San Jose's "Homeward Bound" program aims to reunite homeless with family
With more than 5,000 people estimated to be living on the streets of San Jose and not nearly enough places to house them all, city officials are hoping a new program will reduce the homeless population by sending some individuals off to live with family.
The South Bay city's Homeward Bound program will provide free bus or train tickets that will allow people to return home to live with their loved ones. The question is, how many will want to go?
St. James Park is only two blocks from City Hall, but during the day it is filled with people who have nowhere else to go. On Tuesday, one of them was Dru Cleary.
"I mean, you just never know what makes a person end up in this situation, you know?" she said.
Dru lives on the streets with her two little dogs, Dad and Buttercup. They are all the family she has.
"I don't have anybody," she said. "No, I don't have family. I'm all by myself."
She's been homeless for a year now and traveled from Modesto to San Jose a month ago because she heard there were more services available. But she found there was even less chance of finding a place in San Jose.
"The outreach workers asked me, 'Well, if you could go back to Modesto, would you go...instead of staying here for a month outside and not knowing nobody or nothing?'" she said. "And I was like, 'Well, I don't really have a way to get back to Modesto.'"
That's what city officials believe is happening. People come to San Jose and get stuck with no way to go back to family.
"Many of the people living and dying on our streets have a loved one who cares for them," said Mayor Matt Mahan at a Tuesday press conference. "Many have connections and ties to places they can't reach. And each one has a different story, a different reason for being on the streets. And some -- many -- are desperately looking for a way out."
Homeward Bound would be a $200,000 pilot program, offering train or bus tickets to unhoused people to return home. The city said it has caseworkers who will help find and connect homeless residents with loved ones who are willing to take them in.
"This program, Homeward Bound, offers one way out," said Mahan. "It isn't the right program for everyone, but it's the right program for anyone trying to get home. Trying to restart their lives and reconnect with family or friends who are willing to help."
Gail Osmer, a local homeless advocate for the last 30 years, was listening in at the press conference. She said in all her dealings with the unhoused, no one has ever talked to her about wanting to go home. She's concerned that there will be no follow-up once someone is dropped off.
"How do we know that if an unhoused wants to go home, it's not a good environment? We don't know that," said Osmer. "Maybe they're going into a worse environment than they are now. We have to make sure that our unhoused are safe. And we're not sure at this point if they will be safe going back into that family or friend environment. That's what scares me."
As for Dru? She had her doubts how many people it would affect. She said some nonprofits are already offering help with transportation.
"If you want to help people, there's probably better ways to help them than that," she said. "That's a good thing, but most of these people don't really have anybody to go home to. So, it wouldn't really be, like, a big thing, you know?"
San Jose plans to triple its shelter capacity over the next year, but there will still not be enough room to house everyone. Officials say the expense of sending someone back home to family is a fraction of the cost of putting them into the shelter system.
Mahan admitted they have no idea how many people might want this help, but he said it is worth trying. For every individual who takes the offer, there will be one less person looking for a place for the night.