Cleaning Columbus Weekly Report: San José Brings Over 100 Homeless Neighbors Indoors, Removes Over 200,000 lbs. of Trash During First Two Weeks of Operation
Hundreds more will be housed in the coming weeks as additional tiny homes, motel placements come online
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 2nd, 2025
Media Contact:
Tasha Dean, Chief Communications Officer, Office of Mayor Matt Mahan
SAN JOSÉ, CA - On Monday, August 18, the City of San José began clearing Columbus Park — launching the city’s largest clean-up operation in the last decade. When work began, about 370 people occupied the park, including 11 children and over 50 seniors living in unsafe, unmanaged conditions. There were also 120 lived-in vehicles, the majority of which were inoperable.
“Every day San Jose gets closer to ending the era of encampments,” said San José Mayor Matt Mahan. “We’re building safe, dignified shelter and requiring that people use it so that we can restore our public spaces to community use – our hope is that the rest of the state will do the same by building enough shelter and treatment beds for those on our streets and then requiring that everyone come indoors.”
After extensive outreach over a 70-day period, about 65% of those occupying Columbus Park had agreed to come indoors as of last week. 128 individuals have since been moved into shelter placements. Casa Linda and Bristol hotels are now at capacity, and move-ins will continue this week at Fontaine Inn. Alura Motel and the Taylor Street Safe Sleeping Site are also set to begin accepting clients this week.
“As we continue our work at Columbus Park, our City teams do so with care and compassion for our unhoused residents while we prepare to restore the Park for all of our community to enjoy,” said City Manager Jennifer Maguire. “We remain committed to addressing unsheltered homelessness and improving neighborhoods.”
Police, Fire and BeautifySJ teams have since made significant progress cleaning up the park, removing over 200,000 lbs. of trash and 78 vehicles from the area. Potable water distribution and city outreach services continue to be offered on site.
Progress at Columbus Park by the numbers (August 18th - August 29th):
Number of people housed: 128
Casa Linda: Full – 33 units | 37 program participants
Bristol: Ongoing intake – 20 units | 23 program participants
Fontaine: Opened for clients Monday, 8/25/25 – 44 units | 68 program participants
Pounds of trash removed: 238,600
Number of households signed up for the “RV Buy Back” pilot program (Vehicle Relinquishment Assistance Program | VRAP): 72
Number of vehicles removed from the park: 78
As of last week, approximately half of the people residing in Columbus Park were assessed at an 8 or higher on the Vulnerability Index – Service Prioritization Decision Assistance Tool (VI-SPDAT), a triage tool used to assess people experiencing homelessness to determine the best housing solutions for them. This indicates severe addiction, mental illness, chronic health issues, justice system involvement, and/or past victimization. This population likely makes up a large portion of the individuals still hesitant to accept shelter.
This is the second in a series of weekly updates that will be provided throughout this abatement process as the City of San José clears Columbus Park, offers every person living in the area housing, and begins restoring the park for public access.
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About the City of San José
With nearly one million residents, San José is the largest city in the Bay Area and one of the nation's most diverse and creative. San José’s transformation into a global innovation center in the heart of Silicon Valley has resulted in the world's greatest concentration of technology talent and development.