The Homeless Access to Recovery through Treatment (HART) Act (H.R. 4129) seeks to strengthen and expand substance abuse and mental health services to persons experiencing homelessness.

Among surveyed homeless people, 39 percent have some form of mental health problem, and SAMHSA estimates that between 20 percent and 25 percent meet criteria for serious mental illness. In addition, 38 percent of surveyed homeless people have an alcohol problem, and 26 percent report problems with other drugs. Untreated addictions and mental illnesses present serious barriers to employment and permanent housing, perpetuating an ever-worsening cycle of poor physical health, hospitalization, social dysfunction, incarceration, poverty, and homelessness. These are tragic outcomes for homeless persons and their families; burdens on healthcare, social service, and corrections systems; and costs to taxpayers as quoted on nationalhomeless.org/advocacy.

San Jose Public Library:

• Social Worker in Library
• San Jose Public Library Collections

Treatment Information:

• Mental health facility
• Suicide Prevention Awareness 

Additional Information:

• Project Christmas Feed
• Feed homeless
• Volunteer to feed homeless 
• Homeless shelter 
• More information for homeless

Even the Dogs: a novel by John McGregor

In the days between Christmas and New Year’s, police break into an empty inner city apartment in an unnamed English city and find a decaying body.  What happened before and after is narrated by friends of the deceased man, a chorus of drug addicts, the mentally ill, and the homeless who take turns observing the investigation, inquest and cremation at a distance.  The story proceeds in bits and pieces as we enter the lives of society’s outcasts who eke out a miserable and hopeless existence  waiting for food and the next drug high, estranged from families, dependent on charity and public assistance.   Even the dogs is  powerful, insightful  but a difficult book to read.

Every year San Jose Public Library, along with libraries throughout the world, nominates titles for the Impac Dublin award. The 2013 long list of nominations will be released in November. A  panel of judges selects a shortlist of ten titles which is announced in April 2013. The finalist is announced in June.   The 2013 Award will be given for a work of fiction published in English between 1st January 2011 and 31st December 2011,

You are Invited:

A Homeless Forum

(In Memory of Anne Bergo)

Tuesday, March 6th, 4-6 p.m. King Library, 2nd Floor, Suites A&B

(Sponsored by The San José Public Library, Social Workers in the Library, San José State University School of Social Work & The National Association of Social Workers - CA Chapter, in celebration of National Social Work Month.)

Homelessness: Statistics, Resources & Information

Statistics on Homelessness in San José:

• Population:

Homeless population in San José:  8,941 persons (approximately 1%  of the city’s population )

Population of the City of San José: 948,244 people (the tenth largest city in the nation)

Source: http://www.sjhousing.org/homeless/ending.html and http://www.sjhousing.org/homeless/SJ_2011.pdf

• Causes of Homelessness:

Financial instability and housing costs

Cost of Living in San José: Among the highest in California (and the nation )

(2012 rates for a one-bedroom apartment in Santa Clara County: $1,350. Fair market rent for a two-bedroom apartment: $1,623 and $2,334 for a three-bedroom apartment. A person working full-time at the California minimum wage earning $8.00 per hour ($1,280 per month) could not afford a two-bedroom market-rate apartment in San José on their own.

Source: http://www.sjhousing.org/homeless/ending.html

• Contributing factors:

Unemployment, underemployment or loss of a job, flight from domestic violence, or illness

Source: http://www.ehclifebuilders.org/whatwedo/homelessness.php

• Who are the homeless:

Individuals, families, and children

Included: those with drug and alcohol dependencies, the disabled, and the men­tally ill (but not all people experiencing homelessness live with these conditions)

Those who hold jobs, and those who are unemployed ( 16% work at least part-time)

25% are under age 18

41% are families

Source: http://www.ehclifebuilders.org/whatwedo/homelessness.php

Resources:

• Housing

City of San Jose, Department of Housing

http://www.sjhousing.org/homeless/resource.html

Foreclosure Help Center:

http://www.foreclosurehelpscc.org/

Homeless Resource Guide (City of San José/ Housing Department):

http://www.sjhousing.org/Public/Homeless_Guide.pdf  (English) and  http://www.sjhousing.org/public/Homeless_Guide_S.pdf   (Spanish)

(Includes resources for Domestic violence, Employment, Food, Rental assistance, Shelter, Veterans.)

Housing – Santa Clara County

http://www.housingscc.org/

Good information on finding Senior Housing

Section 8 Housing Application

http://housing-voucher.com/index3?split_id=94

Shelter Bed Hotline – 24 hours

Information  on shelters throughout the  San Francisco Bay Area

1-800-7Shelter, or (1-800-774-3583)

• Information and Referral

2-1-1

2-1-1 (phone number) or  http://www.211.org/

Free, 24/7, 140 languages available (call-in or online information)             

(Help with food, housing, employment, health care, counseling and more)

Finding Help Throughout the County:

www.helpscc.org (Region, City and Category search)

(Includes Santa Clara and Santa Cruz countywide resources  for: Children and Families, Food, Health, Housing, Income and Rental Assistance and Seniors)

Homeless Resource Guide(City of San José/ Housing Department):

http://www.sjhousing.org/Public/Homeless_Guide.pdf  (English)

http://www.sjhousing.org/public/Homeless_Guide_S.pdf   (Spanish)

(Includes resources for Domestic violence, Employment, Food, Rental assistance, Shelter, Veterans.)

Social Workers in the Library

Free, 20 minute information and referral/advice sessions at both King

(bi-monthly) and Bibliotecca Branch Library (monthly)

http://www.sjpl.org/blog/social-workers-library-0

• Legal Advice

Lawyers in the Library

Free 20-minute legal consultation with an attorney provided by the pro Bono Project of Silicon Valley

http://www.sjpl.org/event/lawyers-library (other options for legal assistance included on web site)

• Medical care

Dentistry (Compiled by Stanford Pacific Free Clinic)

http://pacific.stanford.eduSanta%20Clara%20County%20Dental%20Providers-1.pdf

Stanford Pacific Free Clinic

http://pacific.stanford.edu/

1-650-721-2786

1835 Cunningham Ave., San Jose, CA 95122

Saturdays only

(Health assessments, referrals for low cost medications, laboratory

testing & vaccines)

Valley Homeless Healthcare Clinic (stationary and mobile clinics throughout San José, dentistry included)

http://www.hoppeople.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=107:if-you-dont-work-you-wont-eat&catid=9:hop-news&Itemid=18

Further Information on Homelessness and Santa Clara County  : 
 

City of San José ‘s Homeless Strategy

http://www.sjhousing.org/report/edec/Ecdc/8-25-03/Homeless.pdf (August, 2003)

Santa Clara County’s  10 Year Plan to End Homelessness

http://collabscc.org/Keys_to_Housing_10_Year_Plan.pdf (2005)

Santa Clara County Homeless Census and Survey

http://www.sjhousing.org/homeless/SCLR_2011.pdf  (2011)

Destination Home

http://www.sjhousing.org/depart/HCDC/08.11.11_Item_H.pdf  (Aug. 2011)

Homeless for the Holidays in the Santa Clara Valley, Part I of a Series on the Homeless (Santa Clara Weekly)

http://www.santaclaraweekly.com/2011/Issue-48/homeless_for_the_holidays_in__the_santa_clara_valley.html (Nov. 2011)

Materials on Homelessness Available at the San José Public Library and SJSU:

General - Fiction, Nonfiction on Homelessness:

http://catalog.sjlibrary.org/search~/a?searchtype=X& searcharg=Homeless&SORT=D&searchscope=1

Biographies:

http://catalog.sjlibrary.org/search~/a?searchtype=X&searcharg=homeless+and+biography&SORT=D&searchscope=1

Children's Collection - On Homelessness:

http://catalog.sjlibrary.org/search~S2?/Xhomeless+&searchscope=2&SORT=DXZ/Xhomeless+&searchscope=2&SORT=DXZ&SUBKEY=homeless+/1%2C78%2C78%2CB/browse#anchor_37

Fiction:

http://catalog.sjlibrary.org/search~S1/X?SEARCH=%28homeless%20and%20fiction%29&SORT=D 

There are many services available to the Homeless Community here in the City of San José. The City Website provides excellent resources to the community and here are some direct links to the services:

- Housing for Families with Children

- Domestic Violence, Family & Children Issues

- Drop-In Day-Time Service Center

- Housing for Single Men and Women

- Rental and Other Assistance

- Mental Health and Recovery Programs

- Veterans Services

- Legal Referrals

- Food and Meals

- Youth Services

- Job Services

- VTA Services

- 2-1-1