Newly elected San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan has already started to address the issue of houselessness in San Jose. Mahan, who will be inaugurated on Feb. 1, joined in tandem with People Assisting the Homeless (PATH) to hold the Point in Time Count early Tuesday morning.
The Point in Time Count is an official count of sheltered and unsheltered people who are experiencing houselessness in Santa Clara County according to the county website. PATH along with Mahan and San Jose City Councilmember Omar Torres, took count of the homelessness encampment along the Guadalupe Creek near Little Italy.
“We can't develop common sense solutions to homelessness if we don't understand the scope of the issue which is why it's so important that we are out here today, counting very specifically how many people are out here,” Mahan said. “And then following up to understand who's here, why they're here, what kinds of support they need.”
The group of a dozen volunteers went up and down the creek, counting tents and people who were visible along the path. They then marked the areas and tallied them to get a better idea of those who lived there.
According to Mahan, the count is important because it helps the city know the scope of the overall issue of houselessness in San Jose.
The county website outlines the data on the number of sheltered and unsheltered houseless residents. This data is then used for federal funding allocations as well as national estimates of houseless people.
These numbers often help decide policy for city planning boards as well as federal departments such as housing and education according to the county website.
“These census counts are extremely important because it tells us if we are doing the right thing in making sure that our own houseless community is housed,” Torres said.
The issue of houselessness has increased since the heavy rain storms hit San Jose earlier this month. On Jan. 4, Mahan declared evacuation orders for any unhoused residents living near bodies of water in San Jose.
“As you know, with the recent storms, we had emergency evacuation orders to move people out of our creeks and waterways across the city,” Mahan said. “And rather than simply send people from our evacuation centers right back into our streets and creeks, we opened up about 100 placements in our emergency and from housing sites.”
He said the storms also could have impacted the count itself as many unhoused residents have moved away from their original living space along the river either into city run shelters or near areas that were more dry.
Mahan said he hopes that the count from today will provide a good baseline for the rest of the data the city hopes to collect.
Some residents along the creek liked that the mayor was present in the count, but hoped that his actions would translate into solid policy down the line.
“I think it’s good that he’s down here … I just hope he follows through the rest of his term,” said Ramon Aguilar, a San Jose resident who lives along the creek.
Aguilar said the city was able to house him in a hotel for a few nights during the storm, but he was back on the streets when the storm cleared.
He said he hopes that the mayor’s efforts will land him more permanent housing in the near future since he has been on the housing list for the past three years.
“I just want the city to get us housing because it’s the best way for me to get out of the streets,” Aguilar said. “It’s hard to not be in the streets doing drugs and stuff when you don’t have a place to stay.”
