Petition updated on February 20th, 2023, please see the end of this petition.

The City of Santa Clara has a serious homelessness problem. Listen to the stories of concerned citizens. You will hear that there are encampments in our public parks, along our waterways, and on the streets where people walk our dogs and our children. There are solitary people sleeping in the doorways of businesses, or in cars parked in front of their houses. Go to any public building or to the library, and you will find homeless people congregating around the grounds or sitting at tables inside. 

Homeless people generate trash, but with few public trash receptacles, they must leave the trash on the ground to blow around the city. With no access to bathrooms, they defecate and urinate on the streets and in parks. Some housed residents even have soiled diapers deposited near their property by homeless people. 

These people need a place to call home. A place to use the toilet. A place to wash their hands and take showers. A place with reliable trash collection. A secure place to sleep and to leave their belongings. An address to use on their voter registration applications. A place to get cleaned up to go to their jobs. Right now, the best they can do is to choose a spot in a park and hope that no one steals their stuff, harasses them or calls the police.

Let's make sure that interim shelter gets built at Lawrence Expressway and Benton Street! Then we can be proud to show our children how we helped a few human beings lift themselves out of destitution.

Update: One signer of this petition pointed out that they were asked if they wanted to make a donation. I think any donations made on this page go to change.org . They do not go to the shelter or to Lifemoves. If you would like to make a contribution to Lifemoves, you can visit

https://www.lifemoves.org/make-an-impact/