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<\/a><\/p>\nSan Jose Vice Mayor Pam Foley, whose District 9 covers this site, said her district previously hasn\u2019t been part of the solution to end homelessness because there\u2019s not much available land to build on.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut this property and the partnership with Valley Water shows that there really is opportunities,\u201d Foley said at a news conference held at the grand opening on Monday. \u201cThis community\u2026 reflects our belief that every person deserves a chance to rebuild their lives.\u201d<\/p>\n
The tiny homes have been funded with about $9 million from the state and $7 million from\u00a0Measure E<\/a>, a property transfer tax approved by city voters in 2020. San Jose also received more than $2.5 million in philanthropic donations. Developer DignityMoves received up to $15 million to design and construct the site. The city has allocated $3.3 million for operating costs from Oct.1 to June 30, 2026.<\/p>\n Dozens of homeless people\u00a0previously lived<\/a>\u00a0on the land, which sits across from Hampton Inn and other major businesses and homes. The city cleared the camps where the site sits by January and Valley Water established a\u00a0no encampment zone<\/a>\u00a0to prevent people from returning. People who camp on the property can be charged with an infraction or fined under the water agency\u2019s policy.<\/p>\n Three years in the making<\/p>\n The genesis of the Cherry Avenue project\u00a0began in 2022<\/a>, when the Valley Water board directed employees to look for ways to address homeless people living on agency land. Valley Water partnered with San Jose on a plan for its Cherry Avenue property, and in June 2023 the City Council approved temporary housing on the site \u2014 with the intention to move homeless people living there into the future tiny homes.<\/p>\n \u201cI urge all government institutions to consider this dynamic intergovernmental relationship,\u201d Jim Beall, District 4 director on the Valley Water board and former state lawmaker, said at the grand opening. \u201cWe end up with a lot more (housing) projects when that happens.\u201d<\/p>\n The Cherry Avenue tiny home village is the 11th temporary housing site to open in San Jose this year. Tiny homes on\u00a0Branham Lane<\/a>\u00a0opened in February. Then came the\u00a0Berryessa safe parking site<\/a>,\u00a0Via del Oro<\/a>\u00a0tiny homes,\u00a0Taylor Street safe sleeping site<\/a>,\u00a0five motels<\/a>\u00a0converted to homeless shelters and the expansion of\u00a0Rue Ferrari<\/a>\u00a0last month. One more site is scheduled to open this year, the Cerone tiny homes.<\/p>\n Once that is finished, San Jose will have added nearly 1,240 spaces for homeless people to stay \u2014 nearly tripling the city\u2019s capacity from last year, according to city data.<\/p>\n At the Cherry Avenue grand opening, Mayor Matt Mahan emphasized the city is upholding its promise to\u00a0bring 1,000 beds<\/a>\u00a0online by the end of the year.<\/p>\n \u201cExactly 300 days ago, we stood in the same spot and broke ground on the community we see before you here today,\u201d Mahan said. \u201cI shared the results that were proving that this approach was starting to work. I told you that San Jose had seen a 10% drop in unsheltered homelessness, while the rest of the state saw a 10% rise.\u201d<\/p>\n More homeless residents finding shelter<\/p>\n San Jose has\u00a06,503 homeless residents<\/a>. Unsheltered homelessness in San Jose has dropped more than 1,000 people since 2022. Roughly 3,959 homeless residents are unsheltered, or about 60%, and 2,544 are sheltered, according to the latest point in time count conducted in January before the 11 sites opened. Still, the city has experienced a slight increase in its homeless population, up 237 people, from the last count in 2023.<\/p>\n San Jose is working to bring unsheltered homelessness down to 50% and reach \u201cfunctional zero<\/a>\u201d \u2014 when the number of people exiting homelessness is greater than the number of people becoming homeless.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we stay determined to end the crisis on our streets, this city really is going to do it,\u201d DignityMoves CEO Elizabeth Funk said at the grand opening. \u201cI\u2019m proud to be a part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n Contact Joyce Chu at\u00a0joyce@sanjosespotlight.com\u00a0or @joyce_speaks on X.\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1763959271_269_IMG_3033-1-1024x768.jpg\")
Valley Water Director Jim Beall said more government agencies should consider allowing San Jose to build housing on their land. (Joyce Chu\/San Jose Spotlight)<\/p>\n