Dear Community Partner,
Yesterday the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors took a bold step forward in ending homelessness by approving a $950 million dollar housing bond ballot measure, the majority of which will go towards housing extremely low income residents. The measure will appear on the November ballot
.In a recent opinion piece, our board chair wrote: “Our region has experienced unprecedented job growth, but our housing stock has not kept pace. Over the last five years, the Bay Area has produced 531,000 new jobs, but only 94,000 new housing units. This jobs-housing imbalance has contributed to skyrocketing housing costs and rental vacancy rates so low they are unprecedented, leaving the most economically vulnerable members of our community with no viable housing options.”
Home Not Found: The Cost of Homelessness Silicon Valley provides critical information on how much our County spends annually on homelessness and demonstrated the opportunity to achieve significant cost savings through supportive housing. We are thrilled to see the Board of Supervisors championing a bond measure aimed at creating extremely low income and supportive housing for our most vulnerable men, women and families.We were joined by scores of homeless and formerly homeless men, women and families; including veterans, survivors of domestic violence and students. Hearing from so many community members who suffer daily from the lack of a stable home was a tangible and critical testimony to the importance of a home.
While the bond will address a variety of affordable housing income levels, it’s important to remember that if approved, this will be the ONLY source of funding specifically designated to target extremely low income and homeless populations. As Supervisor Dave Cortese said yesterday “When it comes to ending homelessness we want to be on the right side of history.”Please join us in thanking our County Supervisors for their vision and leadership in ending homelessness in our community.For more information, please see the coverage by the Mercury News of this historical event.
In Partnership,
Jennifer Loving
Executive Director, Destination: Home