Improving the Quality of Life for San Jose Residents WHO ARE UNHOUSED AND CREATING Healthy Neighborhoods for All

At the direction of the Mayor and City Council, the City of San José is working to address the homelessness crisis by improving the quality of life for people who are unsheltered while also seeking to improve overall neighborhood health for the entire community.

This page provides information for people who wish to stay informed on the City's program to develop and operate interim housing communities, which is a key element of the effort to help our unsheltered neighbors and create healthier neighborhoods.

On this page you will find dates of upcoming meetings, a form to submit suggestions for new interim housing sites, background information about the City's interim housing program, presentations, and more.

You can also contact City staff at EIHOutreach@sanjoseca.gov if you can’t find what you need.

Frequently Asked Questions

Meeting Dates/Times

The meetings are intended to do three things: inform, engage and notify residents.  The same core material will be covered at each meeting, and the bulk of each meeting will be spent listening and responding to questions from attendees.

• July 26 from 7:30 to 9:00 pm via Zoom
  • Meeting complete; watch recording

• July 27 from 5:30 to 7:00 pm at the Southside Community Center
  • Meeting complete

• July 28 from 5:30 to 7:00 pm at the Berryessa Library
  • Meeting complete

•  July 30 from 10:00 to 11:30 am via Zoom
  • Meeting complete; watch recording

• August 1 from 5:30 to 7:00 pm at the Berryessa Community Center
  • Meeting complete 

• August 3 from 12:00 to 1:30 pm via Zoom
  • Meeting complete

• August 3 from 5:00 to 6:30 pm via Zoom
  • Meeting complete; watch recording

• August 10 from 6:00 to 7:30 pm at the Berryessa Community Center
  • Meeting complete

• August 11 from 5:30 to 7:00 pm via Zoom
  
  • Meeting complete

Alternative Site Suggestion Form & Alternative Site List

Below you can enter information for the City to consider alternative sites for interim housing in your community. The City needs some basic information in order to research your suggestions.

The Alternative Site List linked below includes sites submitted from the community, elected officials, other public agencies and City staff. Inclusion on this list does not mean a site will meet the guidelines for development, only that the site will be evaluated.

• Siting and Evaluation Guidelines
• EIH Alternative Site List (updated on November 14, 2022)

Here is information about sites City staff has already evaluated and recommended:  June 2022 Memo with 140 sites categorized (Att. No. 1).

alternative Site Suggestion Form

Click here to view a map with property ownership information.

Background Information

What is emergency interim housing?

Emergency interim housing communities provide participants with small, individual temporary homes that offer dignity, privacy, and supportive services to help people who had been living on the street move into a better environment on a path to permanent housing. Here is a short video overview of the Bernal Road Interim Housing Community in San José.

Who lives in emergency interim housing?

Interim housing is one of many solutions employed by the City to help the more than 5,000 people living without shelter in San José.

Why is the City creating emergency interim housing?

There is a crisis of people living on the street. The Mayor and City Council are trying to address this crisis. Several key actions have occurred:

• The 2020 Action to Initiate Interim Housing
• The 2022 Action to Continue with Four Sites
• The 2022 Action to Seek Alternative Sites

In addition, more background documents can be read here.

Slide Presentation

Here is the slide presentation from the community meetings listed above.

A Shared Responsibility Across San José

The City Council identified the importance and urgency of adding more safe temporary places for unhoused residents and directed that all Districts in the City support this effort. Below are the current efforts in operation, in construction, and in development/consideration:

Table of Emergency Interim Housing in San José

Community Plan to End Homelessness

The City of San José is part of a regional collaboration. Together multiple agencies are implementing a plan to end homelessness. You can read the whole plan here. It includes a number of specific, quantifiable goals for preventing homelessness in the first place and ending homelessness for people who are already unhoused. Below is a status update on our progress, as of December 31, 2021.

Frequently Asked Questions

Here is a downloadable set of frequently asked questions and answers.

If you did not get your specific question answered, please contact City staff at EIHOutreach@sanjoseca.gov.