Sunnyvale unveils draft homelessness strategic plan; staff seek public feedback ahead of council review

City of Sunnyvale housing staff presented a draft 2025 strategic plan to address homelessness at a public meeting, outlining five goals and asking residents to provide feedback at in‑room stations or online.

Amanda Stultz, the city’s housing officer, told attendees the plan is intended to help the city direct limited resources "to ensure that we are doing the best for our community members and, are driven by, what the community and what our council wants." She reviewed existing programs, including a tenant‑based rental assistance program run by Sunnyvale Community Services, seven‑day street outreach contracted to We Hope, a 5‑room non‑congregate hotel shelter and the Dignity on Wheels mobile hygiene service.

The draft plan sets five goals: strengthen regional collaboration and coordination; expand and support housing, services and shelter (including vehicle‑focused options); prevent homelessness and displacement; improve quality of life for unsheltered people and the community; and promote equity and systems integration using disaggregated data. Stultz said the city has about 141 supportive housing units in the development pipeline with funding anticipated by 2030 and highlighted a Safe Parking Capital Grants program that offers up to $50,000 to community organizations to establish safe parking sites.

Consultant Sherry Williams, who helped craft the draft, framed the plan as a tool to prioritize resources and avoid duplication. Williams read the draft vision statement aloud: "a city where homelessness continues to decline through equitable access to housing and supportive services, where every person is treated with dignity and respect, and where safety, health, and belonging are shared by all." She also cited the 2025 point‑in‑time count, saying 421 people were counted in Sunnyvale, with 328 unsheltered and 93 sheltered; she added that approximately 75% of the unsheltered population were living in vehicles and that one‑night counts can undercount by an estimated 25–30%.

Stultz stressed coordination with county services, including coordinated entry for shelter and housing eligibility, benefits programs such as CalWORKs and CalFresh, emergency shelters (for example, the North County Family Shelter) and county‑funded prevention and rapid rehousing programs. She said the city’s inclement weather response can hold 10 hotel rooms for people during county‑declared events.

On timeline and next steps, Jocelyn Vidalis described outreach efforts — community meetings, focus groups and surveys — to collect public input in the coming weeks, synthesize results in March–April, and develop a final draft in April–May. The Housing & Human Services Commission is scheduled to review the draft on June 4, with City Council consideration planned for July 28 (dates subject to change). Stultz also said staff will return to council on April 21 specifically to discuss safe parking site direction.

Attendees were invited to five stations to indicate which strategies they would keep, suggest missing items, strengthen anticipated outcomes, review potential new strategies and leave general comments. An online version of the same feedback survey is available in English, Spanish and simplified Chinese, with a link to be posted in chat for remote participants.

The meeting was presented as educational rather than a Q&A; staff said they will use feedback from the stations and online survey to refine the draft before the commission and council reviews. The city did not take any formal votes during the session.

Next steps: staff will gather and synthesize public feedback, revise the draft plan, present it to the Housing & Human Services Commission (anticipated June 4), and bring it to City Council (anticipated July 28) for consideration.