Sunnyvale unveils first five-year homelessness strategy, staff to return with implementation plan

Sunnyvale city staff presented the city's first five-year strategic plan to address homelessness at a joint meeting of the City Council and the Housing & Human Services Commission on Dec. 2, saying the plan focuses on improving service quality, sustainability and systems coordination rather than launching multiple new programs. City Manager Tim Kirby said staff sought feedback from both bodies before returning with a high-level implementation plan.

The plan lays out five goals: (1) strengthen regional collaboration, (2) expand supportive housing and shelter capacity and supportive services, (3) prevent homelessness and displacement, (4) improve quality of life for people experiencing homelessness and the surrounding community, and (5) promote equity and include people with lived experience in program design. Amanda Stultz, the city's housing officer, told the joint meeting that the plan draws from recent county and federal data, prior community engagement and the city's housing element and HUD consolidated plan.

Staff said the 2025 point-in-time count, which used changed methodology, shows a slight overall reduction in homelessness in Sunnyvale since 2023 but an increase in unsheltered homelessness; of those unsheltered, about three-quarters were living in vehicles. The presentation listed an inventory of current programs (tenant-based rental assistance, street outreach, a small non-congregate shelter hotel program, mobile hygiene, and a safe-parking grant pilot) and proposed modest expansions. Staff presented a combined estimated annual cost of roughly $2.7 million to support outreach, mobile hygiene, non-congregate shelter operations, TBRA and supportive services, and said expansions would be funded from existing permanent local housing allocation (PLHA) and other federal, state and local resources where possible.

The plan proposes increasing the city's non-congregate shelter from five temporary rooms to seven plus a staffed room and an on-site case manager to provide 24/7 coverage for people who need more intensive support; staff estimated the added shelter capacity and support would cost about $420,000 and serve 45 to 65 additional households annually. The plan also includes a safe-parking capital grant pilot (staff proposed up to $100,000 in general funds or capital/operating conversion options for a new site) and retains the tenant-based rental assistance (TBRA) program as prevention and intervention, with a FY estimate of roughly $1.35 million to serve about 40 households.

Commissioners and councilmembers asked for more detail on staffing allocations, how the plan would coordinate with county-run shelter programs and the Veterans Administration, and whether the city would pursue a Housing First model. Amanda Stultz said the city now has a full-time unhoused specialist, a human services manager dedicating roughly half their time, and part-time support from a housing technician; she said Housing First is typically a county or provider model that the city can support or encourage when it funds or operates housing.

Public commenters urged the council and commission to increase funding, prioritize safe parking or tiny-home communities, and add more permanent supports and outreach. Several speakers said the plan lacked measurable goals and that $2.7 million a year is insufficient compared with general fund revenue; staff and the city manager responded that the amount was intended as a fiscally conservative baseline and that resource allocation decisions will be addressed during the budget process.

The Housing & Human Services Commission voted 5-2 to recommend Alternative 2 (staff recommendation with modifications) asking staff to add disaggregated veteran data and a plan for coordination with veterans services, include examples of innovative approaches from other jurisdictions, explore a downtown-streets-style outreach program, add explicit metrics and an urgency statement, and consider improvements for people living in encampments (such as on-site sanitation) and whether the budget can be increased. The Council directed staff to return with an updated, agendized draft in the first half of next year so the body can consider the commission's recommendations and broader community input; that motion passed unanimously.

Next steps: staff will prepare a high-level implementation plan and a performance-monitoring framework to return to the council for review, with further site-specific outreach and additional budget considerations tied to future appropriation decisions.