Sacramento Steps Forward, an initiative that works to end homelessness in Sacramento County, launched a campaign last week to raise $25,000 to help fund winter shelter efforts this year.

In Sacramento, cold and wet weather conditions threaten the lives of the approximately 1,200 homeless men, women and children sleeping outside in the county.

Without winter shelter, people experiencing homelessness are at an even greater risk of injuries, illnesses and fatalities. Winter shelter begins in three weeks, on Nov. 22, and will last until March 31, 2011.

Historically, winter shelter in Sacramento has been publicly funded. However, budget cuts have significantly decreased funding throughout the last two winters, forcing the creation of new programs.

This winter many partners – including Sacramento Steps Forward, Sacramento County, the city of Sacramento, homeless service providers, community partners and the faith community – are working together on three components for winter shelter.

The first component is a motel voucher program for the winter targeted at homeless families, people with disabilities and the elderly. The second component is 50 county-funded shelter beds for families. Sacramento Area Emergency Housing and Volunteers of America will provide 25 beds each for families.

The third component is "Winter Sanctuary," a nomadic, interfaith program that will provide nightly shelter and meals for 100 homeless people.

Last week, Mayor Kevin Johnson held a press conference for winter shelter, showcasing the faith-based Winter Sanctuary program and reiterating the crisis facing Sacramento’s homeless in winter.

Winter Sanctuary relies on the participation of Sacramento houses of worship to host about 100 homeless individuals on select nights they sign up for. If your congregation is interested to learn how it can contribute to this effort, please contact Shannon Stevens at sstevens@communitycouncil.org

The limited public funding available will serve homeless families this year. However, most single men and women will be served by the Winter Sanctuary program. Sacramento Steps Forward hopes to raise $25,000 for Winter Sanctuary to fill funding gaps left by the steep budget cuts. If not fully funded, homeless individuals will have very few options for shelter this year.

Sacramento Steps Forward is already accepting donations for winter shelter, and you can visit the website’s donation page to give: http://sacramentostepsforward.com/donate.php.

Your donation will provide much-needed resources for winter shelter, including providing meals and sleeping bags for homeless guests.

Sacramento Steps Forward is an initiative to rally the community toward a shared and collective effort to end homelessness. Members include business and faith community leaders, foundations, service providers, homeless and community representatives, law enforcement and elected officials from many of our cities and the County of Sacramento.
 

Kate Towson is a staff member at Sacramento Steps Forward.