Is SJ's homelessness strategy about to change?
Financial pressures limit the expansion of the city's interim housing strategy; D9 candidate Hennessy elevates high-capacity shelter strategy.
Consider:
SJ unable to expand shelter system.
Overall homelessness continues to increase in SJ, even as the city's interim housing strategy makes headway helping some unhoused off the streets and into shelter. But in a little-remarked comment to the Merc, city officials seem to be resetting expectations going forward, as the city won't be able to increase shelter capacity at the rate of most recent years:
"But with costs prohibiting the city from expanding its system even further, city officials say the only way they are going to keep making progress is by focusing on making it more efficient.
"San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan expects overall costs to drop by about 20% by rebidding contracts and more unhoused residents to find permanent solutions as the city works to connect them with services."
--SJ Merc
D9 candidate Hennessy promotes high-capacity shelters.
Concurrently, the much more cost-effective strategy of high-capacity shelter (also known as PEMs--1,000+ residents per site)-- is gaining currency, as D9 candidate Mike Hennessy is making this approach central to his campaign.
Hennessy says:
"San José cannot continue building homeless housing that costs millions of dollars per unit. Those runaway costs don’t just fail to solve homelessness, they drive up the cost of living for everyone through higher taxes, higher fees, and fewer resources for core city services.
"That’s why I support fast, cost-effective Pre-Engineered Modular Shelter (PEMS) that can be built in weeks—not years—at a fraction of today’s construction costs, and actually helps people now.
"The fairgrounds are the right place to launch a pilot program: centrally located, appropriate for temporary shelter, and able to deliver services without overwhelming neighborhoods, parks, or schools."--Mike Hennessy, D9 candidate
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