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San Jose opens two new affordable housing communities
The city on Wednesday opened two new communities that add more than 500 units to Santa Clara County's affordable housing inventory.
San Jose, CA - In Santa Clara County, the latest survey shows more than 10,000 people are considered "unhoused." While progress to get those residents into permanent housing is slow, it is happening. On Tuesday, county leaders officially dedicated a pair of buildings which are considered both "affordable housing" and also "supportive housing."
Kathleen Avilez fell into homelessness in 2019. "
I was living in a tent, car, but I still had a job, I was working," Avilez said. Eventually the stress of being unhoused, COVID, addiction and other factors sent her to the hospital last year, where she was in a coma for a month. "Actually they gave my family two weeks to say their goodbyes."
Avilez said she can't believe where she is today: one of the very first residents to move into a new home in one of the county's two new affordable housing complexes: Belarmino Place on Race Street and Alvarado Park on Contra Costa Avenue.
She pays $200 hundred a month.
"Don’t give up, don’t give up, don’t lose faith. There is light at the end of the tunnel. It is hard because when you are out here you don’t know when your day is going to get picked," Avilez said.
The buildings were constructed using "Measure A" funds. That bill, which was approved by county voters in 2016, was a $950 million dollar bond measure which has already created more than 6,000 affordable units.
"Getting in here is based upon an evaluation of needs with the most serious cases at the top of the list. "Because permanent housing is the only sustainable solution to ending homelessness," Susan Ellengberg, a Santa Clara County Supervisor, said.
Between the two buildings there are more than 200 units, all considered ‘affordable’ based upon the county’s median income — with 50 units specifically set aside for those who were formerly unhoused.
"It is called "housing first," and the idea is really provide someone with housing and then develop a relationship with the individual and then start building up the services that they need to be successful," Preston Prince, Executive Director of the Santa Clara County Housing Authority said.