As our region’s homelessness crisis became daily front-page news and emerged as THE issue of the upcoming election season, we’ve heard no shortage of opinions on the nature of our crisis.
However, for those of us who have spent years addressing this problem, the data all points us to a very simple truth; while homelessness is a complex problem intertwined with several other societal problems, at its core, homelessness is a housing problem, and the true solution to our crisis is more affordable housing. Learn more about the root causes of homelessness and the evidence-based solutions to end it.
That’s why we remain laser-focused on addressing the dire need for more affordable housing in Silicon Valley. Thanks to the persistent and deeply collaborative efforts of countless partners throughout Santa Clara County, our community is seeing important signs of progress that we must remain committed to sustaining in the years ahead.
Catalyzing Affordable Housing Production with Measure A
Since 2015, our local community has made several critically-important investments in building more affordable housing – but perhaps none have been as impactful as the 2016 Measure A Housing Bond.
This local source of affordable housing revenue has allowed our community to leverage billions in state, federal and private funding. In fact, every $1 in Measure funding has brought $4.50 in outside dollars, catalyzing the development of 44 deeply affordable and supportive housing developments and bringing a total of 4,773 new affordable apartments to Santa Clara County.
These new Measure A developments are coming online in rapid succession, with 11 sites already in operation and another 15 under construction and soon to follow!
Affordable housing developments in Santa Clara County funded by Measure A:
Want to dig deeper into Measure A?
Destination: Home’s Chief Operating Officer, Ray Bramson, takes a closer look at how Measure A has served as a smart and effective tool for developing affordable housing in his newest column. Learn More.
Hear From Affordable Housing Residents at Calabazas
While the numbers are telling of the successful strategies underway, there is truly no greater testament to the impact of these efforts than the stories of those who have found a safe and affordable home in our community. In fact, just over 2,000 people have been housed in a Measure A development to date!
We had the pleasure of sitting down with a few residents of Calabazas Community Apartments, the first 145-unit Supportive Housing development in the City of Santa Clara funded by Measure A, as well as the first affordable housing community catalyzed by Destination: Home’s Supportive Housing and Innovation Fund.
Read the first-hand accounts of Celeste and Fred – once strangers united only by their former experiences of homelessness – who have each found a home at Calabazas Community Apartments.
More Housing is Needed
The affordable housing our community desperately needs cannot be built overnight and not by any one jurisdiction, entity or organization. We need our entire community to get on board with these proven solutions.
We need to continue facilitating the production of extremely low income and supportive homes by urging our elected leaders to prioritize our most vulnerable and lowest-income households, invest in affordable housing at the scale needed to meet our current crisis and remove barriers that delay the construction of critically-needed homes for all.
As Ray says, “Let’s all take a page from the successful Measure A playbook and see how we can keep this drive alive for now and the future.”
Want to know more about affordable housing in our community?
Learn about the critical need for more extremely low income and supportive housing production.