From: Stephenie Medina
To: Clerk
Cc: Grants; Kathy Bunce
Subject: Public Comment for Item #6, Public Hearing, April 8, 2025 City Council Meeting Date: Monday, April 7, 2025 4:18:12 PM
You don't often get email from [email protected]. Learn why this is important Dear Chair, Vice Chair, and Commissioners,
On behalf of Loaves & Fishes Family Kitchen, I hope your recommendation will approve funding for our Meals on Wheels Program, which is critical in supporting the City of Santa Clara’s most vulnerable, low-income residents.
Our Meals on Wheels Program provides nutritious, medically tailored meals and wellness checks to homebound seniors and individuals living with disabilities, delivered directly to their homes. These are our neighbors—many of whom face mobility challenges, isolation, and food insecurity. For them, our daily meal delivery is often the only contact they have with another person all day. In addition to nourishment, we offer compassion, consistency, and peace of mind to our clients and their families.
With the rising cost of food, groceries are becoming out of reach for many of these older adults. What used to be a careful stretch of a Social Security check is now a daily fear: Will I have to choose between food and medication this month? At the same time, the cost for Loaves & Fishes to purchase high-quality, healthy ingredients has also increased dramatically, making the delivery of these meals more essential and expensive.
In the past year alone, Loaves & Fishes created and delivered over 5,000 meals and conducted over 700 wellness visits to Santa Clara residents, ensuring their dignity, health, and independence. More than just the food, this program is a lifeline that fills a gap in service for those who cannot make it to food pantries and congregate serving sites, and cannot cook or shop for themselves. Meals on Wheels is not a luxury. This life- saving service keeps our most vulnerable residents nourished, seen, and safely housed.
Please join me in recognizing the critical importance of this program and the urgent need to ensure its continued operation. I thank you for your support and consideration! We are honored to provide meals and hope to our Santa Clara neighbors in need.
With gratitude,
Stephenie
Stephenie Medina
Director of Development
Loaves & Fishes Family Kitchen
1500 Berger Drive, San Jose, CA 95112
Cell: 408-477-4484
[email protected]
loavesfishes.org
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From: Katie Fantin
To: Clerk
Cc: Kathy Bunce; Hector Romero
Subject: Public Comment for Item #6, Public Hearing, April 8, 2025 City Council Meeting.
Date: Monday, April 7, 2025 7:58:34 PM
Attachments: Outlook-rhsd4z1x.png
Dear Members of the City Council,
Since 2015, Abode Services has been honored to partner with the City of Santa Clara in operating the Tenant Based Rental Assistance (TBRA) program. Over the past almost 10 years, this partnership has enabled us to house 93 formerly unhoused households, supporting more than 250 individuals through rental subsidies, housing navigation, and housing stability case management for up to two years. Notably, 63% of these households are families with children.
These households have deep roots in Santa Clara—they live, work, and build community connections here. Through TBRA, they’ve been able to regain stability and work toward the goals they’ve set for their futures.
We’d like to share the story of one participant, David, to illustrate the impact of this program. David and his two young children were living in an encampment when they were referred to TBRA. With the program’s support, he was able to secure housing within a week. This stability allowed him to enroll in a paid internship and training program, which will position him to fully take over his rent payments after the subsidy period ends.
Stories like David’s are why we do this work.
Abode Services is grateful for the City’s continued support and looks forward to not only maintaining this impactful program but also expanding it. With the allocation of HOME- ARP funds, we hope to extend support to additional vulnerable populations, including survivors of domestic violence, individuals at risk of human trafficking, veterans, and those at risk of homelessness.
Thank you for your commitment to addressing homelessness and housing insecurity in the City of Santa Clara. Your investment in programs like TBRA directly changes lives.
Sincerely,
Katie
Katie Fantin, Vice President of Programs
Santa Clara, San Mateo, Santa Cruz Counties
She/Her
Abode Services
1156 North 4th Street
San Jose, CA 95112
Phone: 408-724-8723
Fax: 669-230-5022
[email protected]
From: Jonathan Darr
To: Clerk
Cc: Kathy Bunce
Subject: Public Comment for Item #6, Public Hearing, April 8, 2025 City Council Meeting Date: Tuesday, April 8, 2025 8:04:35 AM
You don't often get email from [email protected]. Learn why this is important Dear Mayor and Councilmembers,
On behalf of Next Door Solutions to Domestic Violence (NDS), thank you to the Housing & Community Services Division for recommending funding for our proposal, Comprehensive Support Services for Survivors of Domestic Violence. We are deeply grateful for your ongoing partnership in addressing the urgent needs of domestic violence survivors in our community.
This funding will enable us to provide critical services to 72 Santa Clara residents experiencing or at risk of domestic violence. Through crisis intervention, legal advocacy, safety planning, and trauma-responsive support, our programs help survivors navigate immediate crises while building long-term safety, stability, and well-being.
For over 53 years, NDS has delivered survivor-defined services that address both urgent and long-term needs. Each year, we support more than 2,700 individuals with shelter, housing assistance, counseling, therapy, legal advocacy, and specialized services for children. Our mission—to end domestic violence in the moment and for all time—reflects our deep commitment to both immediate care and lasting change.
Thank you again for your trust and support in building a safer, stronger Santa Clara.
Jonathan Darr (he/him)
Director of Development
234 E. Gish Rd., Ste. 200
San Jose, CA 95112
O: 408-501-7558
24/7 Crisis Hotline: 408-279-2962
Please follow Next Door Solutions on social media:
From: Georgia Bacil
To: Clerk
Cc: Kathy Bunce; Grants
Subject: Public Comment for Item #6, Public Hearing, April 8, 2025 City Council Meeting Date: Tuesday, April 8, 2025 8:56:22 AM
Dear Mayor Gillmor and Members of the Santa Clara City Council,
We understand the City Council will be reviewing the draft of the 2025-26 Consolidated Plan and the FY 2025-26 Action Plan for CDBG funds as Agenda Item #6 at your meeting this evening. We submit these written comments for the hearing record on Item #6.
Senior Adults Legal Assistance (SALA) provides free legal services to City of Santa Clara residents 62 or older, targeting clients that are low income or at risk of abuse or loss of independence.
SALA is a current grantee of City of Santa Clara CDBG Public Services funding, and we thank you. This funding supports the expanded availability of our services to your elderly residents.
SALA is recommended for $30,000 in CDBG Public Services funding in the FY 25/26 Annual Action Plan, which we hope will be approved so we can continue our services for Santa Clara residents next year.
We provide our services at appointment sessions twice monthly at Santa Clara Senior Center and by phone for clients that cannot leave their homes or with emergencies. Seventy-six percent (76%) of the Santa Clara clients SALA served in 2023-24 were very low income, 40% were 75 or older, and 40% had a disability, demographics placing them in greater economic and social need.
We assist older adults with a range of matters impacting their lives, such as:
clients facing income insecurity by assisting them with legal problems involving the Public Benefits they rely on to meet their basic needs, including Social Security, SSI, Medicare, and Medi-Cal;
clients facing housing instability by assisting tenants worried about eviction or older adults needing Reasonable Accommodations (usually due to a disability) so they can remain in their housing;
clients concerned about loss of autonomy by assisting them to do basic legal planning for the future to help them Age in Place by appointing someone they trust to step in and manage their affairs when they can no longer do so; and
clients facing domestic violence or elder abuse by assisting victims of abuse with Domestic Violence or Elder Abuse Restraining Orders so they can remain in their housing free of abuse.
SALA cannot charge fees for services or accept fee-generating cases. The primary way we support our services is through grants such as Santa Clara CDBG.
We hope we can count on your support of the FY 25/26 Action Plan funding recommendation for $30,000 for SALA. Thank you for the opportunity to submit these comments.
Respectfully submitted,
Georgia Bacil
Directing Attorney
Senior Adults Legal Assistance (SALA)
1425 Koll Circle, Suite 109
San Jose, CA 95112
[email protected]
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From: Sheri Burns
To: Clerk
Cc: Kathy Bunce; Eric Calleja; Adam Marcus
Subject: Public Comment for Item #6, Public Hearing, April 8, 2025 City Council Meeting Date: Tuesday, April 8, 2025 11:40:13 AM
April 8, 2025
Dear Mayor Gillmor and Santa Clara City Councilmembers:
On behalf of Silicon Valley Independent Living Center (SVILC), I tremendously appreciate the City of Santa Clara staff’s recommendation of $30,000 in CDBG funding for continuing our partnership with the City in providing Housing Counseling and Search Assistance for the city’s low income older adult and disabled residents who are at risk for losing their homes or are in need of locating a new affordable, safe place to live in Santa Clara.
SVILC has been a long-standing partner with the City of Santa Clara in supporting some of the community’s more vulnerable residents. Though we provide over one dozen supports and services that assist people with disabilities in maintaining a healthy and independent life, Housing Services is our most requested service. It is an integral part of our mission to support disabled families in being able to live in the community setting of their choice and to be active in their home life and in their communities. We all know there is not enough deeply affordable housing across the state, and Santa Clara is no exception to that, but we see that Santa Clara City is working hard to increase the number of affordable housing units, including units that are accessible for mobility-limited residents, and for those who are trying to subsist on Supplemental or Social Security Incomes of less than $1200 per month.
With the CDBG funding assistance provided by the City of Santa Clara, coupled with other city, county, state and private funding, SVILC will continue to serve the older adult and disabled residents living in Santa Clara, and we will support their independent living needs so they can avoid homelessness or unnecessary institutionalization. We greatly appreciate your partnership in our efforts!
Best regards,
Sheri
Sheri Burns, OTR
(pronouns: she/her/hers)
Executive Director
Silicon Valley Independent Living Center (SVILC)
25 N. 14th Street, Suite 1000
San Jose, CA 95112
408-894-9041
[email protected]
www.svilc.org
Public Policy Chair, CFILC
Chair, Aging Services Collaborative of Santa Clara County Co-chair, Long Term Services & Supports Integration Committee Board Officer, CADRE
Board Officer, CAIRS
Advisory member, CA Disability and Aging Community Living Advisory Committee (DACLAC)
SVILC is a cross-disability, intergenerational, and multicultural disability justice organization that creates fully inclusive communities that value the dignity, equality, freedom and worth of every human being.
From: Kevin Phipps
To: Clerk
Cc: Kathy Bunce
Subject: Public Comment for Item #6, Public Hearing, April 8, 2025 City Council Meeting Date: Tuesday, April 8, 2025 11:49:49 AM
Attachments: image.png
Importance: High
Dear Clerk: Here is our public comment for the City Council Meeting Item #6 tonight:
Hope Services is grateful for the City of Santa Clara CDBG/HOME funding that we have received for the last five (5) years, totaling $171,112, for our Employment, Media and Community Connections (EMCC) hybrid community-/site-based day activity program serving adults with developmental disabilities, who are residents of the City of Santa Clara and the surrounding area. Specifically, for the last five (5) years, these funds have enabled us to help cover the costs of the salary and benefits of a professional life skills trainer, who has worked with the participants in this program for the last seven (7) years. This trainer has a deep background in therapeutic education, having worked for four area cities' Parks & Recreation Departments in various projects and programs prior to her employment with Hope Services. The participants in our program require lifelong services, having been born with an intellectual/developmental disability. These funds have constituted a significant contribution to the successful operation of the program, and have made a significant impact on the lives of approximately 100 EMCC program participants from diverse racial/ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds annually. We are requesting consideration for continued funding in the amount of $30,000 annually for this purpose through the City of Santa Clara's FY2025-28 CDBG grant cycle, as a result of the grant application that we submitted on March 4, 2025. Thank you for your thoughtful consideration.
Sincerely,
The Board, Staff, and Participants of Hope Services
[END OF PUBLIC COMMENT]
-----------------------------------
Kevin Phipps (he/him/his)
Grant Writer
Hope Services
30 Las Colinas Lane, San Jose, CA 95119
Direct: 650-465-8487
Fax: 408-284-2863
hopeservices.org