Each day there are hundreds of individuals and families living without basic human needs, such as food and shelter right in our own Sacramento County. Using Sacramento Community Family Resources website statics which received over 97,000 page views since January 1st 2011 there were over: • 1,728 Unique page views from words such as “homeless shelters in Sacramento”. • 2,945 Unique page views from words such as “food closet locations in Sacramento”. The list can go on and on, but the most important thing to know is that each of these numbers is an individual or family that is in immediate need of food or shelter. The question is “do we really need research and statistics to tell us that t

Save the Date! City of Sacramento’s Neighborhood Services Department presents: The Neighborhood Summit 2010 Healthy Neighborhoods = A Sustainable City FREE Friday, May 21, 2010 8:30 am – 4:00 pm Sacramento Convention Center, Grand Ballroom 1400 J Street Workshop topics offered at the Neighborhood Summit include: • Sustainability and Wellness • Maintain, Promote and Revitalize Neighborhoods • Community Resources and Partnerships The Neighborhood Summit would not be possible without our generous sponsors: • The Nehemiah Corporation of America • JB Management, Inc. • Sierra Health Foundation • UC Davis Campus Community Relations • Sacramento Consolidated Charities For additional inform

(Continues from Part I) I must confess that I've never considered myself being homeless during my family's first four months in America as refugees from Vietnam in 1975. We were grateful to be alive and together in one gigantic tent with another family. We lived in “Tent City” at Camp Pendleton, San Diego, until we found sponsors for ourselves in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. April marks 35 years for me being in America, and a dear friend who also made her first home at Camp Pendleton posted links to the photo exhibit of the refugee camp in San Diego this week. http://bit.ly/aBZZQA http://bit.ly/bBAZrD I could instantly smell the scents of what was then the exotic Ivory soap and wet dewy Apri

“Donate Now.” This was the click that changed my career path in January when the earthquake struck Haiti. I expected to feel that philanthropic glow at the American Red Cross website, but instead I felt ineffective and dissatisfied with my effort in contributing to humanity. Sacramento Loaves and Fishes immediately came to mind, and I went directly to the website to write an inquiry e-mail to the Volunteer Director.  The following Thursday morning at 10am I showed up at the volunteer's orientation at Loaves and Fishes. Two men in ponchos and fluorescent green vests smiled broadly as my car crawled into the dead-end street. I rolled down my window and said, “I’m here for the volunteer or

     By now most of us are getting a little tired of hearing about Christmas, but this is one short story that we all want, and need, to hear about. On December 22 my six year old son and I went to the Saca center on Del Paso Blvd. This day is one of the most memorable days of the year as we were able to witness a true Christmas miracle that most people only see in the classic Christmas movies. What we saw was the Saca center giving an awesome Christmas to over 274 families in the surrounding neighborhood of Del Paso Heights. Most of these families came from the local neighborhood of the Saca center, probably clients of their Community center and Mother Baby program. It is especially nice

Many of the Sacramento Food Bank locations and other food distribution sites throughout Sacramento are generously providing our American citizens a basic portion of food that will last them for about three days. These food distributions are the hope and excitement for many families that would otherwise go hungry this holiday season. I recently made the time to personally observe the people who stand in the food distribution lines, sometimes for hours, just to get a single paper bag of groceries. It sadly seems that a majority of the people who are standing in these food giveaway lines are families in need with young children. It is a very depressing site to see children in these food line