San Jose opens its largest interim housing community

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) -- The Bay Area's largest city is opening its largest interim housing site. Branham Lane in San Jose will be home to more than 200 adults in need.

Marissa Carino a case manager, experienced homelessness herself 10 years ago.

"I needed someone to be the hope shop for me. Like I needed someone to believe in me when I didn't believe in myself. And LifeMoves gave me that, it gave me hope," Carino said.

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LifeMoves and the city of San Jose are behind this project. It's meant to help people out of homelessness, including creating housing for multi-generational families.

"Just as much as they've been able to experience a horrific thing, they also get to experience such beautiful thing where they get to grow and make something of themselves in such a safe and beautiful environment," Carino said.

This interim housing community will have resources on site including a clinic, case managers, a serenity room, a pet park and more.

Anat Leonard-Wookey oversees day-to-day operations at 26 LifeMoves sites that stretch from Daly City to San Jose. To qualify to live here, adults must make 15% of the area median income, which is roughly $19,000. A quarter of their residents have been chronically homeless.

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"There are no time limits for how long somebody can stay here. We want to work with folks for as long as they need and they're working to partner with us," Leonard-Wookey said.

Leonard-Wookey said it's about building relationships and reducing isolation.

"And so recognizing the length of time someone has experienced homelessness, what other traumatic experiences they might've had growing up or as adults, all that impacts someone's ability to kind of settle, and breathe, and feel safe,"Leonard-Wookey said.

Move-in day for LiveMoves Branham Lane is Wednesday morning. Clients who move in are based on referrals from the county's coordinated entry system.