San Jose plans Taylor Street Navigation Hub closure next January
san jose plans to close the Taylor Street Navigation Hub by next January, ending its only sanctioned tent homeless encampment months after it opened. The city is doing so as it faces a $50 million deficit and looks to shift resources to other interim housing options.
The site at 1157 E. Taylor St. opened last September with 56 tents after a four-month build that cost $2.6 million. It cost $2.4 million a year to operate and gave participants three daily meals, showers, laundry facilities and case management.
Matt Mahan on Taylor Street
Mayor Matt Mahan said the city created the site to help people stabilize before moving into other placements. “When we opened Taylor Street, we were resolving one of our largest encampments and needed a safe, managed place for people to quickly stabilize before transitioning to interim or permanent placements,” he said.
He also said the budget squeeze is driving the decision. “Safe sleeping is still a useful tool, but tough fiscal years require tradeoffs. That’s why this year we’re prioritizing the rest of our interim system and specifically bringing down cost by rebidding nonprofit contracts and leveraging county mental health services,” Mahan said.
HomeFirst and Sarah Fields
The Taylor Street Navigation Hub was managed by nonprofit HomeFirst and was intended as a navigation hub, with the city aiming to move people within 30 days to a tiny home site or a motel converted to a shelter. Housing Department spokesperson Sarah Fields said the site has so far served 247 people in eight months.
The project also drew scrutiny from people living there. Cat P., a resident, said, “It’s not perfect, but I feel much safer here as a woman,” and described cold nights and mold after rain seeped through tents. She said, “We would hear people crying in the middle of the night because it was so cold,” and, “I was completely shocked at the fact that these people expected us to be in the freezing cold with no heating elements whatsoever.”
Next January in San Jose
The closure leaves the city without its only sanctioned tent homeless encampment, even as officials say they may bring back safe sleeping sites if future budgets allow. For people who used Taylor Street for meals, showers and case management, the immediate issue is where the city places them next as the hub winds down by next January.
