Taking into consideration the results of the 2011 Homeless Count conducted in January, Sacramento County would need to provide about 1,000 beds in emergency homeless shelters to ensure that everyone has a roof over their heads this winter. Thursday morning, members of the local media, Loaves and Fishes community, Sacramento Housing Alliance and the homeless community gathered for a brief press conference at Friendship Park – the heart of the program and community center for the homeless community, providing multiple services for its guests – and discussed the lack of public allocated funding for emergency homeless shelters this winter. In what is expected to be a cold and wet winter sea

Mike Morris wore a headlamp late Thursday night as he searched for homeless people in McKinley Park and areas around the freeway at 29th Street. Morris, with two other volunteers and a law enforcement officer, interviewed two homeless individuals Thursday night as part of the Homeless Street Count event organized by the Sacramento Steps Forward group. A third homeless person declined to be interviewed. The Sacramento Press shadowed the group. About 400 volunteers turned out on a cold and foggy Thursday night to count the homeless living in Sacramento County. The count is done every other year to comply with the federal Housing and Urban Development Agency. “I’ve never done anything like

Sacramento County’s health care benefits program for low-income or disabled people is dealing with $6.7 million in recent budget cuts from the state of California. The cuts to the county’s Medi-Cal program will likely add to the workload of county workers and cause delays in services for clients, according to supervisors who work in the program. The county has since transferred 54 employees out of the Medi-Cal program and into a food stamps program called CalFresh, according to Gladys Deloney, acting deputy director for the county’s Department of Human Assistance. The workers start training for their new positions on Monday, she said, adding that the county was able to avoid making layoff

The Sacramento County Board of Supervisors and the Sacramento City Council are moving forward with their plan to implement a new two-tier organization to continue the fight against homelessness. Current funding at The Sacramento County Department of Human Assistance will run out June 30, 2011. The new organization will be a two-tiered public-private collaboration to fight homelessness in the city and county. Mayor Kevin Johnson introduced his homeless liaison, Ann Moore, at his weekly press conference Tuesday. Moore is the former executive director of the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency. “Our intent is to set up a new joint nonprofit/JPA (Joint Powers Agency) with a goal of

More than one month after Mayor Kevin Johnson asked city staffers to select three possible Safe Ground sites for consideration, it does not appear the city is any closer to discussing specifics. Johnson told reporters at his weekly press conference that he will discuss Safe Ground issues with the City Council, city staff and Sacramento County at the end of this month or in early October. He asked city staffers on Aug. 10 to pinpoint three possible sites. “No matter what we’re able to do with Safe Ground, that will not be in place in time for November,” Johnson said. In the upcoming discussions on Safe Ground, Johnson said the city and county will explore a possible timeline for establis

Sacramento County’s budget woes are prompting county and city staffers and local groups to consider establishing a new nonprofit organization to address homelessness. A new agency could lift some of the county’s burden to manage regional homelessness efforts, according to a recently released report from the county’s Department of Human Assistance. After February 2011, DHA will not have enough funding to continue its homelessness program, according to the department’s report. The county is running low on general fund dollars for the program, said Derrick Lim, a manager with the city’s Neighborhood Services division who is working on the issue at the city level. “That’s why the situation

"I see us potentially losing some of the volunteer base," said Supervisor Don Notolli at Tuesday's board meeting. "The human contact for the seniors is [currently] happening five times a week ... that day-to-day contact is important." Despite concerns, the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved changes Tuesday designed to save the popular Meals on Wheels program. In 2010, hundreds of seniors will no longer receive daily hot meal visits. A plan drafted by the county's Department of Human Assistance will save the county $917,000. It will cut $680,000 from the program and shift $237,000 to the state's Medi-Cal program. The changes will become effective Dec. 31. The pl

On Tuesday, Jan. 27, the Sacramento Department of Human Assistance (DHA) will be conducting the annual Homeless Count from 9 p.m. until midnight. The event relies on volunteers who must attend a 3-hour training prior to the count. Registration is closed, however, as mandatory training sessions were held this weekend. According to the 2008 Homeless Count report released by the DHA last year, 2,678 people in Sacramento County are homeless on any given night. The count included those living in emergency shelters (730) and transitional housing (682) as well as street dwellers (1,266). Of these, a total of 680 are considered to be "chronically homeless." The Department of Housing and Urban De