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Attention Landlords: Rent to a Family Today!

Property owners who rent to a homeless or at-risk family participating in this campaign can qualify for several landlord incentives and benefits! Learn more

ABOUT 600 SANTA CLARA COUNTY FAMILIES ARE CURRENTLY EXPERIENCING HOMELESSNESS…

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And another 600 new families enter homelessness for the first time every year. There is no reason families should be sleeping outside. By working together, we can end family homelessness in our community.

On October 4, 2021, Destination: Home joined with the County of Santa Clara, City of San Jose, Santa Clara County Housing Authority, Cisco and several other Continuum of Care partners to launch HEADING HOME – a community-wide campaign to end family homelessness by 2025.

The goal of the HEADING HOME campaign is to achieve “functional zero” by 2025 – meaning the number of housing placements for families is greater than the number of families entering homelessness.

Thanks to the collaboration between public, private and nonprofit partners, HEADING HOME has made significant progress within the first year since the campaign’s launch:

All eligible families on the community queue have been enrolled in a housing program and are housed or searching for housing.   

The County of Santa Clara Office of Supportive Housing and Santa Clara County Housing Authority have helped 478 families with children find permanent housing, and an additional 375 families are searching for housing with the help of a federal housing voucher.

Destination: Home, Sacred Heart Community Service and 19 participating nonprofit organizations continued expanding the countywide Homelessness Prevention System – providing 1,176 families over the past year with financial assistance, case management and other services to help ensure stable housing and reduce their risk of homelessness.

Local government entities and more than a dozen nonprofits are building 471 affordable and supportive housing units across eight different developments for families that will open between now and 2024.  

The City of San Jose’s emergency interim housing site at Evans Lane, the County’s family motel program, and cold weather shelters increased temporary shelter capacity for families by 140 units, increasing the availability of safe places for families to stay at in the interim as they look for permanent housing.

If you, or someone you know, is currently experiencing homelessness: Contact the Countywide Shelter Hotline at (408) 385-2400 to be assessed and connected with available housing and shelter options for homeless families

If you, or someone you know, is at-risk of becoming homeless: Contact the Homelessness Prevention System at (408) 926-8885 to learn about financial assistance and other resources for families at-risk of losing their housing

EVERY CHILD DESERVES A CHANCE AT A HAPPY, HEALTHY LIFE – THAT STARTS WITH A PLACE TO CALL HOME.

The HEADING HOME campaign will leverage four key strategies:

Emergency Housing Vouchers

The Santa Clara County Housing Authority has been awarded approximately 1,000 emergency housing vouchers, which will provide rental support to homeless households for up to ten years. The vast majority of these vouchers are allocated towards homeless families.

Rapid Rehousing

The coalition will continue to expand its Rapid Rehousing programs – which provide a time-limited rental subsidy along with case management and supportive services – with a goal to serve another 200 homeless families annually.

Homelessness Prevention Strategies

The coalition will continue to expand homelessness prevention services so that fewer families fall into homelessness. This includes plans to expand the Homelessness Prevention System to serve 2,500 households by 2025 as well as new investments in Housing Problem-Solving programs, which quickly house families who recently became homeless and are sleeping on the street or in a place not fit for human habitation.

Affordable and Supportive Housing Development

New affordable housing developments in the Measure A pipeline include approximately 1,000 new family apartments in five years. There is also the potential to expand further by leveraging $1 billion in Project Homekey funding that is dedicated to families.

The HEADING HOME campaign also represents a key element of the 2020-2025 Community Plan to End Homelessness and plays an important role in achieving our community-wide goal of permanently housing 20,000 homeless individuals by 2025.

HEADING HOME Fact Sheet

2022 HEADING HOME Progress Report

Join the HEADING HOME Campaign!

Ending family homelessness is within our reach – but we’ll need your help to house every homeless family in our community. As we roll out elements of this campaign in the weeks and months ahead, we’ll need the support of elected officials, landlords, private businesses, non-profit partners and other community members.

Sign Up & Stay Informed about HEADING HOME