At the Blog | December 18, 2024
The Path Forward: Tackling Homelessness in Silicon Valley
With increasing urgency, Silicon Valley is recognizing homelessness as one of its most pressing issues. In Joint Venture's 2024 Silicon Valley Poll, nearly all respondents (97%) viewed homelessness as a serious or very serious issue. The underlying numbers reveal a stark reality: The homeless population in Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties has surpassed 10,000, with 71% living unsheltered, as reported in the 2024 Silicon Valley Index.
These numbers would be even higher without the tireless efforts of governments, faith communities, and humanitarian and nonprofit organizations such as LifeMoves. With 26 interim housing and program sites across the region, LifeMoves provides personalized support to help individuals and families experiencing homelessness regain stable housing and self-sufficiency.
In October 2024, Russell Hancock of Joint Venture sat down with Aubrey Merriman, CEO of LifeMoves, for an extended conversation.
Silicon Valley is clearly concerned about the state of homelessness in the region.
It is notable that the public identified homelessness, the cost of housing, and the cost of living as the region’s three most serious issues. They are absolutely linked.
Despite this, there has been a significant shift in tone regarding our unhoused neighbors, with the region moving from a place of compassion towards one characterized by annoyance.
The perception is that homelessness is getting worse, and people want to know why this is such an intractable problem.
Well, that perception is partially correct. Despite doing many of the "right things," homelessness has visibly increased. But it is not an intractable problem. The solutions are known, and the good news is that we can do more of what works.
Nationwide, between 2022 and 2023, the homeless response system created almost 31,000 more shelter beds, expanded the permanent housing supply by nearly 37,000 units, and exited more people to permanent housing than ever before (more than 317,000 people).
Unfortunately, the response system can do the right things and still not keep pace. Today, more Americans are homeless than ever before. This includes the number of people experiencing housing instability for the first time, which has grown 23 percent nationwide over the last 5 years. And the number of families with children entering homelessness grew 16 percent nationwide from 2022 to 2023.
What about locally, here in the counties you serve?
We know that for every 100 extremely low-income households in California seeking affordable housing, there are currently only 24 units available. That means that the system is meeting less than one-quarter of the need.
In Santa Clara County and the city of San Jose, the number of people experiencing homelessness grew during the pandemic but is now down since 2022. In San Mateo County, the numbers continue to rise. I shudder to imagine what those numbers could have been without the massive ground effort by the entire continuum of care during the height of the pandemic.
Why do you think this is the case in one of the wealthiest countries (and regions) in the world?
The fact is that wages, inflation, housing costs, and housing policies are all systemic realities making it too easy for our neighbors to fall into homelessness. These issues are particularly acute in the Bay Area.
The UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative’s 2023 statewide study confirmed this. The high cost of living in the Bay Area, coupled with the scarcity of housing, means that too many of our neighbors are just one paycheck, one medical bill, or one life change away from losing their housing.
Economic data show that in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties, you must make $55 an hour – more than $9,600 per month – to afford a market-rate apartment. Yet when clients come into one of our programs, their median monthly income is just $1,000.
What’s more, nearly one-third of working Silicon Valley households don't earn enough to afford basic needs without assistance. One-third. That’s why efforts to build more affordable housing are so critical.
We have seen a lot of investment at the federal, state, and local levels. Where would we be without the public and private dollars invested in tackling these issues?
At LifeMoves, we leveraged public and private funds to serve more than 7,400 individuals in 2024, and we are growing. In 2025, we will open two new Homekey sites. The first, in Palo Alto, will house single adults and families, serving 200 clients annually. We will also open the new Branham Lane Homekey site in San Jose, which will serve up to 800 clients each year. This site is integral to the City of San Jose's plan to build 1,000 new interim housing units.
All of this is thanks to public and private funding.
What is the path forward? In your experience, what works to help people in need get back to permanent housing?
We need continued investments that allow us to support people in such a way that when they experience homelessness it is rare, brief, and non-recurring.
We need more energy and support along the entire response system. This includes expanding the availability of outreach support; interim supportive housing so the streets are not the waiting room; and permanent housing that provides clients with a dignified, safe, and community-integrated offramp from their experience of homelessness.
This will require different approaches to address housing density, zoning, and proximity to transit. Most importantly, it means saying "yes" to new housing near you.
Develop interim housing projects with next-use optionality, including the possibility of converting them to permanent housing and other uses. This also helps alleviate the pressures cities face regarding housing element requirements and regional housing need allocations.
In addition to building more affordable housing in Silicon Valley, we need to pay people a living wage that matches the extremely high cost of living in Silicon Valley.
We know no single approach or design can "solve homelessness." There are as many paths into and out of homelessness as there are individuals without a place to call home.
At LifeMoves, we have found that a mix of private rooms with individualized case management and thoughtfully designed community spaces is an effective option for clients charting an individual path to long-term stability.
Treating each client with dignity is part of our DNA. Understanding their specific situation and providing right-sized support services with a sense of purpose, hope, and possibility is critical to helping them reclaim their future.
How can people help?
I am an unapologetic “hope-a-holic,” and I believe all of us can make a difference in helping our unhoused neighbors.
First, I encourage everyone to challenge their own perceptions and preconceived notions about homelessness. One of the most foundational misunderstandings is the root cause of homelessness.
We need to challenge narratives that homelessness is caused only by mental illness, addiction, and bad decisions.
The reality is that the lack of affordable housing, stagnant wages, and policy decisions conspire to cause homelessness.
In a society where housing is a commodity rather than a public good or right, and demand outstrips supply, we will always have people left without housing.
Next, I encourage people to volunteer or donate to an organization supporting unhoused individuals. It will take all of us coming together through community action to address this issue.
About the Author
As the CEO of LifeMoves, Aubrey Merriman brings over two decades of nonprofit leadership experience to bear on the problem of homelessness in Silicon Valley. He has previously led organizations such as Boys & Girls Clubs of North San Mateo County, Special Olympics Northern California, and Summer Search Silicon Valley, earning numerous awards. A strong advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion, Aubrey holds degrees in psychology and social work and is a graduate of the Stanford Executive Program for Nonprofit Leaders.
