Q&A with Santa Clara County Supervisor Cindy Chavez

I’d like to start with the wonderful partnership we’ve formed with Eden Housing, notably our work to pass Measure A. In the end, that measure will result in over 5,200 homes that are either being preserved or built for low-income families, with a significant number of those going to people who are formerly homeless. We know how much that is really needed.

The second is how we’ve established a singular approach to addressing homelessness under the leadership of Destination Home, which I think has made us more effective and more efficient. I also recognize that sometimes it’s hard for the public to grasp our progress because anytime they see someone who is experiencing homelessness, they don’t see the people whom we’ve housed.

While I understand that sometimes it doesn’t feel like we’ve moved the dial, every day we see individuals who are in a safer place than they were when they didn’t have an affordable place. I think of every child who has a safe place to do their homework and parents who can put together a healthy meal—every single success moves our community forward in powerful, dynamic ways. And while we have much more to do, I feel really excited at how we’re moving the community in the right direction.

I truly appreciate that I had a safe, secure place to grow up. My father was a union carpenter and a very empathetic person. When he and my mom first came to California, they stayed with cousins until they could get on their feet, so they knew the insecurity of coming to a new place and trying to strike out on your own to build a life for you and your family. They so appreciated any kindness people offered them, and their way of repaying that kindness was to invite people to our house when they needed shelter or food.

I used to refer to our house in my mind and with my sister as “Hotel Chavez” because on any given day, you would have somebody new at the dinner table or somebody new staying the night. And I grew up appreciating that very stable environment.

Because they used that foundation to launch other families into their own safety and security, I’ve always felt that a very natural way of building a healthy community is to make sure people have access to those kinds of resources. So I would say I was truly inspired by my parents, along with recognizing that it’s a basic human right to have a safe place to sleep.

First, I want to emphasize how important it is to have a single shared strategy for the entire county—for every city in it— about what it means to build a healthy community and how we’re dealing with homelessness or the risk of being homeless. As a community we have to respond to the fact that many seniors are living longer, and their pensions aren’t going as far as rents increase.  My hope is the foundation continues to grow and evolve, and that all emerging leaders and leaders will work together to shape and implement this strategy. The more focused and disciplined we can be, the more results we’re going to drive for the public—for those suffering on our streets and those at risk of being homeless.

Second, I think all of our institutions need to do a better job engaging with the public so that this shared vision becomes more of a shared commitment from the community.  Right now I find that, given our shared set of goals, we’re arguing more about how we’re doing it than what we’re doing. This specifically relates to neighbors who say they don’t think a development belongs in their community. While sometimes there are really legitimate issues that get raised about safety, proximity or access to resources—things that are worth having a conversation about—I don’t want to be a community where we’re shouting at each other rather than coming together about what we’re really trying to accomplish.

That can only be accomplished with a deliberate commitment to a deep and meaningful engagement around the subject. There are some leaders doing a great job of being part of those discussions and educating all of us about how to engage and hear each other to arrive at solutions that will  move our community forward. On that note, I want to mention that we have so many emerging leaders whom I’m excited to see what they can accomplish.

I do believe our path was somewhat disrupted by COVID where we all got distracted and started to go in different directions. There’s a lot of tension in our communities, which you can see in electoral politics and with all the strife around the world.

So the question is, how can community leaders—whether you’re the leader of your household, your church, a nonprofit, a business or your neighborhood—stay engaged in a way that continues to open avenues for communication versus engaging in more conflict?

I believe we’re actually at an inflection point in human history, and it becomes reflected at a local level in our debates around resources, whether it’s housing or food. We need to resolve these because as climate change becomes more prevalent, we’ll need to be more adaptable, which will require a much higher level of understanding for each other and our shared dreams and visions for our community. It’s critical to develop the ability to talk together about how we handle the needs of newcomers when there are finite resources.

I’m excited about learning more about how we make institutions like government truly responsive to the communities they’re a part of. Government is intended to be an extension of all of us, but often it becomes so separate that people don’t trust it anymore.

They don’t see themselves—their values, dreams and visions—held with the kind of respect and dignity they deserve. I want to be a part of making sure institutions are responsive to our highest calling of what communities are supposed to look like. Going from being a policy maker to an implementer I want to understand all the ways implementation can be improved to build or rebuild trust in our communities.