Updates in & around the City

Groundbreaking for Monterey/Branham Emergency Interim Housing Community site

On April 13th, 2023, we broke ground on the City’s newest and largest Emergency Interim Housing Community located in District 2’s corner of Monterey Road and Branham Lane. I am proud to be a champion of solutions like this as we continue working towards ending homelessness. EIHC’s are built quickly, efficiently, and with the goal of integrating residents right into neighborhoods while providing services and support for people who are transitioning into permanent housing. Here are some quick facts about this EIHC:

- Before this site, San Jose had successfully built more than 400 EIHC units since 2020. This is all thanks to our ecosystem of partners who are aligned with our goal: LiveMoves who operates these safe and dignified homes, the City’s Housing Department and other City leadership, our past and present Mayors and Council, John Sobrato who committed private funding, the County and State for providing additional funding, and General Contractor Devcon Construction, Inc.

- This EIHC is made possible by a $51.55 million grant from the State of California Project Homekey

- This will be District 2’s third EIHC site

- This EIHC site will house 204 units, the largest site in our City

- EIHC’s can be up and running within a year of groundbreaking. These units will be arriving from a company in Tracy

- In addition to safe and stable housing, LifeMoves will provide residents with case management, crisis intervention, employment services, community development, and community integration

- The City Council approved my recommendation to display local artwork on our EIHC’s buildings and prioritize housing folks who have already resided in this particular community

In the past, my Council colleagues and I have been met with strong resistance from some residents about EIHC’s and other quality solutions that alleviate our City’s homelessness issues. But we are at a crisis, and we need to do something. Doing nothing is not an option. The good news is, we have proven that solutions such as EIHC’s work.

We had the pleasure of hearing from Jamie, an EIHC resident who expressed his gratefulness for a house key, shower, meals, independence, and continuous staff support. He’s gotten the help he needed to find a job, he gives back by volunteering to pick up garbage, and he’s made progress with his case worker to find permanent housing.

Moving forward, I hope that other San Jose Councilmembers will take the lead in implementing EIHC’s in their respective Council Districts. We also must continue services, support, funding, and protective policies for those already living in apartments so that we can reduce number of people falling into homelessness.

As the site is developed, we will provide construction updates when available. For questions about this site, please contact my office at district2@sanjoseca.gov.

Great American Litter Pick Up volunteers help beautify our City

We celebrated Earth Day on Saturday, April 22nd by joining our District 2 Neighborhood Associations and thousands of others across the country for the Great American Litter Pick Up! It's our biggest clean-up event of the year, with event locations all over the City. We were happy to support our District 2 N.A.'s who hosted GALPU sites this year: Roundtable, VEP, Hellyer-Christopher, Hayes, Great Oaks, Oak Grove, and Blossom Valley. Thank you to our N.A. leaders, BeautifySJ team, San José Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services, and of course, volunteers for cleaning up our community.

Community volunteers plant 99 more shade trees on Monterey Road

Images and update courtesy of Our City Forest: Over 100 volunteers joined Our City Forest to plant 99 new trees along Monterey Road. Big thanks to volunteers from Alpha Kappa Alpha Eta Rho Omega Chapter, SJSU College Corps, Bellarmine College Preparatory, Citizens Climate Lobby, Pioneer High School, and Piedmont Hills High School for coming out to fight climate change!

I was happy to sponsor a very successful Career Exploration Seminar, hosted by East Side Union High School District, for 200+ local youth at City Hall. The event brought together several high schools and provided students with the opportunity to hear from professionals in various business industries. The speakers shared their career journeys and offered valuable advice to students in attendance. We had a resource fair in the Rotunda and a speaker series in the Council Chambers. Additionally, students had access to resume building and job interview preparation. This event gave students a better understanding of the different career paths available to them and helped them make informed decisions about their future. 

Updates on District 2 park improvement projects

SAVE THE NEW DATE for our:

Pickleball Court Ribbon Cutting at Edenvale Garden Park

Saturday, May 13th, 2023

10:00 a.m.

Edenvale Garden Park - 200 Edenvale Ave, San Jose, CA 95136

Park at the lot near Edenvale Ave and take the pathway to get to the pickleball courts. Thank you to the City's Parks, Recreation, and Neighborhood Services team for re-painting one court at District 2's Edenvale Garden Park for dual use: both tennis and pickleball! We will have a short ribbon cutting celebration followed by friendly pickleball matches.

The Great Oaks Park basketball courts have been renovated and are open for public use! This project included: replacing the goal posts, backboards, rims, and nets with a new Goalsetter basketball standard; resurfacing the court surface; and striping and adding color to the courts.The community will be able to enjoy the two basketball courts with the Goalsetter basketball system.

The Ramac Park tennis court is completed and open to the public. This project included: repairing the cracks in the surface, resurfacing the court surface, replacing posts and nets, and adding color to the courts and striping. The park's sports fields are also complete and open for reservations. You can make a reservation for the Ramac Park soccer field here.

Melody Park is getting a facelift! The Melody Park playground renovation began in November. The existing worn playground components and elements will be replaced with new pieces. The rubber resilient surfacing will be replaced as well, giving the playground a fresh new look. Tree work began on March 15th, and native plants will be added once the weather warms up. Temporary fences will be installed and the playground will not be available for use during the renovation. 

Danna Rock is getting a complete playground renovation. (Current playground pictured above). The project consists of the removal and replacement of the existing playground equipment and the installation of resilient surfacing. The playground will be gated, locked, and unavailable to the public during construction. Construction has begun and is set to be finished by May 2023.

Palmia Park is getting a number of improvements. The Basketball hoop has been repaired, the playground fibar material has been replenished, the playground gate handles will be fixed, the perimeter sidewalk with lifts will be repaired, and new “No dogs in playground” signs will be installed.

San José residents: It's easy and FREE to get rid of your junk!

Make an appointment, set out your junk, and City’s solid waste contractors will pick it up. You can schedule a free junk pickup appointment by calling your recycling collection company. Junk pickups are scheduled on the same day of the week as the customer’s normal recycling collection, but may occur at a different time of day. For more information, visit SJEnvironment.org/junkpickup.

Thank you for keeping our City clean and combating illegal dumping!

Community Events

Resources & Information

Did you know that information on tax credits, a free credit calculator, and more is

available on the CalEITC4Me website? Check out these great, free resources and

learn more about claiming your tax credits at CalEITC4Me.org

Covid-19 information and resources from Santa Clara County:

covid19.sccgov.org

facebook.com/sccpublichealth

Please visit the websites above for the most updated and thorough information about: Covid-19 guidelines (including for businesses and schools), vaccines, testing, and more.

Get involved: District 2 Neighborhood Associations



Neighborhood Associations (N.A.s) are established groups of community members who meet and collaborate to work towards common goals such as: beautification/clean-up efforts, safety enhancements, improvement projects, informational town halls, and social events. N.A.s serve as a connection between the community and City Hall. The District 2 Office is here to support N.A.'s by providing direction, resources, grants, help with outreach, models for success, and more.

View the interactive map of D2 Neighborhood Associations on my website to find your N.A. or work with my office to start a N.A. in your area!

JOIN US IN THE COMMUNITY AND BEYOND.

CONNECT. ENGAGE. BE INFORMED.

#SJD2

San José District 2 | Office of Councilmember Sergio Jimenez

(408) 535-4902 | District2@sanjoseca.gov | sanjoseca.gov/district2