Cisco Systems gives $50M to combat homelessness
SAN FRANCISCO — Internet gear maker Cisco Systems Inc. announced Monday that it will donate $50 million over five years to address the growing problem of homelessness in California’s Santa Clara County and is encouraging other Silicon Valley companies to make similar efforts.
In a blog post, Chief Executive Chuck Robbins said people in the San Francisco Bay Area know homelessness has reached a crisis level, costing the county where many tech companies are based $520 million per year.
“Though homelessness seems intractable, I believe that it is a solvable issue,” Robbins wrote. “I also feel very strongly that we have an opportunity — and a responsibility — to do something about it.”
Northern California’s booming economy has been fueled by the tech sector. But the influx of workers coupled with decades of under-building has led to a historic shortage of affordable housing throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. Homelessness is now pervasive throughout Silicon Valley.
The median rent in the San Jose metro area is $3,500 a month, but the median wage is $12 an hour in food service and $19 an hour in health care support, an amount that won’t even cover housing costs. The minimum annual salary needed to live comfortably in San Jose is $87,000, according to a study by personal finance website Gobankingrates.