The Sunnyvale City Council adopted a plan to combat homelessness, establishing overarching goals for city response programs.

Council members unanimously voted to adopt Sunnyvale’s Homelessness Response Plan during their Sept. 29 meeting. The five-year plan establishes three priorities for Sunnyvale’s homelessness response. Those priorities are prevention, temporary housing and community outreach.

“Our commitments are straightforward,” City Manager Tim Kirby said. “Pursue approaches that are humane, supportive and effective; use public resources responsibly and measure our results; and treat people with dignity.”

The plan does not advance any specific programs. Council will review implementation and costs for programs as city employees develop them. Employees, however, propose projects for future consideration. Some originated from community outreach efforts employees conducted in the first half of the year. Others, such as an RV permit program, are council directives.

Council will consider the RV program in November. It falls into the interim housing category and costs an estimated $715,000 over five years.

The full plan could cost upward of $40 million. That cost relies on a mix of funding sources that could change during the plan’s duration. Grants may provide one-time funding, and the federal government could slash funding that once was reliable.

Sunnyvale’s annual contributions, in contrast, are baked into its 20-year budget.

“We try not to start programs we can’t sustain,” Kirby said during the meeting.

The council largely adopted the staff’s homelessness framework as presented. However, Vice Mayor Richard Mehlinger proposed an amendment for employees to pursue additional funding for preventive measures. His motion, which the council approved, came after several community members emphasized efforts to keep people off the streets.

“It costs 10 times more to deal with a homeless incident than it does to prevent it,” said Marie Bernard, executive director for the Sunnyvale Community Services nonprofit.

The city recorded 421 unhoused residents last year, during its point-in-time (PIT) count. That figure reflects a decline in the number of unhoused Sunnyvale residents — the number in 2019 was at 624 — but PIT counts tend to underestimate unhoused populations.

Sunnyvale has built nearly 1,000 below-market-rate housing units in the past decade, for a cost of $100 million. Its homelessness services range from the Dignity on Wheels mobile hygiene program to rental assistance to temporary hotel housing through WeHope. The response plan marks the first time it will coordinate its efforts to address homelessness.

Heather Askew, an attendee at Tuesday’s meeting, told the Voice she approved of the city’s newly adopted response plan. She became homeless in May, after fleeing a domestic violence situation in San Jose. She paid for motels until prices skyrocketed for the World Cup. Askew now lives at Larkspur Landing through WeHope.

“It takes a community,” she told council members. “It takes all of us to help.”

Chris Ramirez is a California Local News Fellow.

Previous Sunnyvale City Council Meetings:
Sunnyvale Celebrates Financial Stability, Pushes for Inclusion
Sunnyvale Permanent Supportive Housing Development to Break Ground Later This Year
Sunnyvale to Ask Voters to Change City Charter
Sunnyvale Increases Utility Rates, Addresses Water Management