Cold weather homeless shelters open Dec. 2

The Emergency Housing Consortium LifeBuilders, a Milpitas-based nonprofit which provides shelter housing opportunities and supportive services to people in crisis and the Silicon Valley’s homeless, has announced the cold weather shelters will open for the season at 6 p.m. Dec. 2.
The program, now in its 20th year and supported through Santa Clara County, provides 275 emergency shelter beds nightly in Gilroy, San Jose and Sunnyvale through March 31, 2014. One hundred of those beds will be available at Gilroy’s National Guard Armory, located at 8490 Wren Ave. Another 125 will be open at the National Guard Armory in Sunnyvale in addition to 125 at the EHC LifeBuilders’ Boccado Reception Center in San Jose.
“The cold weather shelter program provides a warm bed, two nutritious meals, and a hot shower,” said Jenny Niklaus, CEO of EHC LifeBuilders in a press release. “Homelessness in our community is at crisis levels. Santa Clara County has the fourth-largest chronically homeless population in the country.”
According to a recent report from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the county’s homeless population is among the highest in the nation and has the third-highest percentage of unsheltered residents without homes.
The 2013 Santa Clara County Homeless Census and Survey revealed that 7,631 county residents are homeless on any given night and 74 percent of those homeless are out in the cold, living on the streets, in cars or in encampments.
Since the last survey was conducted in 2011, the number of homeless individuals in the county also increased by 8 percent, with an 18 percent jump in the City of San Jose.
“We are the largest provider of cold weather shelter in the county. But this is not a solution,” Niklaus added. “We need to get people into permanent housing so they never have to spend another night in the cold.”
To do that, EHC LifeBuilders is involved in the area’s “Housing First” movement in hopes of ending homelessness through creation of more permanent housing options.
“Housing First is not only more compassionate; it’s more cost-effective,” Niklaus said. “When homeless individuals have the stability that comes with a permanent home – and the support they need to get back on track – they actually use fewer public services and can start contributing to society.”
The agency provides a range of services to help homeless and formerly homeless individuals get back on their feet, including housing and case management. Dedicated case managers help clients get connected to services that can help stabilize their lives, including job training, counseling, and health care.
EHC LifeBuilders is one of the largest providers of services, shelter, and housing opportunities in Santa Clara County. For more information about the group, visit www.EHCLifeBuilders.org.