San Jose City Councilmembers unanimously approved a $200,000 grant for a new public-private initiative to battle homelessness at city hall in Downtown San Jose Tuesday.
The funding is part of a two-year agreement from the statewide Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention Grant Program toward Destination: Home, a public-private partnership dedicated to ending homelessness in Silicon Valley.
Destination: Home was founded in 2008 when a commission chaired by then-Mayor Chuck Reed decided more public-private partnerships were needed to advance impactful strategies in the community, according to its website.
The funding will cover Destination: Home’s partnership with the Santa Clara County Lived Experience Advisory Board, according to its Tuesday memorandum.
The Lived Experience Advisory Board is a leadership development body composed of members of the San Jose community with current or past experiences of homelessness, according to its website.
During the city council meeting, Chad Bojorquez, Destination: Home chief program officer, described the advisory board as the flagship of the program’s greater effort to share power with those who have experienced homelessness.
“Having significant investment from our government partners is critical to ensuring that the people we serve are integrated into the decision making that impacts their lives,” Bojorquez said in an email.
Destination: Home will work in coordination with the Lived Experience Advisory Board toward addressing San Jose’s increasingly prevalent issue of houselessness and housing insecurity.
So far in September, 14 unhoused people have died in Santa Clara County and as of Friday, 167 people who were homeless died this year in which about 73% of whom were in San Jose, according to a Monday San Jose Spotlight article.
Last year, more than 250 unhoused people died in Santa Clara County, which is the highest recorded number in over a decade, according to the San Jose Spotlight article.
The county has seen a 3% increase in its homeless population since 2019, totaling 10,028 people, which is the highest number of homeless residents since 2007, according to Santa Clara County homeless census and data.
Vice Mayor Chappie Jones said the now-funded partnership between Destination: Home and the Lived Experience Advisory Board invites those who are necessary to have at the table.
“Including the voices of those who have experienced homelessness is critical as we continue to create policy to address homelessness in our community,” Jones said in an email.
The public-private joint venture of Destination: Home and the advisory board advance the 2020-25 Santa Clara County Community Plan to End Homelessness, which specifically states the need to “raise the voices of people with lived experience and share power with our unhoused and recently-housed neighbors.”
“Incorporating the advice and feedback of those who have experienced homelessness on the programs and services that impact them is not only a national best practice but increasingly becoming a requirement for State and federal funding,” the memorandum reads.
The item was voted in with several other motions on the consent calendar, which is deemed routine by city councilmembers and can be put forth for discussion at their discretion.
However, no public discussion is available for consent calendar items.
Updates about Destination: Home’s progress is expected to be found in the annual report of Santa Clara County Office of Supportive Housing, which provides financial and housing assistance, regarding ongoing houselessness programs.
