San Jose Opens a Tiny Home Village for 136 People as Unsheltered Homelessness Falls
San Jose, California opened a tiny home community with space for 136 people on Cherry Avenue in November 2025 — its 11th temporary housing site of the year, on land partnered with Valley Water. The city has cut unsheltered homelessness by over 1,000 people since 2022, bucking a statewide rise.
CommunityGNGV Editorial Team4 min read
In November 2025, San Jose, California opened a new tiny home community on Cherry Avenue — offering 136 people experiencing homelessness a private, dignified place to sleep, paired with the services they need to find their footing. Built on land made available through a partnership with the Santa Clara Valley Water District, the roughly 18.3 million dollar site became the city's 11th temporary housing community to open in a single year, lifting San Jose's total interim capacity to nearly 1,240 spaces.
The village is more than a row of cabins. Residents have access to case management, security, meals and a structured pathway toward permanent housing, with services provided through the nonprofit HomeFirst. The model rests on a simple insight: it is far easier to help someone rebuild their life when they have a stable, safe place to return to each night. "This community reflects our belief that every person deserves a chance to rebuild their lives," said San Jose Vice Mayor Pam Foley at the opening, as reported by Local News Matters.
The data suggests the approach is working. San Jose has reduced unsheltered homelessness by more than 1,000 people since 2022 — a roughly 10 percent decline — even as the rest of California saw unsheltered homelessness rise by about 10 percent over a comparable period. In a state where homelessness has often felt intractable, a city moving in the opposite direction is a hopeful outlier worth understanding.
Part of the secret is collaboration across levels of government, with a water agency contributing land it was not otherwise using. "I urge all government institutions to consider this dynamic intergovernmental relationship," said Valley Water Director Jim Beall, pointing to a model that other cities could replicate. None of this solves homelessness on its own; tiny home villages are interim shelter, a bridge rather than a destination. But for the people moving in this winter, that bridge means a door that locks, a roof that holds and a team committed to helping them reach something more permanent — and for a community, it is proof that steady, coordinated effort can bend the curve.
