Santa Clara County’s Ambitious Goal to End Family Homelessness On Track After Approval of Six New Affordable H
SANTA CLARA COUNTY - Santa Clara County’s unprecedented plan to end family homelessness by 2025 called “Heading Home” is on track after the Board of Supervisors today unanimously approved $75.5 million of Measure A funding to build six new affordable housing developments in three cities.
The developments will create 758 new homes for the lowest income. The funding comes from the Affordable Housing Bond passed by Santa Clara County voters with two-thirds vote in 2016.
"Thanks to the residents of Santa Clara County who approved a $950-milliion dollar affordable housing bond in 2016, the Board is able to approve another new wave of housing projects. This means more people, more families and more children are getting off the streets,” said Santa Clara County Supervisor Cindy Chavez, an architect of the Measure A Affordable Housing Bond.
“Santa Clara County has a goal to achieve a "functional zero" in five years, meaning the number of housing placements for families in the county is greater than the number of families entering homelessness.”
Also approved was an additional $2 million to expand the current Amigos de Guadalupe Motel Program for Families with Children. It is an amendment to the Amigos de Guadalupe agreement to add an additional 45 nightly beds for 1) families that are in need of emergency shelter and are waitlisted from the shelter hotline and 2) families with an eligible rental subsidy that are in the housing search process as part of the “Heading Home” campaign. This paid for by federal CARES funding.
The success of Santa Clara County’s temporary, prefabricated 25 tiny homes for families called “Casitas de Esperanza at the Civic Center” in front of the old San Jose City Hall & the first Amigos de Guadalupe Motel Program at the Quality Inn on 13th Street in San Jose lead to the proposal to expand the second motel program. There are plans for more.
“Casitas has been helping me, providing tutoring after school for my boys and much more support. I feel like we’re a family here and we feel safe here,” said Cindy Nguyen, a single mother of three children now temporarily housed as Casitas de Esperanza at the Santa Clara County Civic Center.
The County has now funded 41 developments that total more than 4,400 homes throughout Santa Clara County – many of which are now in operation or nearing completion.
- Nine developments (with 830 affordable apartments) have been completed and have collectively served 1,640 formerly homeless and low-income community members.
- Eleven more projects (with another 1,280 affordable apartments) are currently under construction, with seven of them on track to open this year.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 8, 2022
Contact: Beth Willon – (408) 660-5174
Communications Director for Santa Clara County Board of Supervisor Cindy Chavez