Transitional housing gives young adults 18 to 24 a private room in a home Razing the Bar leases, for up to 24 months, while they work toward permanent housing in their own name.
Young adults ages 18 to 24 in Santa Clara County who meet HUD’s definition of homelessness in one of three ways (24 CFR 578.3):
Without a home now: sleeping outside, in a car, in a shelter, or in another place not meant for living.
About to lose a home: leaving your current place within 14 days, with nowhere else to go.
Fleeing violence: leaving domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, or another dangerous situation.
Eligibility and referral
How you get in.
Razing the Bar does not take applications directly. Santa Clara County assesses people experiencing homelessness through one shared system, Coordinated Entry, and refers them to housing programs, including ours.
Get assessed. Complete the County’s Coordinated Entry assessment. Get Help shows you where to start.
Get referred. When a room opens, the County refers the person matched to it from its Community Queue.
Move in. We meet you, walk through the home and your agreement, and introduce you to your Community Mentor.
The housing
How the home works.
Your room
A private room in a shared home.
Razing the Bar holds the lease on homes across Santa Clara County. You have your own bedroom and share the common spaces. No credit check, rental history, or co-signer is needed.
Your cost
No rent.
You pay no rent and no occupancy charge while you live in transitional housing. What you earn is yours to save toward a place of your own.
Your agreement
A written occupancy agreement.
Before you move in, you sign an occupancy agreement with Razing the Bar and receive the written program rules and the process for ending assistance (24 CFR 578.91(b)).
“The program participant must have a lease or occupancy agreement for a term of at least one month that ends in 24 months and cannot be extended.” (24 CFR 578.3)
Your rights
You are a tenant.
California tenant law applies to the room you live in, whatever the agreement is called. It covers “tenants, lessees, boarders, lodgers, and others, however denominated” (Cal. Civ. Code § 1940(a)).
Privacy
Notice before entry.
Staff give written notice before entering your room, except in an emergency. “Twenty-four hours shall be presumed to be reasonable notice in absence of evidence to the contrary” (Cal. Civ. Code § 1954(d)(1)).
Safety
Protection if you are a survivor.
You cannot be denied housing, or lose it, “on the basis or as a direct result of the fact that the applicant or tenant is or has been a victim of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking” (24 CFR 5.2005(b)(1)).
Fairness
A review before assistance ends.
If Razing the Bar decides to end your assistance, you get written reasons, a chance to object to someone who did not make the decision, and a written final decision (24 CFR 578.91(b)).
Support
Support around you.
Mentoring
A mentor of your own.
A Community Mentor works with you toward goals you set.
Life skills
Running a home.
Cooking, budgeting, credit, and the everyday skills of living on your own.
Navigation
Housing, school, work.
Help with the housing search, education, employment, benefits, food, and transportation.
Taking part in mentoring and life skills is part of living in transitional housing. Mental health care, medical care, and medication are always your choice.
“Recipients and subrecipients may require the program participants to take part in supportive services that are not disability-related services provided through the project as a condition of continued participation in the program. Examples of disability-related services include, but are not limited to, mental health services, outpatient health services, and provision of medication …” (24 CFR 578.75(h))
Over time
What to expect.
Transitional housing lasts up to 24 months. The goal, from the start, is a lease in your own name.
Path one
Stay where you are.
Where the property allows, your room comes off Razing the Bar’s lease and you sign a lease directly with the property manager.
Path two
Move with a voucher.
We help you apply for a Housing Choice Voucher through the Santa Clara County Housing Authority and lease a place of your own.
After you move
We are still here.
Support can continue for up to 6 months after you leave transitional housing (24 CFR 578.53(b)(3)), or up to 12 months for young adults served through the Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program.
“Services may also be provided to former residents of transitional housing … for no more than 6 months after leaving transitional housing or homelessness, respectively, to assist their adjustment to independent living.” (24 CFR 578.53(b)(3))
Accountability
How we’re held to account.
Razing the Bar’s transitional housing is funded by U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Continuum of Care grants. We report results to HUD each year, and participant records are kept in Santa Clara County’s Homeless Management Information System. See our financials.
Questions
Straight answers.
Can I apply directly to Razing the Bar?
No. Every referral comes through Santa Clara County’s Coordinated Entry System. Get Help shows you how to start.
Do I pay rent?
No. Transitional housing has no rent and no occupancy charge.
Do I have my own room?
Yes. You have a private bedroom in a shared home and share the kitchen and common spaces.
Do I have to take part in services?
Mentoring and life skills are part of the program. Mental health care, medical care, and medication are always your choice.
Can staff come into my room?
Only with written notice, usually 24 hours ahead, unless there is an emergency or you agree at the time.
Do I have to share my story?
No. You decide what you share about your life, and with whom.
What happens at 24 months?
The occupancy agreement ends at 24 months and cannot be extended. We work with you from the start toward a lease of your own, through a Housing Choice Voucher or by taking over the lease where you live.
What if I am leaving an abusive relationship?
You are protected from losing housing because you are a survivor. Get Help lists 24-hour safety lines.
Next step
Start with Coordinated Entry.
Razing the Bar receives referrals through Santa Clara County’s Coordinated Entry System. Get Help shows you how to reach it today.
TRANSITIONAL HOUSING
A home now.
A lease of your
own next.
Transitional housing gives young adults 18 to 24 a private room in a home Razing the Bar leases, for up to 24 months, while they work toward permanent housing in their own name.
Who it’s for.
Young adults ages 18 to 24 in Santa Clara County who meet HUD’s definition of homelessness in one of three ways (24 CFR 578.3):
How you get in.
Razing the Bar does not take applications directly. Santa Clara County assesses people experiencing homelessness through one shared system, Coordinated Entry, and refers them to housing programs, including ours.
Complete the County’s Coordinated Entry assessment. Get Help shows you where to start.
When a room opens, the County refers the person matched to it from its Community Queue.
We meet you, walk through the home and your agreement, and introduce you to your Community Mentor.
How the home works.
A private room in a shared home.
Razing the Bar holds the lease on homes across Santa Clara County. You have your own bedroom and share the common spaces. No credit check, rental history, or co-signer is needed.
No rent.
You pay no rent and no occupancy charge while you live in transitional housing. What you earn is yours to save toward a place of your own.
A written occupancy agreement.
Before you move in, you sign an occupancy agreement with Razing the Bar and receive the written program rules and the process for ending assistance (24 CFR 578.91(b)).
You are a tenant.
California tenant law applies to the room you live in, whatever the agreement is called. It covers “tenants, lessees, boarders, lodgers, and others, however denominated” (Cal. Civ. Code § 1940(a)).
Notice before entry.
Staff give written notice before entering your room, except in an emergency. “Twenty-four hours shall be presumed to be reasonable notice in absence of evidence to the contrary” (Cal. Civ. Code § 1954(d)(1)).
Protection if you are a survivor.
You cannot be denied housing, or lose it, “on the basis or as a direct result of the fact that the applicant or tenant is or has been a victim of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking” (24 CFR 5.2005(b)(1)).
A review before assistance ends.
If Razing the Bar decides to end your assistance, you get written reasons, a chance to object to someone who did not make the decision, and a written final decision (24 CFR 578.91(b)).
Support around you.
A mentor of your own.
A Community Mentor works with you toward goals you set.
Running a home.
Cooking, budgeting, credit, and the everyday skills of living on your own.
Housing, school, work.
Help with the housing search, education, employment, benefits, food, and transportation.
Taking part in mentoring and life skills is part of living in transitional housing. Mental health care, medical care, and medication are always your choice.
What to expect.
Transitional housing lasts up to 24 months. The goal, from the start, is a lease in your own name.
Stay where you are.
Where the property allows, your room comes off Razing the Bar’s lease and you sign a lease directly with the property manager.
Move with a voucher.
We help you apply for a Housing Choice Voucher through the Santa Clara County Housing Authority and lease a place of your own.
We are still here.
Support can continue for up to 6 months after you leave transitional housing (24 CFR 578.53(b)(3)), or up to 12 months for young adults served through the Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program.
How we’re held
to account.
Razing the Bar’s transitional housing is funded by U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Continuum of Care grants. We report results to HUD each year, and participant records are kept in Santa Clara County’s Homeless Management Information System. See our financials.
Straight answers.
Can I apply directly to Razing the Bar?
No. Every referral comes through Santa Clara County’s Coordinated Entry System. Get Help shows you how to start.
Do I pay rent?
No. Transitional housing has no rent and no occupancy charge.
Do I have my own room?
Yes. You have a private bedroom in a shared home and share the kitchen and common spaces.
Do I have to take part in services?
Mentoring and life skills are part of the program. Mental health care, medical care, and medication are always your choice.
Can staff come into my room?
Only with written notice, usually 24 hours ahead, unless there is an emergency or you agree at the time.
Do I have to share my story?
No. You decide what you share about your life, and with whom.
What happens at 24 months?
The occupancy agreement ends at 24 months and cannot be extended. We work with you from the start toward a lease of your own, through a Housing Choice Voucher or by taking over the lease where you live.
What if I am leaving an abusive relationship?
You are protected from losing housing because you are a survivor. Get Help lists 24-hour safety lines.
Start with
Coordinated Entry.
Razing the Bar receives referrals through Santa Clara County’s Coordinated Entry System. Get Help shows you how to reach it today.
References
Cal. Civ. Code § 1940 (2026). https://california.public.law/codes/ca_civ_code_section_1940
Cal. Civ. Code § 1954 (2019). https://california.public.law/codes/ca_civ_code_section_1954
Continuum of Care Program, 24 C.F.R. § 578.3 (2026). https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-24/section-578.3
Continuum of Care Program, 24 C.F.R. § 578.53 (2026). https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-24/section-578.53
Continuum of Care Program, 24 C.F.R. § 578.75 (2026). https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-24/section-578.75
Continuum of Care Program, 24 C.F.R. § 578.91 (2026). https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-24/section-578.91
Protection for victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking, 24 C.F.R. § 5.2005 (2026). https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-24/section-5.2005