County and Partners Celebrate Grand Opening of Affordable Housing Development in Milpitas
MILPITAS, CALIF. – Angelique Chisolm spent eight years without a home before nonprofit Abode Services found her a place at Sango Court, a new affordable housing development in Milpitas.
“It was rough, real rough,” Chisolm said of the time she spent sleeping in her car and couch-surfing. “I didn’t think I’d be able to get a place on my own again.”
On Wednesday, July 17, she was feeling much better as she celebrated the grand opening of Sango Court, which features 102 affordable housing units, ranging from studios to three-bedroom apartments.
“I feel blessed,” said Chisolm, 56. “I love 355 Sango Court.”
The five-story building is the result of a collaboration between a range of partners, including Abode, the County of Santa Clara, the City of Milpitas and developer Resources for Community Development, among many others.
The County contributed $16 million to the project from the $950 million Measure A Affordable Housing Bond, which was approved by county votes in 2016. The Board of Supervisors has now allocated nearly $700 million in Measure A funding to 56 developments, which will create 5,217 new affordable housing units and 689 renovated apartments.
“Sango Court epitomizes the promise of what County leaders envisioned for Measure A,” said Supervisor Otto Lee, whose District 3 includes Milpitas. “With the opening of Sango Court, we are on track to exceed our affordable housing goals, with nearly 5,000 deeply affordable housing units constructed or in the pipeline in 10 of the cities in Santa Clara County, extending from Gilroy in the south to Palo Alto in the north.”
Sango Court features an array of amenities for residents, from a spacious interior courtyard on the second floor to a rooftop terrace, along with on-site access to supportive services through Abode. The $86.7 million project was sustainability built, with solar panels and electric-vehicle-charging stations, and is located half a mile from the Milpitas BART Station.
“One of the great things about this development is that it’s family-friendly, with 27 two-bedroom apartments and 12 three-bedroom apartments,” said Consuelo Hernández, director of the County Office of Supportive Housing. “We are grateful to the City of Milpitas and all of our partners for their collaboration and commitment to this project.”
Forty-four of the units at Sango Court are dedicated to permanent supportive housing for individuals and families experiencing homelessness, while seven are set aside for unhoused veterans. The rest are meant for low-income residents.
For Chisolm, Sango Court has been a place of healing. Since she moved in last October, she has begun seeing a therapist referred to her by Abode, which has an office on the first floor of the development that helps connect residents to various services. Therapy has helped Chisolm recover from nearly a decade of homelessness and misfortune. She suffered a heart attack in 2019 and spent two months in the hospital. She lost her son and his girlfriend to a car accident in 2022.
“The last few years have been hell,” she said, “but I’m housed, I’m getting healthier. I’m living my best life right now.”