ADDRESSING HOMELESSNESS: PART TWO
Life
Without
A Home
Written By Robin Shepherd
Destination:Home St. Josephs Family Center Cold Weather Shelter
In May, Cisco committed $50 million to
help Santa Clara County turn the tables
on homelessness. Destination:Home
is managing the fund over a five-year
period.
According to Jennifer Loving, CEO of
Destination:Home, “Cisco’s is the single
largest tech company donation aimed
at homelessness. Their employees are
smart, committed, proactively embracing
the goal of success for all.”
In 2016, voters approved the $950
million Measure A bond to fund housing
development. The next batch of roughly
six to eight projects goes before the
county Board of Supervisors this summer
for a vote. (See page 65)
“We have to dispel the myths. Most
people are not homeless by choice. And
most were born and grew up here. We
have to address the trauma of homeless-
ness. Housing is the best medicine.”
In mid-2018, Destination: Home
rolled out the Homelessness Prevention
System. It began with a public-private
partnership including the City of Morgan
Hill, St. Josephs Center, and several
million dollars to fund solutions for
homelessness prevention. David Cox is the CEO of St. Joseph’s
Family Center in Gilroy, which has a long
tradition of serving the many needs of the
homeless and those who may be at-risk
of homelessness.
“We need TRULY affordable housing.
Safe parking programs. Tiny homes
projects. Changed attitudes among
developers whose small percentage of
‘affordable’ units are for people making
80 to 100 percent of median income.
“We’re part of an Emergency
Assistance Network with agencies
throughout the county collaborating
to end homelessness. We touch all
aspects—prevention, shelter, referrals,
permanent housing programs, case
management, and job skills.
“We need to lessen the red tape and
bureaucracy to identify housing for the
homeless,” Cox added. “So far, South
County has demonstrated a lack of will
to do it. Most housing projects now in
development were approved long ago.
Fair Market development also creates
infrastructure needs. What if 25 percent
of new housing development had to be
TRULY affordable, and it was easier for
private property owners to develop it?” Our unsheltered population is at in-
creased risk of illness and death during
the winter months. In 2017, Santa Clara
County Office of Supportive Housing
extended Winter Cold Weather Shelter
operations by about three months, from
mid- October to mid-April. In Gilroy,
HomeFirst operates the National Guard
Armory, and St. Joseph’s Family Center
operates the Ochoa Winter Family Shelter.
These emergency shelters are often a
first step toward stable housing for the
homeless. Shelters provide a point of
access for needs assessment that helps
the county prioritize households for
transitional and permanent housing
opportunities. Along with hot showers
and meals, they may also provide
referrals to case management, healthcare
and employment programs.
32
GILROY • MORGAN HILL • SAN MARTIN
AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2018
Compassion Parks
The Community Plan to End Homeless-
ness, adopted by Santa Clara County,
calls for “disruptive strategies and
innovative prototypes that transform
the systems related to housing home-
less people.” One such prototype is the
Compassion Parks concept spearheaded
gmhtoday.com
Governor Brown’s approved budget allocated nearly $3 billion to homelessness. What fraction will
be spent in Santa Clara County is uncertain. Meanwhile, our homeless population is over 7,000. The
haves and have nots grow farther apart in terms of their paychecks, homes, and hopes for the future.
Fortunately, local organizations are working together to put this crisis in its place.