temporary...
State could strip Silicon Valley’s homeless funding
The progress San Jose and Santa Clara County have made to reduce homelessness could be halted as the state cuts crucial funding for housing and homeless services. The California Legislature on June 13 passed a $325 billion preliminary budget for the 2025-26 fiscal year, and the state’s main source of homelessness funding — the Homelessness...
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San Jose bans homeless people renting RVs
A new San Jose policy intended to target individuals who rent RVs to homeless residents is being extended to penalize people sleeping in their vehicles. The San Jose City Council voted 9-1 on Tuesday to approve the “vanlording” policy, as it was written last week, to ban the advertising and renting out of RVs to...
San Jose to clear Columbus Park — again
San Jose is moving forward with plans to clear large camps of homeless people and prevent them from returning. Sweeps are planned from June 16 to June 30 to clear encampments where dozens of people are living in tents along the Guadalupe River from West Taylor Street to Interstate 880. The city plans to sweep...
West Valley residents angry over hotel turning to homeless housing
More than 100 people packed the Camden Community Center Wednesday to speak against a West Valley hotel converting to temporary homes for homeless women and children. They stood against the walls when seats ran out, booed, shouted over each other and yelled at San Jose officials, “You’re our elected officials! You need to listen to...
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San Jose safe parking no better than street life, residents say
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...
San Jose mayor redefines ‘Responsibility to Shelter’ policy
San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan is changing his tune when it comes to arresting homeless people who refuse shelter. Mahan held a news conference Wednesday to talk about how he is redefining his “Responsibility to Shelter” initiative. When it first rolled out in March, Mahan said those who refuse shelter three times within an 18-month...
Santa Clara County critical of plan to arrest homeless people
Despite San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan’s claim his policy to arrest homeless people for refusing shelter is meant to connect them to treatment, there isn’t a plan for how it’s supposed to work. Since Mahan rolled out his “Responsibility to Shelter” policy in March, Santa Clara County officials and a former judge have pushed back on the...