The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors on Feb. 8 approved the expenditure of $75.5 million for six new affordable housing projects that will add more than 750 homes for low-income residents, according to county staff.
The projects—all slated for locations in Sunnyvale and San Jose—will help boost the county’s efforts to end homelessness, says a press release from Santa Clara County.
“Thanks to the residents of Santa Clara County who approved a $950 million affordable housing bond in 2016, the board is able to approve another new wave of housing projects,” said Supervisor Cindy Chavez, one of the architects of the Measure A Affordable Housing Bond. “This means more people, more families, and more children are getting off the streets. 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.”
In addition to the $75.5 million expense, the board also unanimously approved $2 million in one-time state grant funding that will double the capacity of the county’s motel shelter program for families with children.
Since voters approved the Measure A Affordable Housing Bond in 2016, the county has funded 41 developments that will bring more than 4,400 new homes throughout Santa Clara County.
These projects include nine developments with a total of 830 affordable apartments, which have served 1,640 formerly homeless and low-income community members, according to county staff. The bond has helped the county fund another 11 projects that are currently under construction—seven of which are on track for completion later this year.
Of the roughly 4,400 new homes funded so far, about 3,600 are for extremely and very low-income households, says the press release.
The county has a goal of building at least 4,800 apartments for extremely and very low-income households by 2026, and is more than 75% of the way there.
The first development funded by Measure A opened in Cupertino in 2019 and is designed for seniors who have experienced homelessness, including 62-year-old David Webb.
Webb, who was employed in construction for most of his life, became homeless when medical conditions put him out of work, the press release continues. Before the Measure A-funded Veranda project opened, he frequented shelters and lived along the freeway, where each day was a battle to stay safe. Getting the keys to his first apartment, he said, made him feel more human.
“Once I ended up there—homeless—it became easier and easier to stay there and it became harder and harder to work your way out of that hole,” Webb said. “To pay my rent, it makes me happy every month. I am just so grateful that I have this place, and that I have my own key to my own front door.”
The board of supervisors’ Feb. 8 approvals also include $2 million to double the capacity of a motel shelter program that will now be able to assist 88 unhoused families with children per night. The expansion is part of the countywide Heading Home campaign to end family homelessness, and county staff say it will serve as a critical resource to bring homeless families indoors as they are connected to permanent housing.
