A controversial proposal is about to get a real-world test in San Jose.
The city said it is set to open its first-ever safe sleeping site – a place where the city will put up tents so unhoused people can come out of makeshift encampments and sleep in a city-sanctioned safe area.
This will be a pilot program, and the goal is to get it up and running early next year.
On a walking tour Thursday, Mayor Matt Mahan showed off a piece of land the city is leasing next to Watson Park to put in a safe sleeping site. It would feature perhaps 100 tents where the unhoused community could gather and stay for an extended period.
Priority will be given to the unhoused people who already live in the same neighborhood, with a goal of ultimately providing the tools those people need to get off the street.
"They can start to focus on drug treatment, job training, reconnecting with family, just basically stabilizing and starting to turn their lives around," Mahan said.
There will be security on site, and there are rules for those who use it. Drugs and weapons are not allowed.
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Those who don’t accept the offer cannot camp within a two-block radius.
"I think we need to start to ban camping in the areas around these sites and say, 'Look, you have an option. Here’s a safe place you can go. But you can't just choose to camp wherever you like,'" Mahan said.
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The nearby Roosevelt Park Neighborhood Association is on board and asks those who oppose the site to at least give it a chance.
"I’m extremely pleased and I hope people will look at it before they automatically reject it saying not in my neighborhood," Jeff Levine said.
City leaders said they hope to create as many as five safe sleeping sites across the city.
Mahan said it is not a cure-all for homelessness, but it could be another rung on the ladder that ultimately helps everyone climb out of the long-running crisis.
