“Most everyone wants to be a good neighbor but NIMBY is a
challenge. I just encourage people to come by the Compassion
Center and be surprised at the conduct of the people who
are served there. Cumbersome zoning and land use issues are
another challenge.”
“Tiny homes is a new concept, but developments are being
done in a variety of places in the U.S. “We need to sit down
with city and county representatives to create a program that
will work,” John said. I will be part of that process. I view this
as a public-private partnership. We will look to the community
to help us get this done. We’ve got architects, engineers, and
other professionals on our team, working together, bringing
new ideas like LED lighting, solar systems and other options.
We’re building a lot of efficiency into the design. It also
becomes a training opportunity for the homeless who are able
to participate in building, costing, project management, and
other project tasks. The county gave us a contract to build a
prototype and we did. It’s not just the building of a village, but
the governance of it, with policies in place and participation
from the residents and their service providers.”
Help the Homeless
To those inspired to help, Jan Chargin offered a few suggestions.
Join a committee, a board or a task force. The South County
homeless outreach task force meets the second Friday of every
month at the Gilroy Police Department at 10:15 am.
Ask your company if it supports community service projects or
sponsors non-profit initiatives. Your human resources department
might post job openings at homeless shelters or with other
advocacy groups.
Business owners can offer free or low-cost business services for
anything from car repair to resume writing or even a haircut.
Healthcare providers can donate free services.
housing for groups with special needs, and to maintain a
range of housing types that are served by transit, recreational
amenities, shopping, and health and personal services.
City staffer Rebecca Garcia confirmed that construction of 41
new affordable housing units is slated to begin at three separate
Morgan Hill locations this coming December or January, and
these units will remain classified ‘affordable’ for 55 years.
Rebecca is Housing Manager in the Community Development
Department of the City of Morgan Hill.
“Morgan Hill sets aside a portion of units in every new
affordable housing project for special needs populations; in
this case, 6 of the 41 new units will be dedicated to foster
transitional age use. Specifically, youth aged 18 or older who
have aged out of the foster system and have been identified
by the County’s Office of Supportive Housing as part of a city-
county partnership effort.”
“When we identify affordable housing opportunities, a
comprehensive decision is required. Things such as proximity
to public transportation and other community resources are
taken into consideration. We will connect these youth with
Work2Future, the faith-based community, and social services
including a case manager. They will be required to pay a
percentage of their income towards the monthly rent.”
Rebecca explained that Morgan Hill has an inventory of 500
affordable homes. “Affordability” includes different levels based
on a measure known as ‘area median income’ that is defined by
the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. She
added that housing developers can receive points by committing
to create affordable rental or ownership units as part of their
projects, and that presently, some developers have committed to
provide rental units.
“Our affordable housing program, EAH Housing, is about 40
years old,” Rebecca said. Morgan Hill’s Bella Terra Apartments,
an EAH Housing development, was referenced by Ky Le and
Jennifer Loving as a good example of an affordable housing
development that has provided stable affordable housing for a
number of former chronically homeless seniors.
Talk to local non-profits. Many organize collection and delivery of
donated food, clothing, toiletries, diapers, water bottles, blankets,
backpacks, sleeping bags, tents, flashlights and batteries, ‘lifeline’
cell phones, bicycles, and gift cards for food or gas. Santa Clara County Supervisors:
Local churches including New Hope, Morgan Hill Bible Church,
South Valley Community Church, St. Stephen’s Episcopal and
many, many others contribute regularly through programs and
donations of food and other items. In his 2016 State of the County address, Santa Clara County
Supervisor and Board President Dave Cortese said that in
2015 a board-appointed Housing Task Force had assessed the
County’s opportunity to contribute to the region’s emergency
shelter, transitional housing, and permanent housing solutions,
and provided recommendations. Leveraging the work of
Destination: Home, the County’s Office of Supportive Housing
and staff of other departments, non-profit partners, and
community members, they developed the Community Plan to
End Homelessness, as well as a groundbreaking Homelessness
Cost Study called for by County Supervisor Mike Wasserman.
As part of these efforts, the Task Force listened to hours of
testimony from homeless men and women and their advocates.
The Board has since approved $36 million toward funding
City of Morgan Hill:
Housing Youth and Seniors
According to reports published by the City of Morgan Hill,
the focus of the Community Plan to End Homelessness on
developing 6,000 housing opportunities for the homeless aligns
with the City’s Housing Element goals to provide adequate
28
GILROY • MORGAN HILL • SAN MARTIN
Commitment to End Homelessness
JULY / AUGUST 2016
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