From: Kathryn Hedges <
Sent: Friday, February 10, 2023 2:40 PM
To: The Office of Mayor Matt Mahan <mayor@sanjoseca gov>; District1 <district1@sanjoseca gov>; Webmaster Manager <webmaster manager @sanjoseca gov›; District3 <district3 @sanjoseca gov> Subject: Agenda Item 8.1: Extension of funding for homelessness services [External Email]
Dear Mayor Mahan, Vice Mayor Kamei, and Councilmember Torres:
I am a resident of District 3 and a member of groups including Sacred Heart Housing Advocacy Committee and the West Valley Community Services Lived Experience Action Committee. We support the extension of funding for both food distribution and sanitation support for the unhoused and other vulnerable groups for the duration of the grant period. I hope that alternative funding will be available in the future as well.
We all know how devastating the pandemic has been among the groups that couldn't just work from home. Even though COVID didn't spread as much during the unhoused population as predicted, they suffered from loss of access to programs due to social distancing and other measures. Providing food to the hungry in the Valley of the Heart's Delight is the lowest bar we can pass. Likewise, providing sanitation services helps maintain people's humanity in the inhumane situation of encampments in the Capital of Silicon Valley. Even those who have difficulty seeing the humanity of our unhoused residents can see the difference in cleanliness at encampments with and without services. (I'm also a moderator on Nextdoor for the Horace Mann neighborhood by City Hall.) Besides reading the Agenda Item 8.1 memo by the Housing Department referenced in their newsletter today, I saw a news item about the city of San Luis Obispo enacting a safe camping site for RV dwellers. I hope that San Jose can also provide safe parking sites with workable policies for our RV dwellers.
https://www.sanluisobispo.com/news/local/article272193668.html I urge the Council to approve the extension of emergency relief funding for food and sanitation services and expedite our safe RV parking ordinance.
Kind regards,
Kathryn Hedges
San Jose, CA 95112
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