Young adults ages 18 to 24 experiencing homelessness in Santa Clara County. Each housing program has its own requirements, listed below and on each program page.

For transitional housing, HUD’s definition covers three situations (24 C.F.R. § 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.

Only for permanent supportive housing, which serves young adults experiencing chronic homelessness who live with a documented disability. “PSH can only provide assistance to individuals with disabilities and families in which one adult or child has a disability” (24 C.F.R. § 578.37(a)(1)(i)). Rapid re-housing serves people with or without a disability.

It depends on the program. Transitional housing has no rent and no occupancy charge. In rapid re-housing, your share follows the written standards of Santa Clara County’s Continuum of Care and is reviewed at least once a year and whenever your income changes. In permanent supportive housing, you may pay an occupancy charge based on your income. HUD caps it: occupancy charges “may not exceed the highest of: 30 percent of the family’s monthly adjusted income … 10 percent of the family’s monthly income; or” the part of any welfare payment designated for housing costs (24 C.F.R. § 578.77(b)).

In transitional housing and permanent supportive housing, Razing the Bar holds the lease on the home, and you sign an agreement with Razing the Bar. In rapid re-housing, the lease is in your name: you sign it directly with the landlord or property manager.

Transitional housing lasts up to 24 months: “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 C.F.R. § 578.3). Rapid re-housing pays rent for no more than 24 months, and the home stays yours. Permanent supportive housing has no set end date: a one-year agreement that renews month to month and can end only for cause.

Only with written notice, usually 24 hours ahead, unless there is an emergency or you agree at the time. “Twenty-four hours shall be presumed to be reasonable notice in absence of evidence to the contrary” (Cal. Civ. Code § 1954(d)(1)).

You get written reasons, a chance to object to someone who did not make the decision, and a written final decision (24 C.F.R. § 578.91(b)). In permanent supportive housing, assistance ends only in the most severe cases, after every circumstance is considered.

Every young adult in our housing has one Community Mentor of their own, who works with them toward goals they set. Mentors help with running a home, the housing search, school, work, benefits, food, and transportation. Our model explains how mentoring fits with housing.

No. Support can continue for up to 6 months after you leave transitional housing or after rapid re-housing assistance stops, 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 C.F.R. § 578.53(b)(3)).

Organizations can collaborate with us, and anyone can come to our community gatherings through Join Us.

A volunteer Board of Directors. The Board adopts the annual operating budget and reviews the Form 990 before it is filed. See Our Governance.

DSM Business Services, LLC provides bookkeeping. Turner, Warren, Hwang & Conrad, AC provides accounting services, prepares the Form 990, and is engaged to conduct Razing the Bar’s Single Audit. See Financials.

Every Form 990 is listed under Public records on Financials, and you can verify our status with the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search.

Our housing is funded by U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Continuum of Care grants and reported to HUD each year. Participant records are kept in Santa Clara County’s Homeless Management Information System.