Our Programs
HomeFirst operates housing and shelter sites, as well as case management services across Santa Clara County. We serve over 5,000 chronically homeless individuals, families with children, veterans, and youth each year.
Program Highlights
Boccardo Reception Center (BRC)
The BRC is the is the largest homeless service center in Santa Clara County, serving 250 adults nightly. It operates year-round, 24 hours a day, providing shelter and transitional housing as well as a wide array of critical services.
Veterans Services
At the BRC, we offer the most comprehensive services for homeless veterans in the County, including mental health counseling, employment placement, emergency shelter, transitional housing, and support for families of veterans who are at risk of homelessness.
Sunnyvale Family Shelter
Sunnyvale Family Shelter is open year-round and serves up to 140 individuals and families nightly. The shelter operates on a referral basis, and all guests can receive a variety of case management and support services.
Bridge Housing Communities (BHC)
We are excited to announce a pilot program in partnership with the City of San Jose opening in 2020. HomeFirst’s Bridge Housing (BHC) Program provides safe and secure interim housing to eligible individuals enrolled in Santa Clara County and City of San Jose Rapid Rehousing Programs. Participants receive an array of on-site supportive services and access to resources needed to build a lifestyle of self-sufficiency.
Outreach
We have the largest outreach program for people living on the streets and in encampments in San Jose. Each day, our team distributes necessary supplies and information to those who are unsheltered within the city of San Jose and helps to resolve issues that prevent individuals from getting housed.
Cold Weather Shelter Program (CWSP)
HomeFirst has operated Santa Clara County's CWSP for nearly three decades. Shelters are in Mountain View and Gilroy and open from December to April each year. Individuals can self-refer.
In partnership with the City of San Jose, we are the service provider for two Overnight Warming Locations (OWLs) that operate throughout Winter that offers emergency assistance to those who do not have shelter placement.
Family Living Centers
At the Sobrato Family Living Center in Santa Clara and the Boccardo Family Living Center in San Martin, we provide housing services and more for families across the county.
We operate the Sobrato House Youth Center for foster youth in downtown San Jose and support youth living in the community who have aged out of the foster care system.
Point In Time Count
Every two years, during the last 10 days of January, communities across the country conduct comprehensive counts of their homeless populations to measure the prevalence of homelessness in their communities. Communities collect information on individuals and families sleeping in emergency shelters and transitional housing, as well as people sleeping on the streets, in cars, in abandoned properties, or in other places not meant for human habitation.
The County of Santa Clara, the City of San Jose, the other cities in Santa Clara County, and the Continuum of Care worked in conjunction with Applied Survey Research (ASR) to conduct the Santa Clara County Homeless Census and Survey. The 2019 reports of this effort is available below.
Santa Clara County Point in Time Count
