The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors this week renewed a $100,000 allocation to use the Gilroy Armory as a cold weather shelter, serving 130 individuals per night.
The board also approve four other items to invest in affordable housing and emergency shelters.
“Affordable housing for everyone from people living on the streets in the cold to our public school teachers has been and continues to be a top priority of the Santa Clara County Supervisors,” said Supervisor Cindy Chavez who represents Central, East and South San Jose.
In addition to the Gilroy Armory decision, the board:
- Directed the establishment of the area’s first LGBTQ-focused shelter, responding to an epidemic of homelessness among LGBTQ youth and safety concerns by the transgender community.
- Greenlighted negotiations with school districts to partner on Teacher Housing on county-owned land in Palo Alto
- Added $3 million to the County’s innovative Project Welcome Home to permanently house the chronically homeless, enough to permanently house 60 more clients
Added $600,000 to the county’s rapid rehousing and rental assistance programs, to permanently house the chronically homeless, enough to prevent homelessness for 50 households
There are now approximately 2,290 chronically homeless individuals in Santa Clara County, costing over $100,000 each in government services, according to a recent report.
The county has been pursuing a strategy of Housing First, which provides permanent housing with supportive services to the homeless. To date over 1,500 formerly homeless have been housed, with over 90 percent remaining stably housed.
