In August, it was announced that Google was giving the Salvation Army $1.5 million to support its efforts to develop hundreds of affordable homes in San Jose. This is actually the first donation from the $50 million that Google.org committed in June to help nonprofits that are trying to tackle homelessness and displacement in the Bay Area. Overall, Google has planned to invest a $1 billion to create 20,000 new homes around the Bay Area. Adrian Schurr, Bay Area Program Manager for Google.org, stated the following,
Google.org is committed to continuing our support for organizations like The Salvation Army to help find solutions to homelessness.
Google’s gift will be used by the Salvation Army to triple the size of the nonprofit’s Silicon Valley Community Center at 359 N. Fourth St. in San Jose. The Salvation Army wants to include 300 low-cost residences on the site, with 225 of those 300 low-cost residences reserved for affordable housing units and 75 of the remaining residences for transitional housing units. From the $1.5 million that Google announced that they will donate to the Salvation Army, a $1 million will be used for the redevelopment of the Salvation Army’s downtown San Jose site and another $500,000 in operating support to the Salvation Army’s Harbor Light Center in San Francisco. The expansion of the Salvation Army’s downtown San Jose site is expected to eventually be able to accommodate 825 people. Hopefully everything works well with the Salvation Army’s plans.
