San Jose To Vote On Expanding Services For Homeless Amid COVID-19

Campbell CA

12 January, 2021

4:21 PM

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By Carly Wipf, San Jose Spotlight January 12, 2021 San José Spotlight is the city's first nonprofit news organization dedicated to independent political and business reporting. Please support our public service journalism by clicking here. Faced with an uptick in homeless deaths amid the pandemic, city leaders are looking to expand shelter services for San Jose's unhoused residents. The San Jose City Council today will consider adopting a $11.3 million expenditure plan for its Homeless, Housing, Assistance and Prevention Program, which provides homeless outreach and shelter services citywide. If adopted, the city will apply for $300 million in state grants to support a regional effort to end homelessness. The money will be used for operating affordable, interim, emergency, supportive housing sites and rapid re-housing sites for children and families, said Deputy Housing Director Ragan Henninger. "The homeless crisis, particularly as a result of the pandemic, has gone from bad to worse," Vice Mayor Chappie Jones said in an interview, citing the recent death of unhoused resident Ruben Eldridge Hill reported by San José Spotlight. The county drew criticism because it had just one overnight warming center open — miles away in Gilroy — the night Hill died in front of a vacant downtown San Jose office. "This is a crisis," Jones continued. "We need to come up with every tool in our toolbox to get our residents housed. It's a moral imperative." According to the Santa Clara County's coroner's office, 196 homeless individuals died in Silicon Valley between Dec. 1, 2019 and Nov. 30, 2020 — an increase from last year's death toll of of 161 people. Lawmakers will also mull grant agreements with nonprofits to keep two emergency shelters running. Abode Services could receive a little more than a million dollars to operate the Sure Stay Hotel in San Jose as an emergency shelter. HomeFirst Services Santa Clara County could receive a $3.1 million contract to operate the South Hall shelter on Market Street. The grants will allow South Hall to stay open through April 30 and allow the Sure Stay Hotel to provide supportive housing for people vulnerable to COVID-19 until shelter in place orders are lifted. The Sure Stay Hotel, located at 1488 North First Street in San Jose, is currently housing homeless residents with medical conditions that make them more susceptible to COVID-19. The hotel comprises 76 units and a community room. It was acquired by the city through state Project Homekey funds. The program is part of California's effort to house homeless people during the pandemic. South Hall has served 902 individuals from April 15, 2020 to Nov. 30, 2020. It has enough beds to serve 285 individuals per night. Housing Director Jacky Morales-Ferrand said temporary shelters are a needed component of the city's COVID-19 plan as the weather gets colder and the shelter in place order is extended. Before the pandemic, there were 2,072 shelter beds countywide. That number has increased by 822 beds during the pandemic, Morales-Ferrand said. Following the onslaught of COVID-19, the city opened several temporary emergency shelters, in addition to South Hall, but lawmakers were concerned about the need for longer-term affordable housing. To meet the city's affordable housing needs, many temporary sites created during the pandemic — including the Sure Stay Hotel — will transition to affordable housing and supportive services sites once the health order lifts. The city has almost finished building two more emergency interim housing sites, on Evans Lane and Rue Ferrari, according to Henninger, to provide 228 beds and 40 beds, respectively. The spaces will also be converted to interim housing once the pandemic ends. The San Jose City Council will meet Jan. 12 at 1:30 p.m. to watch, visit San Jose's YouTube page. Contact Carly Wipf at [email protected] or follow @CarlyChristineW on Twitter.