Santa Clara County Community Service & Support Digest

The Sunnyvale City Council is looking to pilot a guaranteed income program to support residents who are financially burdened.

State law requires community colleges to spend at least half their general fund on instructors. But administrators say they want more flexibility to pay for the growing need for student services.

Nurses and supporters are holding rallies at three Santa Clara County health facilities as part of a day of action calling on county leaders to support improved working conditions for nurses.

Setting aside concerns from city staff, the Palo Alto City Council officially endorsed an effort to create a new Joint Powers Authority that would advocate on behalf of all Santa Clara County cities and towns.

What began as a chat between a few Palo Alto neighbors evolved on Saturday into vigil that brought about 200 people of different faiths and backgrounds to Mitchell Park to support Israel and denounce Hamas.

Citing its growing stature and a legal conflict, the Cities Association of Santa Clara County is hoping to form a joint powers authority—but city officials in Palo Alto have some concerns.

A new Little Free Library was installed at the Sunnyhills Child Development Center on 356 Dixon Rd. in Milpitas. 

Tiny homes are increasingly California cities’ shelter option of choice — but how far they go in solving homelessness is a contentious question.

After years of planning a broadband system to bridge California’s digital divide, officials deprioritized some low-income areas due to unexpected costs. Gov. Gavin Newsom says he’s committed to funding the entire network, but advocates are skeptical.

Despite an influx of money to counter learning loss during the pandemic, English language arts and math test scores remain low.

Councilmembers Pam Foley and Omar Torres have drafted a resolution supporting LGBTQ+ students in reaction to the efforts of Informed Parents of Silicon Valley to ban LGBTQ+-themed books and encourage parents to opt out of LGBTQ+ supportive school curriculum.

With the growing use of AI, campus officials are trying to set clear guidelines for college application essays.

In a broad show of solidarity with Israel, about 2,000 residents and more than a dozen religious leaders came to Palo Alto to light candles, sing and pray for the civilians who were killed, wounded or abducted by Hamas.

The Sunnyvale City Council is slated to award a $3.9 million contract for pedestrian improvements in the Sunnyvale Neighbors of Arbor community, which includes La Linda and the San Miguel neighborhood.

The facts of climate change can lead to feelings of hopelessness and despair. Some California activists are creating communities for people to talk about those feelings.

The San Mateo County Board of Supervisors has given a $40,000 grant, funded by sales taxes, to the publisher of the Half Moon Bay Review and Pacifica Tribune.

The group has monthly “gayme” and movie nights at Avenidas, a local senior services nonprofit, as well as many excursions to museums or other activities. Lunch afterward to bond and get to know each other is always on the agenda.

The CPUC is considering a rule that would gut the payments that solar panels on apartment buildings receive, and many housing groups are blazing mad about it.

San Jose is launching language interpreter services at some public meetings after translation mishaps earlier this year.

Bike Palo Alto, a local bicycling event organized by volunteers, is back after a long pandemic hiatus. The two-hour fair will be held on Sunday, Oct. 1, from 1-3 p.m. at Fairmeadow Elementary School.

After a historic decline in community college enrollment during the pandemic, students are returning to school again, according to the state’s most recent data. But students between the ages of 20 and 30 are lagging behind.

Several anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers are advertising abortion pill reversal. California Attorney General Rob Bonta calls the claims false advertising that mislead vulnerable patients.

A last-minute legislative deal would raise pay for California health care workers while giving medical providers a guarantee that they won’t have to battle local measures on employee compensation.

At Sunnyvale Community Services’ day-long ‘Ready to Learn’ event, staffers at the nonprofit began giving away essential school supplies and gift cards to underserved students.

County officials are hoping to coordinate support for the Salvation Army’s expansion of Emmanuel House shelter at 359 N. Fourth St. from 70 beds to 112 during a 10-month renovation project.

The California Fire Foundation has set up a disaster relief fund to support the people and firefighters impacted by the recent firestorm in Maui.

A new law allows community colleges to offer bachelor’s degrees, an option for students unable to attend a four-year institution. But California State University officials are objecting to many of those proposed programs.

The Silicon Valley African American Cultural Center is slated to open its doors in 2027, with the help of $3 million in state funds.

Last year California began providing free school lunches to all TK-12 students, regardless of family income. Now, with an influx of state and federal money, school districts are revamping kitchens and training staff so they can provide freshly made, healthy meals.

Local nonprofit leaders are growing anxious as a national philanthropic organization that has given heavily in San Jose for nearly two decades has been without a program director in the city since September of 2022.

A new study suggests that relatively modest financial efforts to prevent homelessness have been remarkably successful. Vulnerable residents receiving emergency financial help were 81% less likely to become homeless within six months and 73% less likely within 12 months.

Frustration runs deep among medical cannabis patients and advocates who say the commercial market created by Proposition 64 in 2016 isn’t meeting their needs.