Since the pandemic began, we’ve known that our homeless neighbors are among the most vulnerable members of our community. Those without stable housing not only face greater difficulty taking preventive actions, they are often in poorer health than the average resident. They also are disproportionately people of color, yet another sign of how the suffering in our community is not felt equally.
Thanks to the heroic efforts of Santa Clara County, the city of San Jose and dozens of our non-profit service providers, we’ve brought more than 1,000 of our homeless neighbors indoors over the past few months by leasing hotels and motels, standing up temporary shelters and expanding bridge housing communities. Yet, even as they worked around-the-clock to implement these temporary measures, our partners achieved something much more impactful.
Since the pandemic began, our partners have helped more than 600 homeless households obtain permanent housing — providing a long-term solution that will allow these vulnerable members of our community to protect themselves during the inevitable second wave to come and start down the path to a stable and healthier future.
This success didn’t happen by chance. It’s come as a result of a sustained effort built over several years. More than half of these 600 households received assistance through our county’s permanent supportive housing (PSH) and rapid re-housing (RRH) programs — two programs that are receiving significant funding through the landmark 2016 Measure A affordable housing bond.
In fact, 27 Measure A-funded affordable housing developments are currently completed, under construction or in the pipeline. One of our newest developments, Villas on the Park, opened its doors just before the pandemic began, and six more are scheduled to come online over the next 12 months. All together, these first 27 projects will bring 2,900 affordable housing units in the next few years — including more than 1,400 PSH and RRH units reserved specifically for previously homeless individuals.
As individuals who’ve spent countless hours helping implement and providing oversight of Measure A, we have seen two things have become crystal clear. One, we’re well on our way to delivering the supportive and affordable housing our community needs. Two, we must find ways to move even faster.
We need to take steps to speed up the development process that continues to slow down all types of housing production. Several promising streamlining bills have been introduced in the State legislature, including AB 1907 that would provide a CEQA exemption for supportive housing, shelters and many other affordable projects. In addition, building upon a successful pilot in San Jose, the county and Destination: Home are exploring opportunities to expand capacity building grants to help cities expedite the entitlement process for supportive and deeply affordable housing developments.
We must also move aggressively to identify new development sites. More jurisdictions should follow the lead of Santa Clara County, the city of Mountain View and others who have sought proposals to develop affordable housing on publicly-owned land. We need to expand partnerships with faith institutions such as Immanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church in San Jose, which will be building supportive housing on church property. And we must overhaul restrictive land-use laws that have perpetuated long-standing racial disparities and housing inequities by preventing multi-family housing development in far too many parts of our community.
COVID-19 has forced us to rethink the way we address a number of critical community needs — from how we ensure low-income families have access to food to how we support our childrens’ education. Yet, when it comes to homelessness, this crisis has only made the solution even clearer. We must continue building more supportive and deeply affordable housing.
Jennifer Loving is CEO of Destination: Home, a public-private partnership ending homelessness in Santa Clara County. Tracey Edwards is vice-chair of the Measure A Independent Citizens Oversight Committee.
