Thursday morning, journalist Lisa Ling, members of the City Council and the homeless and formerly-homeless community joined Mayor Kevin Johnson in launching the "Sacramento Steps Forward" initiative. A crowd of several hundred waved blue initiative flags and cheered as Johnson announced his goal "to end homelessness and focus on permanent housing." He applauded permanent housing shelters such as Mercy Housing, Turning Point and Martin Luther King Jr. Village, 3900 47th Avenue, where the launc... jmendick Rhonda Erwin 2009-11-06T17:06:22Z 2009-11-06T17:06:22Z

I feel exactly the same as you about everything you wrote not just what I reprinted below but everything:. ".......We are our brothers' and sisters' keepers, and there but for the grace of God go you or I...But a nice P.R. event, complete with appearances by minor celebrity backers of this mayor, is not enough. This merely turns such efforts into a party... The proof of the puddin' will be when such parties materialize into real units of shelter -- not just 'beds' -- but four walls, a kitchen, a bathroom, and a job, for all who need it......"

Rhonda Erwin 2009-11-06T17:06:22Z William Burg 2009-11-06T16:04:42Z 2009-11-06T16:04:42Z

Absolutely. Despite my criticism of some of our mayor's actions and positions, I support this effort 100%. It recognizes that the only solution to homelessness is housing. Let's hope this is more than just a photo op.

William Burg 2009-11-06T16:04:42Z bbbbmer 2009-11-06T13:01:35Z 2009-11-06T13:01:35Z

If Johnson focused on activities like THIS, rather than his amazingly corrupt SMI, he might have a shot at doing some good in office. Working on a PERMANENT solution to homelessness, here and nationwide, along with the attendant issues of poverty, is a decent thing to do. I have long advocated that, especially these days with gluts of residential and commercial space laying vacant for long periods of time (the State alone has something nearing 1 million sq ft of long term vacant office space in and around this town), such space could be used -- and paid for by conventional funding -- to provide emergency, transitional, and ultimately, permanent shelter for those who have lost everything in their lives -- their jobs, their homes, their simple human dignity. We are our brothers' and sisters' keepers, and there but for the grace of God go you or I... But a nice P.R. event, complete with appearances by minor celebrity backers of this mayor, is not enough. This merely turns such efforts into a party... The proof of the puddin' will be when such parties materialize into real units of shelter -- not just 'beds' -- but four walls, a kitchen, a bathroom, and a job, for all who need it... If this mayor gives up the utter and obvious insidiousness of his SMI and some of the more ridiculous attempts to thwart community will and governance, and focuses on humanitarian efforts such as healing poverty and homelessness, and does more than throw a big photo-op about it, THEN he might garner some respect in this town.... Until then, he may as well flush it all away...

bbbbmer 2009-11-06T13:01:35Z Rhonda Erwin 2009-11-06T07:14:28Z 2009-11-06T07:14:28Z

wow, this is beautiful so many stepping forward-- I recall years ago I was visiting a freind and a man came over and she let him in and he went to the bathroom downstairs and took a shower... I asked her who he was and she said "He's homeless. My church, (she's Seventh Day Adventist) asks us to open our homes......" This is great. I look forward to the outcome - I look forward to the day when more Sacramento residents are able to Take Steps Towards Healing--Kudo's

Rhonda Erwin 2009-11-06T07:14:28Z