Newest articles on The Sacramento Press tagged as "homelessness"

Homelessness in Sacramento: A look back at 2011

2011-12-30T04:59:18Z

From head counts and courtroom drama to Winter Sanctuary and SafeGround – homelessness remained at the top of the list of issues in Sacramento in 2011.

Despite data showing the number of homeless in the county had declined over the past year, there were still many people sleeping on the streets each night in 2011.

Local charity groups and community service programs struggled through the year to provide for the homeless – including an increasing percentage of families – many of whom were homeless for the first time due to fallout from the housing and mortgage crisis.

The alleged mishandling of homeless individuals’ personal property as police enforced city anti-camping laws resulted in a lawsuit filed by local civil rights attorney Mark Merin on behalf of the homeless.

As the lawsuit made its way through the halls of justice, another fight was brewing over creating “safe ground," a place for homeless people to call their own – if only temporarily – while they worked toward securing permanent housing.

Community events held in 2011 designed to raise awareness of homeless issues included a SafeGround Jubilee, and a workshop for City Council members to discuss ways to provide such a safe ground area for homeless.

Jennifer Lystrup, a teacher of social justice at Christian Brothers High School, created a documentary series on homeless youth, and artist and filmmaker Costa Mantis created the film series “Searching for Safe Ground,” revealing the daily struggles of being homeless in Sacramento.

In September, the court in the homeless class action suit decided in favor of the homeless plaintiffs, but the city appealed the decision, and the case is still pending.

Without a tent city to return to each night, and without a safe ground option, many homeless people set up tents on the edges of the American River Parkway – which was at odds with the city’s anti-camping ordinance, and rangers soon moved in to oust the homeless “campers.”

As winter approached, faith-based organizations came together with the nonprofit agency Sacramento Steps Forward to provide the Winter Sanctuary program for the second year, offering shelter for the homeless during the coldest part of the year.

The program – which provides shelter from Thanksgiving to March 1 at an estimated cost of $150,000 – lacked adequate funding, and the program was in jeopardy of not being able to open.

With the help of numerous donations from local businesses and individuals – and a last-minute $75,000 donation from Wells Fargo – the program opened on Dec. 1.

At the end of December, the winter shelter program was expanded, thanks in part to efforts by City Council members Steve Cohn, Jay Schenirer and Angelique Ashby, and requests for increased local donations to open more doors to the homeless.

Homelessness has been a hot topic for local government for many years, and despite minor upturns in the economy of late, it is an issue that does not appear to be going away anytime soon.

In November, the City Council started developing a plan to address homelessness from a regional standpoint – to include city, county and regional resources and leadership in solving the issue.

Perhaps 2012 will bring greater security – whether it’s “safe ground” or more transitional housing or enhanced services – for those struggling in the city without a permanent place to live.

Melissa Corker is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow her on Twitter @MelissaCorker.

Ending homelessness in Sacramento with better social business workflow – C7group to provide Sacramento Steps Forward with consulting services

2011-12-30T03:54:58Z

Sacramento Steps Forward is a non-profit tasked with a critical mission of ending homeless in Sacramento by 2020, serving as a national example of how to end chronic homelessness. Beginning in January 2012, C7group will partner with Sacramento Steps Forward staff and volunteers to implement social business strategy and tactics for their organization.

Social media technology increases the number of communication channels available to listen and respond to the community and social business procedures often improve workflow processes. For Sacramento Steps Forward, social business integration plays a dynamic role to fulfill their mission and communicate internally and externally to staff, volunteers, donors, community resource partners and the homeless community.

“The audiences that we need to reach are vast and varied and the information we need to share is often time sensitive,” said Ben Burton, Executive Director, Sacramento Steps Forward. “We are pleased to partner with C7group who understands social media tools and applications, but also brings the knowledge of the business culture and workflow changes required to integrate social technology throughout our organization,” added Burton.

Sacramento Steps Forward has planned Sacramento Homeless Connect the last four years, and partners with other several community agencies that offer assistance to the many aspects of homelessness, including the partnership with Volunteers of America to operate the Winter Sanctuary program. Visit Sacramento Steps Forward.org for more information about their mission and a full list of their community partners.

C7group is transforming the services marketplace by helping organizations realize the potential of their business from a “customers and people first” perspective. C7group integrates strategy with social business technology and workflow practices to provide clients with a complete, integrated custom business solution. C7group’s goal is to help business ensure a sustainable model for business culture and work-style for the social, digital age. For more information about C7group, visit www.C7group.com.

Disclosure: I am the Vice President, Communications at C7group.

Wells Fargo ponies up for Winter Sanctuary

2011-12-13T22:40:38Z

On the eve of another cold night in Sacramento, Wells Fargo Bank stepped up to give $75,000 to help the city’s Winter Sanctuary program provide shelter for the homeless.

“People talk about ‘occupy this’ and ‘occupy that,’ but this is what people want,” Mayor Kevin Johnson said at a press conference Tuesday. “They want the corporate community to have values that are in line with the least among us in our communities.”

Wells Fargo representative David Galasso presented the $75,000 check at the press conference.

Winter Sanctuary provides shelter to the homeless during the winter months and is run by Volunteers of America, Sacramento Steps Forward – a regional initiative launched in 2010 to combat homelessness – and the faith community.

As of last week, the program only raised about half of its $150,000 budget for this year, threatening the availability of shelter for hundreds of homeless people in Sacramento this winter.

The donation from Wells Fargo Bank provided the final amount needed to support the sanctuary program through March.

“One of the unique things (in Winter Sanctuary) this year is we are seeing a lot of younger people who are experiencing homelessness for the first time,” Volunteers of America President Leo McFarland, said Tuesday.

“It’s not just the very generous donations like this one from Wells Fargo that mean so much (to the program),” McFarland said, “it’s also every $50 check that comes in, and every $500 donation that keeps hope alive. We are very grateful for this effort.”

Although the city provides hotel vouchers and winter shelter beds for a majority of the estimated 2,400 homeless in Sacramento, City Councilman Jay Schenirer said that many who are camping on the banks of the American River can still take advantage of the Winter Sanctuary program.

“We have to think about what the city can do next to make sure people have what they need to survive in this city,” Schenirer said, “and that the city has what it needs to thrive.”

A update on homeless issues in the city is scheduled to be heard by the City Council at Tuesday’s meeting.

Melissa Corker is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow her on Twitter @MelissaCorker.

Mutual Housing celebrates opening of the Highlands

2011-12-09T15:37:09Z

Sacramento|Yolo Mutual Housing Association celebrated the grand opening of the Highlands yesterday. The celebration included tours of the 90-apartment community and a ceremony honoring Darrell Steinberg, State Senate President Pro Tem and author of the California Mental health Services Act (Proposition 63) that provides partial operating support for the development.

Located on a 3.5-acre parcel in the McClellan Redevelopment Area, the Highlands has 66 efficiency apartments for formerly homeless people and 12 studio apartments and 12 three-bedroom ones for people of modest means.

The complex has a community room and kitchen, a computer lab and conference room as well as offices for staff. The community room will be used for educational workshops in energy conservation, leadership training, financial management and youth programs. Resident councils also will use the room for meetings.

Six courtyards with deciduous trees, tables, benches and planter boxes connect the buildings. One courtyard boasts a recycled metal sculpture, named "Gertie", by Sacramento artist Steve Cook.

All units have tankless water heaters with ductless heating in the smaller units and evaporative coolers in the larger as well as energy-efficient appliances. Solar panels also were installed. Mutual Housing staff expect the project to be certified green by Building It Green later this year.

Mutual Housing's first foray into homeless housing, a medical clinic and social services, provided by the nonprofits Turning Point, The Effort and Lutheran Social Services of Northern California, are on site. Funding for Turning Point services comes from the Sacramento County Department of Health and Human Services.

Development costs were $5 million. Construction costs were $14 million. Long-term operating costs are supported by substantial capitalized operating revenues. Wells Fargo Bank was the construction lender.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act partially funded the development. Operating support comes from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency and the California Mental Health Services Act Housing Program.

The Highlands is the 15th multifamily development of the local nonprofit in the two-county region.

Sacramento-based Cynthia Easton Architects and Chico-based Sunseri Construction, Inc. were the architects and general contractor, respectively.

Founded in 1988, Sacramento|Yolo Mutual Housing Association develops and operates well-designed rental housing for modest-income households. The communities have 2,600 residents, half of whom are children.

Through Mutual Housing’s focus on leadership, the nonprofit also provides training and mentoring as well as educational programs, community-building activities and services for residents and neighbors. For more information, visit http://http://www.mutualhousing.com.

Disclosure: A former journalist, Dell Richards is the principal of Dell Richards Publicity. Sacramento|Yolo Mutual Housing Association is a client of the Sacramento public relations firm.

Severe Weather Alert: Freezing Temperatures Open Warming Centers for Homeless People

2011-12-06T00:35:51Z

The Sacramento area is expected to see temperatures as low as 30 degrees for the next 3 nights. This weather is extremely dangerous for the 1,000 homeless men, women and children in Sacramento County who are currently without shelter.

Due to the projected freezing temperatures, a warming center at the Salvation Army has been activated for Monday, December 5, Tuesday, December 6 and Wednesday December 7.

Men and women (18 years and older) needing shelter can go to the Salvation Army, located at 12th and North B Street. The warming center will be opened from 8:00 pm until 6:00 am.

The warming center will close on the morning of Thursday, December 8th. More information will be made available if the dates are extended.

This is not a sleeping arrangement. Unfortunately, animals will not be allowed inside.

Call 2-1-1 (916-498-1000) if you are in need of up-to-date information on warming centers in the future.

Access a street sheet of emergency shelter options and open beds for winter here.

Please pass along this information to any person in need of a warm place the next three days.

Disclosure: Kate Towson is an Americorps VISTA serving with Sacramento Steps Forward. Learn more about ending homelessness at SacramentoStepsForward.org

MidLife GridLife - Shoot Up, Shut Up, Step Up?

2011-11-26T01:44:22Z

I went downtown on Thanksgiving morning and saw people feeding the homeless and it really pissed me off.

It seems to me that feeding the homeless once a year on Thanksgiving is a little like only going to church on Christmas Eve.

But, yes, there is more to this than what you may initially perceive as my Mother Superiority complex.

I need people to stop feeding the homeless on my block. Period.

I work at Quinn Cottages, a program that provides housing for homeless people who are ready to change their lives, to move from the streets and become self-sustaining. Many of them are in recovery from drug and/or alcohol addiction.

Many have mental health issues. All of them are committed to change. All of them perform at least 12 hours of community service a month, and most many more than that, closer to 30.Some are in the process of reuniting with children or reestablishing relationships with other loved ones that became broken during months or years of poor decisions.

Quinn Cottages is located on North A Street, just off of 16th Street. Next door, is a shelter program, one of several run by Volunteers of America. Also helping their clients to remain clean, sober, and committed to the positive choices they are making while waiting for more permanent accommodation.

Homeless people not in programs tend to congregate outside on the street anyway. They hang off the curbs, discouraging people from parking. They smoke dope--I know this because when I walk to my car I can smell it—well, I think so, anyway; I’m told it smells like oregano-- they talk trash, and they leave trash.

They throw running shoes up over the power lines to signal the availability of drugs for sale.

Eventually, law enforcement will manage to get them to disperse and things will start to look decent and safe again (although the shoes stay, and I don’t know what the ramifications for actual business practice are).

And then, within a few days or a week—a month at most--cars and vanloads of good Samaritans pull up with food to lure even more of them back to our block.

Yes, Them.

Those people.

It has, at this point, become a game of Them and Us.

I am not a hater of homeless people. I have said before that not only have I spent years hanging out and working with homeless people, but that they are not a category unto themselves: the only thing a lot of homeless people have in common is being designated homeless by the county or not sleeping in a societally sanctioned home.
I’m okay with homeless people. I have a problem with riff raff.

I’m okay with teenagers who like gangster rap. I have a problem with gangsters.

I am not a hater of people who feed homeless people, although I used to cringe at the use of the word “feed” until I saw the frenzied events of which I speak, and it resembles nothing so much as that.

I take issue with the lack of forethought and sensitivity with which these forays into charity work are conducted.

The people who stay at Quinn Cottages and Volunteers of America have made a choice, an often difficult and life-wrenching choice.

Depending on their personal circumstance—shelter v. Transitional Housing—they may have years, months, weeks or minutes of clean time. It might still be taunting them with future failure.

And what do we ask them to do?

Walk a gauntlet.

A gauntlet of syringes, and smoke and sneakers overhead 24/7.

I hear a whisper. A little defiant whisper saying something about “real life.”

But this isn’t real life; this is Early Recovery—from something that sucks, whatever that something was—and it’s hard enough without being tested on the way to your own front door every day. It’s especially challenging for those who weren’t at all sure they’d ever have—or deserve to have—a front door again.

There are people over the past few years who have put forth plans that seemed basically to want to make the homeless vanish, or at least, speculate that if they continued to spin the plans long enough and fast enough, they would run off or be sent somewhere and the problem of unattractive people schlepping about the streets would right itself.

The homeless people are in Roseville and Elk Grove. When enough turn up in Granite Bay and (I know, I know!) Rocklin, and someone petitions for a shelter, that might be the first strong mayoral candidate to succeed in this area—and you go Placer County; just don’t be haters!

But I digress.

I am beginning, as I always suggest people do, with my little corner of the world. I am not proposing that groups stop catering meals for the people on the street. I am not imagining that people will stop smoking or selling drugs or throwing garbage on the streets.

Just our street.

Three blocks down, Loaves & Fishes provides an amazing array of services for homeless and low-income individuals during the week. They are openly non-discriminating about the level of sobriety of their patrons. Organizations could set up there on the weekends when L&F is closed. Or, on weekdays nearby, where the behavior has been deemed unofficially acceptable.

From my perspective, it would also be great if the organizations communicated, so that they didn’t all show up at once, since people can only gorge themselves on so much food and carry so many provisions at one time.

This brings me to my second subtle suggestion: spread the love and joy throughout the year.

I will give you a very different example.

I have worked in two different programs where families are adopted for Christmas, and sometimes for Thanksgiving, as well.

Thanksgiving typically involves donation of the ingredients for a traditional meal, maybe the necessary tools if the kitchen isn’t well stocked. The family drops off bags of food, introduces themselves, asks some questions about the sizes and interested of family members, and says they‘ll see the family around Christmas.

Christmas can be a very different story. Christmas can be crazy.

Think about buying your child that gift you really can’t afford because you know you haven’t been around as much as you wanted to be this past year, and you feel really bad about it, so you want him to be able to have something really cool, because it’s the thing you can do.

Now take your child out and substitute a homeless boy or girl—or five.

Now follow the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Be. You’re that child’s mom. You finally have your three years of sobriety/stable mental health. Your kids are working with you again. You have a job and you’re not getting government money anymore. For the first time you’ll be able to pay for your own Christmas! You don’t have credit, because that’s part of what got you in trouble in the first place, but you have cash saved all year just for this purpose.

But as you gather your purchases, the purchases your started out so proud of, you begin to hear their voices…This is the ghetto version, Mom! I asked for the other one, not this one! Is that all? Rather than give a child a Christmas once a year that a family will never be able to match once they're on their own, why not spread your time throughout the year with a family, modeling parenting skills, budgeting, talking about the other meaning in a holiday that doesn't revolve around expensive goods. Instead of throwing all of your money at Thanksgiving, endow or facilitate a monthly or weekly group that a program could otherwise not afford.

Find a program that means something to you, and ask them what they really need. Seriously. A Horton Hears a Who moment: Not only will they appreciate your generocity, but they will take note of and appreciate your empathy--I guarantee it.

Those of us, who work in mental health, recovery, and social services, do appreciate volunteers, and people who give service.

As long as it is a service.

"The greatest good you can do for another is not just to share your riches, but to reveal to him his own." ~Benjamin Disraeli

"You are what you repeatedly do. Excellence is not an event -- it is a habit."

-- Aristotle

More about how you can support the agencies mentioned is available at:

Cottage Housing www.cottagehousing.org

Loaves & Fishes www.sacloaves.org

Volunteers of America www.voa-sac.org

Winter Sanctuary, Sacramento’s Interfaith Homeless Shelter, Experiencing Critical Funding Gap

2011-11-21T18:59:39Z

Winter Sanctuary, Sacramento’s interfaith, rotating homeless shelter, is currently facing a substantial gap in its budget. The program, which nightly shelters 100 homeless adults, is set to open on December 1st and run through March 31st. However, the program will not be opening on December 1st if the funding gap is not significantly narrowed.

Christie Holderegger, Vice President of Volunteers of America, spoke of the urgent need for this program, “Our neighbors are experiencing homelessness for a variety of reasons and many for the first time. They are looking to us, all of us to help them out of this desperate situation. As a community we can reach and uplift them. We saw hundreds of lives changed last year through Winter Sanctuary, both homeless guests and volunteers.”

Winter Sanctuary began in winter 2010 as a collaborative effort between Sacramento Steps Forward, Volunteers of America and local interfaith congregations. The program brought together local faith congregations, 24 to be exact, who stepped up to host their homeless neighbors and provide shelter, meals, and a welcoming community.

From December through March, a total of 550 unduplicated guests were served through the program, 24 congregations participated and over 2,000 community volunteers lent a hand.

“Winter Sanctuary is truly a successful model of community collaboration at its best. This program demonstrates how constituents from many different areas of our community can come together to help our neighbors,” said Ben Burton, Executive Director of Sacramento Steps Forward.

A volunteer from St. Mark’s United Methodist Church remarked on their experience as a host congregation, “The media constantly bombards us with statistics of the millions of persons in pain and hurting and we have a tendency to throw up our hands and say we can do nothing to make things better. But we had an opportunity in the two periods hosting Winter Sanctuary to affect the lives of a few people in a profound way.”

Yet the funding gap remains, and if not off-set will have an immediate, negative impact on the program’s start date, as well as the 100 homeless folks who could have come inside to escape Sacramento’s cold, wet and rainy winters.

HOW TO GIVE:

Sacramento Steps Forward is encouraging the community to donate. To make a tax-deductible donation, visit their website at SacramentoStepsForward.org and click the red ‘DONATE’ button to be taken to their secure Pay-Pal site.

*We would like to thank the following foundations and donors for supporting Winter Sanctuary: Sacramento Region Community Foundation, the Sierra Health Foundation, the Winn Foundation (with help from Supervisor Phil Serna), the River District, the Downtown Sacramento Partnership and the Teichert Foundation. Individual donors have graciously contributed almost $4,000, and Fremont Presbyterian Church contributed $1,500. The Wal-Mart Foundation donated 300 sleeping bags.

Disclosure: Kate Towson is an Americorps VISTA serving with Sacramento Steps Forward.

Council discusses regional approach to addressing homelessness

2011-11-03T01:25:07Z

The City Council is considering whether the city of Sacramento will join in the creation of a public-private collaborative agency to address the problems of homelessness in the region – an issue that does not recognize political boundaries.

Representatives from the city Neighborhood Services Department and the county Department of Human Assistance presented a report to the City Council Tuesday outlining a plan for creating a joint powers authority to align city and county governments with a nonprofit entity.

“The JPA would be the overarching policymaking body,” Sacramento county spokeswoman Kerri Aiello said Tuesday. “Sacramento Steps Forward (a nonprofit corporation) will ultimately be the umbrella over program implementation.”

In any given month in Sacramento, there are more than 3,000 people without homes, according to Ben Burton, executive director for Sacramento Steps Forward. That number includes people in emergency or transitional housing.

Of that number, Burton said more than 1,000 are actually on the street each night.

At one time, the county administered all government-funded homeless programs for the city and county, Burton said, and recent budget cuts have left homeless programs for Sacramento severely lacking in funding.

“When the funding ended, we had to ask ‘what do we do now?’ “ Burton said. “We start looking for additional dollars now.”

SafeGround representative John Kraintz said Tuesday that the goal of the JPA/nonprofit collaboration would be to maximize the ability to secure funding grants from the greatest variety of sources.

“Some programs have to be administered through the government to get public grant funds,” Kraintz said. “And nonprofits have a better ability to get private dollars.”

A nonprofit can access private funding more quickly than government, and some government funding can only be accessed by a government entity like a JPA.

Aiello said that certain homeless dollars – primarily Housing and Urban Development funds – can only be applied for by a government agency, and that would be one role of the JPA part of the partnership.

Another benefit of a combined JPA/nonprofit effort is the ability for many jurisdictions to share data and work together to plan regionally, Derrick Lim, Neighborhood Services manager, said Tuesday.

“It’s still in the conceptual phase right now,” Lim said. “The whole point is to have everyone in every jurisdiction sharing the same information.”

Representatives from regional City Councils and the Board of Supervisors would comprise a JPA Board whose role would be to accept grants that are only available to public agencies.

The JPA Board would award those funds to the nonprofit agency to administer. The JPA Board would also advise on major policy goals and serve as the community’s voice on the issue of homelessness, according to the report.

According to the report to the City Council, the Sacramento County Department of Human Assistance was the primary administrator of homeless programs in Sacramento since 1993. The city of Sacramento relied on the county to coordinate and administer programs on behalf of the city.

By the end of 2010, the DHA no longer had funding available to administer homeless programs as it had been doing, Aiello said.

“Everyone went broke, and the county pulled out of all their homeless projects,” local homeless advocate Tracie Rice-Bailey said Tuesday. “Now they are trying to put together this umbrella nonprofit to find how many ways they can keep roofs over people’s heads.”

In September 2010, the Sacramento City Council and county Board of Supervisors started discussing a conceptual plan to create a new public-private structure to end homelessness.

In March, the City Council approved transitioning the administration of homeless programs in the city away from the county DHA to Sacramento Steps Forward.

Sacramento county DHA staff have been presenting the JPA proposal to other city councils in the county and the Board of Supervisors to get feedback and ideas for the structure of the potential JPA.

“(County Department of Human Assistance director) Paul Lake has been out to Elk Grove, Rancho Cordova, Citrus Heights, Folsom and other areas of the county,” Aiello said.

The response to the idea has been positive, according to Lake.

“Other cities are very enthusiastic and want to move forward,” Lake told council members Tuesday.

Councilman Kevin McCarty said he is in favor of the proposed JPA structure for dealing with homeless issues in Sacramento.

“Bottom line: Regional solutions are needed here,” McCarty said Wednesday. “The more local governments teaming up and partnering to tackle homelessness, the better.”

The initial target date for having a JPA in place was July, but Lake said the date had to be adjusted because they needed more time to allow Sacramento Steps Forward to assume responsibility for managing grants.

“Neither the county nor Sacramento Steps Forward want to transfer responsibility until it can be a wholly successful transfer,” Lake said Wednesday. “We are hopeful that Sacramento Steps Forward will begin assuming (grant responsibility) early in 2012.”

Ben Burton, the new executive director for Sacramento Steps Forward, said Wednesday that this as an opportunity for creating a more innovative approach to homelessness.

“Once the (JPA) program is implemented,” Burton said, “we will put an agenda together to begin regional planning. It will start with an assessment of where we are today.”

Burton said it is essential that the multitude of jurisdictions in the region – cities, counties and private community agencies – start sharing data and local plans to address homelessness issues.

“This type of planning will strengthen our competition for federal dollars to provide services,” Burton said. “It’s cheaper to prevent homelessness than to take someone through the whole system.”

The City Council didn’t take any action on the proposal report Tuesday.

DHA and city staff will take the proposal to the county Board of Supervisors for discussion and feedback in December, Aiello said. A draft JPA agreement is expected to follow soon after.

Melissa Corker is a Staff Reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow her on Twitter @MelissaCorker.

City appeals decision in homeless class action suit

2011-09-23T02:50:07Z

On the same day that activists and supporters rallied together for homeless rights at the Safe Ground Jubilee, attorneys for the city of Sacramento were busy filing a motion to appeal a Federal Court decision in a contentious homeless class action lawsuit.

“Our rationale for appeal is based primarily on procedural and evidentiary rulings that came up in the trial,” Brett Witter, supervising deputy city attorney for Sacramento said Thursday.

The motion for appeal was filed Sept. 14 in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals by attorney Chance Trimm, on behalf of the city.

According to court documents, the city is appealing a May 24 Federal Court decision that found the city liable on two of six claims by plaintiffs that the city “had a custom and practice of violating (plaintiffs’) constitutional rights concerning their personal property.”

(Read court documents on Lehr v. City of Sacramento HERE.)

“We’re not appealing the jury’s decision,” Witter said, “instead, we’re challenging the way the evidence was presented to the jury.”

Witter said that, among the issues brought up in the city’s appeal is an amendment made to the plaintiffs’ complaint late in the game.

“(The amendment) came literally a couple of weeks before the trial,” Witter said. “We felt the late amendment was inappropriate. That’s just one of the problems (with the trial) we want to discuss.”

Mark Merin, the attorney representing the homeless class action group, said Wednesday that the city has no basis for the motion to appeal.

“An appeal can only happen after a final judgement,” Merin said. “In this case, there hasn’t yet been one.”

Because the jury decided the city is liable but hasn’t set damages yet, Merin explained, the case is not considered “final” or completed.

Merin filed a motion with the court on Sept. 20 to dismiss the appeal for “lack of jurisdiction.”

The homeless class action against the city began in 2007 when Merin, representing homeless individuals, filed suit in Sacramento Federal Court alleging that homeless plaintiffs’ belongings were illegally taken and thrown away by Sacramento police officers between August 2005 and May 2009.

Once the court made its decision in May 2011, Merin said, the next step should be negotiating a claims procedure to compensate individuals for damages and property loss.

“It’s not just compensation for the actual property,” Merin said. “It’s also loss of use of property. The (class action petitioners) are also entitled to damages for the violation of their rights.”

Merin said there isn’t any way to accurately estimate the final amount of damages, but he estimates the amount may be as much as $1 million or more.

“As long as the case is unresolved, it has a real impact on the many homeless people in Sacramento,” Joan Burke, director of advocacy for Loaves & Fishes, said Thursday.

Burke said that more than 1,000 homeless people in the city are forced to sleep outside every night because there is a lack of shelter space available.

“Anyone forced to sleep outside is subject to arrest,” Burke said. “When people are arrested, they have to worry about their stuff.”

Typically what people have with them when they are living outside, Burke said, are “survival items” – such as clothing, eyeglasses or medical prescriptions – or more sentimental items like photographs and family mementos.

“When you have to minimize what you carry around,” Burke said, “you get it down to what is really most important to you.”

In June, the city filed additional motions for summary judgment – to essentially “cancel” the jury decision – as well as a motion for a new trial.

Both actions were denied by Judge Morrison C. England, Jr., the presiding judge of the case, on Aug. 15.

“(The City) has done all they can to delay the reckoning,” Merin said, “and it just won’t work.”

Witter said that, if the appeal is denied, city attorneys will go back to the City Council to get direction on what to do next.

Merin said he expects the court will make a decision on the motion to dismiss by the end of October.

Melissa Corker is a Staff Reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow her on Twitter @MelissaCorker.

Many Homeless in Sacramento, Out in the Cold This Winter

2011-09-21T19:24:48Z

On any given night in Sacramento 2,400 people are homeless in our County. According to the 2011 Sacramento Homeless Count, 955 of our neighbors are sleeping on the streets. As winter rapidly approaches, Sacramento Steps Forward (SSF) is seeking creative solutions to house those families and individuals who are forced to sleep outside due to overburdened resources. This harsh reality poses a dual risk to both the safety and health of those sleeping outside. Notably, Sacramento has been successful in reducing chronic homelessness by 50% in the last 3 years. However, family homelessness is on the rise; this year’s Homeless Count data shows an 11% increase.

Loaves and Fishes, which serves meals to over 800 homeless people each day recently surveyed 109 women (and 10 children) to find that 59% (66 women and 4 children) are sleeping outside or in a vehicle at night.

The recent release of the 2010 Census Bureau data paints a sobering picture of struggling Americans. According to the figures, nearly 1-in-6 adults and 1-in-5 children are currently living in poverty, the highest rate seen in 52 years. The national unemployment rate remains at 9%; in Sacramento County it has soared to almost 13%. As poverty rates increase, homelessness becomes the tragic reality for more children, families and single adults.

As the Executive Director of Sacramento Steps Forward, I urge readers to focus on the upcoming challenge of providing winter shelter for the most vulnerable in our community.

Historically public funding has funded the Cal-Expo Winter Overflow Shelter for homeless people during the severe winter months. In 2008-2009, this funding totaled just under $700,000 and last year these funds decreased to $250,000 for winter family shelters. Last winter when there was no public funding for winter shelter for single people, SSF and the Volunteers of America partnered with the Faith Community (22 churches and 2 Mosques) to open the Winter Sanctuary Program for 100 single homeless people. Winter Sanctuary is again planned for this winter.

Currently, there is no Public-allocated funding for additional shelter for the 2011-2012 Winter, which is sure to be wet and cold.

We are concerned that families will be out in the cold and lives may be in jeopardy, as those who are forced to sleep outside are at increased risk of illness, injury and even death.

Launched in 2009, Sacramento Steps Forward’s (SSF) public-private partnership is bringing together the ideas, insights, and skills of a broad range of passionate organizations, businesses and individuals from across Sacramento to transform the current system serving our homeless population. SSF focuses on addressing challenges in the existing system of care, and with the active support of political leaders such as Mayor Kevin Johnson and County Supervisor Phil Serna, we strive to ensure continued public participation in developing solutions.

Sacramento’s housing providers are ready and willing to provide their shelter and services to those in need however, funding must be made available in order for this to happen. SSF is dedicated to identifying each provider’s need and assisting in coordinating a system of care to house those who would otherwise have to sleep outside in the cold. This system will allow integration into mainstream services that will hopefully lead to a permanent solution to homelessness for many families and individuals. And amidst this bad news, a bit of good: the Sacramento Region Community Foundation has awarded $30,000 in grants to the community for winter shelter.

But your neighbors need more help. With only 61 days before winter shelter should begin (November 20, 2011) you can help provide these critically needed resources today by simply going to our website at SacramentoStepsForward.org. Click the ‘Donate’ button at the top right of the screen to make a secure, tax deductible donation.

It only costs $10 a day to house someone and provide them with a meal. Your donation could save the life of a vulnerable homeless person. In return, we will provide monthly updates as to how your contribution has been used to provide shelter during these critical winter months. We will also provide a report detailing the results of the program to the community at the end of winter.

Disclosure: Ben Burton is the Executive Director of Sacramento Steps Forward. Sacramento Steps Forward is committed to ending homelessness throughout the region.

MidLife GridLife - Homeless by chance or choice?

2011-09-09T06:05:28Z

Leaving Crest Theatre recently, my sister and I were approached by a man who asked us if we could spare a dollar.

My sister, to the best of my recollection, shook her head, which is what I would expect, as neither of us can generally spare any money, nor do we typically carry cash we might “accidentally” spend on non-essentials. I, however, went a step further.

“Where do you stay?” I inquired.

The man, a slightly overweight African American in his forties, smiled.

“We’re in West Sacramento, ma’am, me and my wife” he replied.

“Are you outside, then?” I continued, “Camping at the river?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Are you able to work or do you just prefer to be outside?”

“Yes, I am. I worked for quite awhile, but my wife, she has a lot of problems with her mental health. She doesn’t do well when I’m gone for very long, so eventually I had to quit. Now I just do what I can.”

“That must be really hard on you,” I said sincerely.

“Sometimes,” he admitted, “But not as hard as it is for her.”

What is the point?

Certainly not that if a homeless person asks you for money that you engage him or her in conversation.

I have spent the last five or so years working with homeless and formerly homeless people, and five years previously working with severely—severely--emotionally disturbed teenagers. For whatever reason, I have always felt comfortable among people who function outside the norm.

The point, if it can be so specified, is that homelessness is complicated. Homeless people are a diverse group just like the rest of us. This is seldom discussed in the media, who tend to get their quotes from politicians and committee members, but it’s a hot topic among those of us in the trenches.

Some things I can share, anecdotally, that you may or may not know:

• All homeless people do not consider themselves homeless; they do not want to live indoors.
• There are generations of homelessness in families and they take what they do—often panhandling very seriously; they have no desire or intent to change.

A local café owner shared the story of a man who used to sleep next to his place of business. He felt compassion for the man and did everything he could to find a place for him to stay, get him signed up for benefits, none of which he was really cooperative about. He continued to turn up outside the café, and eventually he became sick, and sicker. An ambulance was called, but the man refused to get in. He died outside the café, refusing medical help, while the owner stood by.

• Putting a roof over someone’s head does not mean they are no longer homeless.
• Homelessness is a life skill, and to acquire a different skill set requires support, especially if recovery from substance abuse or untreated mental health issues is involved.
• Very few programs can afford—or choose--to put services before housing. If that is the case, you might as well put revolving doors on the living spaces.
• Failure is more expensive than success. In so many ways.

As for being approached on the street or at intersections, that’s not for me to advise on. Personally, I am of the “Give a man a fish or teach a man to fish” school of thought. I always ask, when reasonable, if a person knows where to access services, but I don’t feel obligated to share my income.

Because I spend 40+ hours a week working with formerly homeless people, I can’t honestly say I do much volunteering either. I have served lunch at Loaves & Fishes, as has my son.

• Volunteer opportunities abound in social services, especially with all of the recent budget cuts.

Rumor has it, that at one point, the Department of Human Assistance was short-handed and thought they might be forced to use interns in some positions—until they realized they didn’t have a person with an MSW left in the department to supervise the interns!

Imagine how that translates to us in the non-profit world.

• If you have time, and a skill or talent, there is a place that needs you.
• If you have money to spare, spread it around; we all need it.

Look at your options, though.

Do the job training program “graduates” actually get and keep jobs?

Do the programs the agency says it created actually exist?

How does the staff feel about where they work? Is there a high turnover rate?

Spend a day getting a feel for what you’re supporting. If you like what you’ve seen and experienced there, share it with your friends or your company.

And your kids.

My son once donated all of his Circus Circus arcade winnings to Mustard Seed School when he was (I think) about 8 years old.

He received a tour and subsequent thank you letter in the mail, which I’m pretty sure he saved. It gave him a sense of accomplishment, and of helping the children—and it kept 20 stuffed animals from being introduced unnecessarily into his bedroom; win/win.

Back to the original issue of what to do when approached by someone for money. Again, I maintain that everyone has to make that decision individually.

What I will say is that, unless someone is in the midst of a psychotic break, he or she has no need to be hostile or rude in approaching you.

It’s an intimidation tactic, plain and simple.

Homelessness is not license to be a jerk, and almost any formerly homeless person will agree.

But neither is being the one with money.

Just sayin’.

Mark Merin's battle with City Hall

2011-05-30T23:20:15Z

Sacramento civil rights attorney Mark Merin is once again in the spotlight.

This time, he’s being quoted by the local media for his role in a federal class-action case about homeless people’s constitutional rights and personal property. And, in the March issue of Harper’s Magazine, Merin’s work with Safe Ground is mentioned. The article, titled “Homeless in Sacramento: Welcome to the New Tent Cities,” focuses on Sacramento’s homeless and the city’s ordinance against camping.

These are only two of many examples of Merin’s highly visible and controversial advocacy work for Sacramento’s homeless.

Earlier this week, a federal jury released its verdict in Lehr v. City of Sacramento, finding that the city has mismanaged homeless people’s belongings.

Merin is representing a group of homeless people in the lawsuit. When police officers enforce the city’s ordinance against camping outside, they seize homeless people’s belongings, Merin claimed in an April 1 court document.

“We, who live in our comfortable homes, surrounded by all the clutter that we’ve accumulated, may not realize how devastating it is when someone comes in and just grabs the few things that you do have,” Merin said in an interview with The Sacramento Press earlier this month.

Meanwhile, Senior Deputy City Attorney Chance Trimm noted this week that the jury did not fault the city on four or six claims. The city may appeal the ruling to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Trimm said.

Merin is requesting compensation for his clients as well as attorney’s fees. He explained earlier this month how the payment process for his fees works.

“If we are successful and we win, in many cases, we’re entitled to get fees awarded by the court,” Merin said. “There’s a procedure by which we show how much time we put into it. The court evaluates the work and assigns an amount of money, and then we get that.”

In addition to criticizing the city’s interactions with the homeless in his lawsuit, Merin has appeared before the City Council to argue for Safe Ground.

“The minimum demand that is being made with Safe Ground is (to) designate some place (for the homeless). Don’t even give it to us, but allow us to take a space and say, ‘homeless people can be here, can leave their stuff here, can use this as a staging area to do something else,’ ” Merin said earlier this month in an interview.

“But if they’re constantly having to guard their stuff ... then they can’t even go anywhere. They can’t even go to the doctor’s appointment for fear of losing it.”

In September 2009, Merin provided his property as place for the homeless to stay.

Councilman Rob Fong said he has observed Merin’s comments to the City Council. Fong said he has also attended board meetings on homelessness at which Merin was present.

“My impression of Mark is I think he’s a very strident advocate,” Fong said. “I think he’s a thoughtful guy, too.”

Fong has worked on the issue of homelessness through the local Faith and Homeless Families program, in which religious groups assist homeless families with housing.

“I think, given where I am, I’ve tried to work within the system and to improve the system,” Fong said. “I think Mark has a different vantage point. I just think we’re probably both working in different ways for the same thing.”

Merin has also taken on Sacramento County in the past. His lawsuit over homeless people’s belongings included Sacramento County, along with the city, when he filed it in 2007. But court documents show the county settled the case last year.

Meanwhile, John Kraintz, president of Safe Ground, praised Merin’s work with the group, composed mostly of homeless people. Merin helps the group communicate its views to the City Council, Kraintz said.

“His input is always very valuable,” Kraintz said.

While the next step in the lawsuit over homeless people’s property is unclear, it’s apparent that Merin will play a big role in it.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

City may appeal verdict in homeless case

2011-05-26T01:20:18Z

The city may appeal a verdict from a federal jury that partially faulted the city for the way it has managed homeless people’s belongings, according to Senior Deputy City Attorney Chance Trimm.

The jury’s decision in Lehr v. City of Sacramento was released Tuesday at Sacramento Federal Court. The trial, which involved homeless people’s constitutional rights and personal belongings, began May 9. The jury did not fault the city on four of six claims, Trimm said. However, in the mixed decision, the jury found that the city has seized and stored homeless people’s possessions without sufficiently informing them on how to get those items back.

The booking and handling of homeless people’s belongings by the city was not carried out through suitable policies, the jury also decided.

Plaintiffs Attorney Mark Merin claimed in an April 1 court document that the police have taken away and thrown out homeless people’s belongings such as tents, bedding, clothing and medication. Photos and an urn with ashes have also been taken by police, he claimed in the document.

Police officers take items from the homeless when they enforce the city’s ban on overnight camping, he further claimed.

Referring to an appeal, Trimm said, “It is being considered.”

If the city decides to appeal, it will file its case with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, he said.

The jury found that the city does not approach the property of homeless and non-homeless people in different manners, Trimm said.

Trimm and Merin have radically different views of the outcome of the class-action case.

Merin said Wednesday that his clients won the case and that the jury found there were “constitutional violations” of his clients’ rights.

As a result of the decision, the homeless people who lost their property are entitled to compensation that includes payments for emotional distress, Merin said.

He said the amount of compensation homeless people will receive won’t be clear until he and the city either reach an agreement or go to trial, he said.

The verdict had not been posted online by press time.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Nearly 1,000 Attending 4th Annual Homeless Connect

2011-05-24T00:40:10Z

“This suit is not bad.”

Theoplus Dubose-Harvey was searching for some new work clothes on Saturday. He hoped to find the right business suit for the next job interview.

“See, I got some shoes to go along with that,” he said.

Dubose-Harvey believes the new attire will help change his life. Because right now, he is unemployed and homeless.

“Times are tough, “said Dubose-Harvey, a 55-year-old former state worker. “That’s why I appreciate the help I got here.”

The assistance he is speaking of was the fourth annual Homeless Connect on May 21 at Sacramento City College. Dubose-Harvey was one of nearly 1,000 homeless individuals and families who attended this direct service fair.

“I’m thankful for the suit and shoes I got from here,” he said. “This event shows that even under tough circumstances, I’m not alone.”

More than 60 different service agencies and organizations, along with over 400 community volunteers, provided the homeless with access to housing referrals and services; health screenings, including dental and vision screenings; mental health services; Social Security benefits; HIV and STI testing; California identification cards; foot washing and haircuts; bike repairs; veterans services; legal assistance; job readiness and clothing closets.

Homeless Connect was organized by Sacramento Steps Forward.

“We’re delighted that we can make difference in our community,” said Tim Brown, Sacramento Steps Forward executive director. “I appreciate all of our agencies and volunteers coming together and making a difference with our homeless neighbors.”

According to Sacramento Steps Forward, since January 2007, chronic homelessness in Sacramento County has decreased by 50.8%. Since January 2009, overall homelessness has decreased by 15.8%.

“It’s our goal, through efforts like Homeless Connect, that we, as a community, can once and for all end homelessness,” Brown said.

The Salvation Army was the presenting sponsor of the event, providing lunch, food bags and new socks to all of the event attendees.

“It’s an honor to be part of the Homeless Connect event again,” said David Bentley, Salvation Army Sacramento County Coordinator. “We know ending homelessness is not easy, but this collaboration of all the agencies and volunteers shows that the Sacramento community is stepping up to find that solution.”

Syd Fong is the public relations director for The Salvation Army of Sacramento County. For more information about The Salvation Army, log onto www.salarmysacto.org or join the facebook page www.facebook.com/salvationarmysacramento

Jury deliberates in Sacramento homeless case

2011-05-19T00:35:12Z

Jurors are deliberating in federal court whether homeless citizens’ belongings were illegally taken and thrown away by Sacramento police officers between August 2005 and the present.

The trial, which centers on homeless people’s constitutional rights and their personal belongings, began May 9 at the Sacramento Federal Courthouse at 501 I St.

Plaintiffs attorney Mark Merin represented Linda McKinley, who was homeless in the past, and a group of homeless people in the class-action case against the city of Sacramento, according to court documents.

Merin is a supporter of the Safe Ground group, which presses Sacramento city leaders to designate land for homeless people to live.

In closing arguments on Wednesday, Merin claimed that city police officers have violated the U.S. Constitution by throwing out homeless citizens’ personal items.

“Nobody got their property back because it was tossed away,” Merin said.

Specifically, Merin has accused the city of violating the 14th Amendment by not giving homeless people sufficient warning that their belongings would be trashed. He also contends that the city has taken homeless citizens’ items in an “unreasonable search and seizure” manner that violates the Fourth Amendment.

Merin claimed in an April 1 court document that the police have taken away and thrown out homeless people’s belongings such as tents, bedding, clothing and medication. Photos and an urn with ashes have also been taken by police, he claimed in the document.

Police officers take items from the homeless when they enforce the city’s ban on overnight camping, he further claimed.

In Judge Morrison England’s courtroom Wednesday, Merin referred to the homeless campground that formed in 2009 and gained immense international media exposure.

“Tent City developed because there was no place for homeless people to go,” Merin said.

Meanwhile, the city of Sacramento disputes Merin’s claims.

“We don’t feel we violated any of the homeless individuals’ constitutional rights,” Senior Deputy City Attorney Chance Trimm said outside the courtroom.

The city claims that it did not throw out homeless people’s belongings. “Assuming any camping paraphernalia is taken from violators of the city’s camping ordinances, such property is booked and maintained at an evidence collection location by the Sacramento Police Department,” Trimm wrote in an April 1 court brief.

Merin wants the jury to order the city to give back homeless people’s personal items, according to court documents. The plaintiffs also want a court order against the city, and for the city to pay damages and attorney fees.

The Sacramento Press will report on the jury’s verdict when it becomes available.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

4th Annual Sacramento Homeless Connect this Saturday, May 21 at Sacramento City College

2011-05-16T21:19:36Z

The 4th Annual Sacramento Homeless Connect event will take place this Saturday, May 21 at Sacramento City College from 10:00 am-3:00 pm. It is hosted by Sacramento Steps Forward, with support from presenting sponsor The Salvation Army. Speakers at the event include Assemblymember Roger Dickinson, Mayor Kevin Johnson and Supervisor Phil Serna. Over 1,000 homeless guests are expected; additionally the event hosts 500 community volunteers and over 60 different service providers.

Project Homeless Connect is a national Best Practice model for bringing services directly to homeless folks. Started in San Francisco, it now occurs in over 150 communities across the country. Homeless Connect events are one-day, one-stop, 100% free resource fairs that bring a myriad of services all to one location, thus eliminating many of the barriers homeless folks face in accessing the services they need. Transportation is provided for guests that day (a major barrier for many homeless people), as well as pet care and childcare. Homeless folks get to meet with providers face-to-face, in a warm, hospitable environment. Additionally, the Salvation Army provides BBQ chicken meals for the guests, and bands Guitar Mac and BluSoul Band will be providing all-day entertainment.

500 community volunteers will be donating their time that day, helping with a number of different projects.

This year, over 60 different agencies and service providers will be in attendance, including:

Community housing and shelter providers, including: Sacramento Self-Help Housing; Volunteers of America; Transitional Living & Community Support; Lutheran Social Services, Resources for Independent Living; St. John’s Shelter and Sacramento Area Emergency Housing
Health Services including: the UC Davis Willow Clinic rapid HIV-testing by CARES, Hep-C, STI testing and harm reduction services by Harm Reduction Services and Oak Park Outreach Services; dental screenings by Dr. Charles Newens, and ocular exams by the Lion’s Club Vision Van and UC Davis eye doctors
Free California State IDs provided by the DMV, with help from Francis House
An Employment Triage Station, run by Women’s Empowerment, with an interview-ready clothing closet and help with resume-writing and interview skills
A new Wellness Area, including: free yoga all day, by the Yoga Seed Collective, 20-minute mini-chair massages by the Healing Arts Institute, foot washing & clean socks by Christ Church, Davis, an art therapy station (staffed by AmeriCorps NCCC members) and a Story Table (with professional portraits by Lynette Falls of Three One Photography)
A Mental Health services station, staffed by Guest House Homeless Clinic, Genesis, Social Security Administration, SMART (a brand-new pilot program that helps folks receive SSI), and Clean & Sober
Veterans Services, staffed by the California Department of Veterans Affairs, the Sacramento Veterans Resource Center, the Sacramento Veterans Support Network, the Sacramento County Veterans
Sacramento County General Assistance and CalFresh (Food Stamps)
Bike repair provided by Cycles4Hope, who is also raffling off 10 adult bikes
Free haircuts by Federico’s Beauty Institute Salon
And amazing giveaways, including: The Sacramento Public Library is giving away 200 free books; the Bra Recyclers donated 1,300 bras; Restoring Vision provided us with 300 pairs of reading glasses; a Sac State student is giving away 150 pairs of shoes; 2 clothing closets and exit gift bags for each guest.
Other elements: free transportation all day provided by Regional Transit, Paratransit, Volunteers of America and Sacramento County. Free all day pet-care provided by WOOFF and free childcare provided by the Mustard Seed School!

The Salvation Army is our presenting sponsor, for the 2nd year in a row, and they’re providing at least $20,000 of in-kind support.

Additional sponsors: The City of Rancho Cordova, Wells Fargo Bank, Golden 1 Credit Union, Sutter Health Sacramento Sierra Region, Sacramento Housing & Redevelopment Agency, Loaves & Fishes, Sacramento Mutual Housing Association, Councilmember Steve Cohn, The Merchants National Bank, CARES, UC Davis Health System, Sacramento Housing Alliance and Councilmember Jay Schenirer.

Last year's Sacramento Homeless Connect had over 800 homeless adults and 170 homeless children in attendance.

For questions about the event, please contact Kate Towson, ktowson@communitycouncil.org

Kate Towson is an Americorps VISTA serving with Sacramento Steps Forward.

City Council weighs in on safe ground

2011-04-27T05:49:46Z

Should a group of homeless people be allowed to camp together in Sacramento without outside monitoring?

Safe Ground Sacramento, a group of mostly homeless people, says it should have the right to be “self-governing” and to operate an overnight camp independently.

But a few Sacramento City Council members said they disagreed with that idea Tuesday.

The City Council held a workshop on the safe ground issue as part of its weekly meeting. Over the past two years, Safe Ground Sacramento has asked the city to dedicate land for a site where the homeless could camp legally overnight. The city has an ordinance that bans overnight camping.

One of the group’s key principles is that its members are “self-governing” and that operations are led by elected members, according to a presentation by Safe Ground Sacramento Executive Director Stephen Watters.

The group is a community of people with “common needs,” Watters said.

“People watch out for each other and provide mutual support,” he told the City Council. “The community spirit that develops has turned people’s lives around.”

The Safe Ground Sacramento group asks its members to be drug- and alcohol-free and to not engage in violence. Members of the group camp overnight together, despite the camping ban.

But Councilman Rob Fong disagreed with the self-governance principle.

“I am not comfortable with a self-governing population,” Fong said. “I know that everyone I’ve talked to suggests that there needs to be a programmatic aspect to transitioning people out of homelessness.”

Homeless people need to be matched up with social services to help them find permanent housing, Fong said.

Mayor Kevin Johnson said he supported the safe ground idea but wanted the group to link to a social services program.

Councilman Kevin McCarty mentioned the model at Quinn Cottages, which combines housing with social services.

While Safe Ground Sacramento regularly lobbies the City Council to set aside land for homeless people to stay overnight, a spot has still not been selected.

Watters discussed the thorny issue of finding a location in an April 12 statement sent to City Council members.

“Members of the Safe Ground Sacramento Site Development Team, after concluding a series of meetings, have been unable to select an appropriate location that could be developed as a long-term housing site from the list of more than 1,900 city-owned properties provided by city staff,” Watters wrote.

“Parcels deemed appropriate based on size, proximity to public transit (i.e. Regional Transit bus and light rail stops), and other locational factors were found unacceptable due to various ecological, political and existing city planning factors when investigated in depth by the joint city / Safe Ground team.”

The group is now searching for two kinds of locations – an 18-month site as well as a permanent spot – and working on building relationships with the city and county governments and local business sector, Watters wrote.

No specific date for deciding a location was set Tuesday.

Read Watters’ statement here.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Council to discuss "safe ground" idea

2011-04-26T01:17:21Z

The Sacramento City Council will discuss the idea of setting aside land for the homeless on Tuesday night, but it will not decide on specific locations for a homeless living space.

Council members will participate in a workshop on the “safe ground” idea, promoted by a group that wants the city to provide a place for homeless to live together. The Safe Ground Sacramento group opposes the city’s ordinance against overnight camping.

The group, composed mostly of homeless people, has pressed its case for two years, but the city has not designated an area where the homeless can camp legally.

As part of the workshop, the Safe Ground group will present its ideas to the City Council.

Councilman Jay Schenirer, who initiated the upcoming workshop, said he wants the council to understand the safe ground plan. He pointed out that Safe Ground Sacramento now runs a campground for homeless people who are drug-free, and does not allow violence.

“For a cohort of individuals who are off drugs and violence, this is a viable alternative,” Schenirer said.

A designated living space is one of many methods that could address local homelessness, he said.

Safe Ground Sacramento is also looking at the idea of small cabins as temporary shelter for the homeless. John Kraintz, president of the group, said a community of cabins could be set up and paid for by businesses or churches in an “adopt-a-cabin” model. The cabins would have proper sanitation and clean, running water, he added.

“But first we need to get the land to put these things on,” he said.

The workshop will be part of the regular City Council meeting, which begins at 6 p.m. at 915 I St.

Read the city staff report on the safe ground workshop here.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Data: Homelessness declines in Sacramento County

2011-04-23T01:11:44Z

The number of homeless people in Sacramento County has sharply declined, according to 2011 figures on homelessness released Friday by Sacramento Steps Forward and Sacramento County. Long-term homelessness saw the biggest decrease, with a 50 percent drop since 2007.

Despite the lasting effects of the recession locally, the numbers for both long-term homelessness and overall homelessness have fallen compared to recent years.

On any given night in Sacramento County in 2011, there are 2,358 homeless people, said Paul Lake, director of the county’s Department of Human Assistance. That’s down from 2,800 people at any night in 2009.

“I think we were all pleasantly surprised,” Lake said.

The data released Friday is based on the Jan. 27 Homeless Street Count held by Sacramento Steps Forward.

“In addition to the substantial decrease of 50.8 percent in chronic homelessness between 2007 and 2011, this year’s homeless count also found a 15.8 percent decrease in overall homelessness since 2009,” according to a fact sheet on the data released by Sacramento Steps Forward and Sacramento County.

While the overall numbers are down, the county did see an 11.2 percent rise in families that are homeless since 2009, according to the figures.

Lake credited the drop in homelessness partly to the work of the Ten-Year Plan to End Chronic Homelessness, a partnership between local government agencies and private firms in the Sacramento County. LINK

“I was hopeful that we’d see the success of the efforts that we’ve been making in the 10-year plan,” Lake said. “I think this points out that we have achieved some success.”

Lake also said that a federal stimulus program that started in 2009, the Homeless Prevention and Rapid-Rehousing program, helped lower the number of homeless in Sacramento County.

He said about 1,600 people in Sacramento County gained housing help through that program.

The numbers, which were crunched by the MKS Consulting firm, will be used by the county’s Department of Human Assistance to maintain federal Housing and Urban Development Department funding, said Lake.

The fact sheet on the results of the homeless count says the data is based on a “statistically reliable research-based method of counting that is approved by the Federal Department of Housing and Urban Development.”

Sacramento County must provide statistics on homelessness to the federal housing department every other year, according to Michele Watts, program manager for Sacramento Steps Forward.

Lake explained that the data cannot be broken down by city to show how many homeless people are in each city in the county. The data was assessed by splitting up the county into areas that have a high number of homeless people and areas that have low numbers of homeless.

Volunteers counted homeless people in 100 percent of the high-density areas, said Megan Schatz, principal consultant for MKS Consulting, the firm that analyzed the data. About two-thirds of the low-density areas were counted, she said.

Because not every portion of the low-density areas were covered in the count, there is “no way to extrapolate how many people are in a given sub-section of the county,” Lake said.

Read the fact sheet on the new results here.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Editorial Note: This is an updated version of an earlier story.

LGBTQ Homeless Youth Fundraiser

2011-03-11T00:54:30Z

Homeless in America come in all colors, all ages and their number continues to grow. Homelessness in Sacramento is also on the rise. This past Tuesday, March 8, 2011 a fundraising reception was held at Beatnik Studios for the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer/Questioning (LGBTQ) homeless youth of Sacramento.

The humanitarian issue of homelessness is addressed differently depending on the areas that it affects. In Sacramento and other cities little has been done to meet the needs and challenges of the LGBTQ homeless youth.

These challenges are being addressed by the Sacramento Gay and Lesbian Center along with individuals and community groups. As a result The Sacramento LGBTQ Homeless Youth Initiative was created by these groups to address this issue.

Guests at the Beatnik Studios mingled while enjoying Michael “Custom Chef” Shugert’s catering. As I enjoyed the food I chatted with Roy Bishop and partner Bill Johnson. Roy and I talked about Los Angeles as it turned out we grew up around the same area down in Watts and East L.A. Mr. Bishop lived around the skid row area in L.A. around 5th and Main Streets. It’s unfortunate but that area is still considered skid row.

As Mr. Bishop talked about L.A. he reminisced about living in the downtown L.A. area during in the Zoot Suit time period. Having an older sister in Sacramento he made the move up here during adolescence where he went to school in Sacramento and Woodland. He’s been here ever since.

Roy Bishop was there to support the fundraising and pointed out some of the dignitaries on hand. He identified Wendy Hill for me. Wendy is the Executive Director of the Sacramento Gay and Lesbian Center. Roy indicated that she was going to be moving on to work at the State Legislature.

After a while Wendy Hill took the microphone to welcome guests at the event. “My name is Wendy Rae Hill; I’m the outgoing Executive Director at the Sacramento Gay and Lesbian Center. I’m so happy and welcome to all of you here tonight. It’s amazing to see this turnout.” said Wendy as she introduced herself and talked about the event.

A new initiative in Sacramento called the Homeless LGBTQ Youth Initiative brought guests to the event. Wendy also indicated that the co-chair of this event was Paul Curtis. “I started the center last May,” Wendy said as she gave a short background history. “Over the summer I noticed as I was coming to the center and opening up. There was about 6 to 8 young people that identified themselves as LBGT that would grab their backpacks and their belongings off the back deck and scamper away for a few hours and then sometime during the day came in to the bathroom and clean up or just hang out.” Wendy said.

Wendy said that she decided that instead of just closing her eyes to this she decided to act on what she saw. Wendy invited them in and talked to them about their circumstances. Sitting with these young people Wendy learned a lot about this special population of LGBT youth and young adults.

“I asked them to go around and count the number of their friends that they know of who are in that transition age, that 18 to 24 age group.” Wendy said. She indicated that there are approximately 32 youths in the Midtown area that fit the category. Wendy and Paul got together with other community leaders and talked about solutions to this problem.

This group talked about the services needed to be provided in the Midtown area for these homeless youth. Common characteristics were evaluated and Wendy indicated that “Most of them were either kicked out by their families or had to get out of their home at about age 18. Many were not prepared to be on their own. Few of them had a family history of poverty or homelessness meaning that once they were out on their own they had no idea what to do.For this youth the coping skills were just not there."

“It was their orientation or gender identity that was the reason why they no longer had that family.” Wendy said as she talked about this group of the homeless population. “The last common characteristic common for this group was that one of the reasons their parents, their family sited for kicking them out or pushing them out was religion.”

Wendy continued and said they identified that most of these kids, unless they were in the child welfare system or homeless system, prior to age 18 there are very few services available to them. She said, “That’s where tonight comes in. This fundraiser tonight is essentially raising the seed funds to move forward with a number of problem areas.”

Problem areas identified to be worked on were: creating an assessment system to evaluate needs, build a host housing program and provide support for the hosts that house young people. Creation of a Service Provided Training for these LGBT youths. Life Skills Training classes are also needed, as is the creation a mentoring and job training program, an emergency fund, a P.R./Communications program and fundraising.

Paul Curtis thanked those who helped put together the program. “We had a goal at the beginning,” said Paul. “The goal was, I thought, let’s see if we can raise 15 to 20 thousand dollars. I’m proud to say tonight that we met our goal.” Paul said and received cheers and applause from the audience. Paul indicated that in these economic times it’s hard to ask for funds and said, “It shows that our community really wants to embrace issues like this where there’s a huge need in our community.”

Paul thanked honorary co-chair and new County Supervisor Phil Serna. Mary Hernandez who donated the remaining campaign funds from her run for the City School Board election try was also recognized as one of the main contributors. Mary came on stage to say, “I wanted to thank the LGBT community because really you were my rock, you were my base when it came down to hitting the streets and help spread the word. First of all thank you very everything that everybody did on behalf of me and on behalf of my campaign.” Her contribution was appreciated and the guests thanked her.

Paul Curtis thanked the many individuals and organizations for their donations and acknowledged them for their contributions. He later continued, “This is just the start of the program, we have a long way to go. This gives us the seed money. The goal for this program is not keep it going with a community fundraiser every year, we’ll do something like this, but it will important that we out to the State and Federal Grants.”

Shahera Hyatt, Consultant, California Homeless Youth Project was introduced. Shahera has written her research brief; “Struggling to Survive: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer/Questioning Homeless Youth on the Streets of California” and is available on the California Homeless Youth Project web page.

Shahera informed the audience that copies of her report were available in a couple of areas in the building. “We know that in the state of California up to 200,000 youth experience homelessness over the course of a year. Up to 40% of them identify as LGBTQ. In researching this report I not only consulted literature on this population but also interviewed LGBTQ homeless youth themselves but also the service providers across the state.” She wanted to get a better picture on the unique challenges and strengths of this group, her findings can be found on the very interesting brief she wrote.

Wendy came back on stage to thank sponsors and remarked that the program will also require volunteers to share their expertise. Wendy pointed out that volunteer sheets were around the studio for those that wished to sign up.

Wendy invited Supervisor Serna to say a few words before the. “I’m very energized this evening to play a very small part of this great effort.” Serna said. He talked about his efforts to address homelessness in the Sacramento area but specifically around the American River Parkway. “I’m very honored to be associated with this effort and what I would like to do in the interest of being very proactive. I would like to set a new goal tonight if it’s okay. I would like to commit to raising at least another $5,000 by the end of April.” Serna said and received many cheers. “But that means everyone in this room has the commitment to collectively match that.”

The challenge was issued and Serna ended by saying, “You need to reach out to your friends, colleagues, workers and family members to help me match that so we can raise an additional $10,000 by the end of April.”

With the final comments made the food and drink areas acquired more visitors. New friends and contacts were made and the opportunity to meet people involved in the LGBT community ended the evening. Janice Steele, Pastor, of the Imani Community Church was on hand and we talked about the event. Her church is on 2100 J Street and said that the LGBT community is welcome to attend where they can meet people who are willing to offer support and, as their motto says, “Practice Radical Hospitality.”

New initiatives, information and websites regarding the LGBTQ (and non-LGBTQ) homeless community can be found at the following sites:

Cahomelessyouth.library.ca.gov
cahomelessyouth.library.ca.gov/docs/pdf/StrugglingToSurviveFinal.pdf
www.SacCenter.org
www.sacramentostepsforward.com
www.endhomelessness.org
http://www.calyouth.org

Experiences in Homelessness Part 1

2011-03-07T21:48:30Z

I am not a journalist. I have no college degree in journalism, social services or any other field. I am a formerly homeless person with a real/authentic homeless experience. I also have the real experience of somehow getting off the streets and slowly finding my way to what society calls 'home'. Here is a beginning to my story:

When I turned 18, my family disowned me because I smoked pot. I came (to my father's)home from work and found the locks had been changed and noone would answer the door. All the windows and doors were tightly locked. The message was clear. I stayed with friends for about 9 months, and applied for a community college in Eugene OR. When I was accepted, I sold my car and moved there with two 'friends'. Shortly into my first term, the landlord suposedly found out there were 3 of us living in a 1-bedroom apartment and demanded one of us leave immediatley. My 'friends' nominated me the evictee and told me to leave.

I moved in with some students I just met, who were nice enough to take me in, but I felt like a charity case and knew it was temporary. I was getting no help from anyone, family or friends. I was alone. After the 2nd semester my student loan abruptly terminated. Somehow I didnt recieve a letter in the mail that was required to be filled out in order for my loan to continue. I was only working 10-15 hours a week, and was using part of the loan to pay for rent.

With no way to pay the cost of living, and no desire to burden the kind people who allowed me to stay with them, I packed my backpack with what Ithought I would need to survive, including a sleeping bag, and slipped out the back that night. With very few options in sight, I hitchhiked to a rainbow gathering in Mt. Shasta. From there I hitched to S.F. to meet the Grateful Dead at the Warfield who were to be playing within the next couple months.

I stayed on Upper Haight where I saw a lot of people my age seemingly in the same situation as me. I was 19 soon to be 20. I slept in the Buena Vista Park mostly. Sometimes I would stay in the Golden Gate Park. I wasnt a hippy, but I had been introduced to 'the Dead' while living in Eugene, shortly before entering the streets, and took hope and comfort in that I may be able to become part of the 'Deadhead' culture. I was already so discouraged by the cards I'd been dealt though, that I was suffering from depression and could not grasp the idea of being social as a young homeless 'man'. So I often kept to myself.

After about 3-4 months in S.F., I got a ride with some strangers to Chattanooga TN to get on the Phish tour. I wasnt having luck getting on the 'Dead' tour, so I would try my luck with Phish instead. Arriving in Chattanooga, I knew noone, and felt very lost and alone. That night, I searched until I found what seemed a safe place to sleep. I slept terribly, and awoke to someone who owned the property I occupied. She took me to a place she thought would be a safe place for me to stay.

Unfortunatley, where she took me was most unsafe. It was a house that a family lived. A mother and her 2 sons, both sons between the ages of 35-45. I was very far from home, no family or friends to speak of, and I did not know what to do. I decided to stay there long enough to get some money saved up and a plan as to what to do next. The family had agreed to let me stay. Within a month, the situation had developed into a very oppressive and abusive situation of which I saw no escape. I was sexually assualted by the older brother on numerous occasions, and threatened with violence and death if I did not comply,submit, etc... I was heavily drugged to keep me in captivation. After 9 months I was 'released' and sent on a bus to my father's.

I had no desire to see my father, and was too ashamed and confused to tell anyone what had happenned to me in TN. I couldnt believe it myself. That people prey on young homeless people to oppress and abuse them is still hard for me to believe. It does make sense though, because who would believe a homeless person, or even care for their welfare? Homeless are a perfect target for predators, because the homeless have no voice, and not many care what happens to them.

This type of experience being homeless became somewhat common for me throughout the next 5-7 years. Being treated like garbage by many people, having no voice, being exploited by people with predatorial tendencies, moving from city to city in search of hope, sleeping in parks and being chased out and ticketed by police for tresspassing. It was so strange, being exploited by predators, and within a same 24 hour period, being ticketed by police for trespassing. And as a kid I always saw the police as being there to protect, etc...What a lesson learned.

Even though it is important not to portray homeless as victims, its just as important to see that many homeless are victims, and their cries are real. But society, and even many homeless people themselves, believe that the homeless arent victims. I am compelled to disagree. Society has preached this philosophy so much to the homeless that the homeless are desensitiesed to the idea that they may be victims. I didnt know I had been targeted, exploited, and victimized by predators who prey on homeless and other minorities until several years later, when I got off the streets and started to recieve mental health services. I am offended when people who have never been homeless try to accuse homeless people of falsly portraying themselves as victims as an attempt to recieve media attention. There are real victims that are homeless who have suffered much worse than I, who are in need of real help.

Continue to part 2 here

Mayor Johnson speaks at Oak Park Neighborhood Association Meeting

2011-02-05T01:27:51Z

The Sacramento Food Bank was filled with about 50 people Thursday night as Mayor Kevin Johnson spoke at the Oak Park Neighborhood Association meeting.

Johnson spoke about the green economy, downtown development, the state of Sacramento’s schools, volunteering in the city and homelessness.

He emphasized the need for a strong and vibrant downtown and a growing green economy.

“You kill two birds with one stone,” he said. “No. 1, you improve the environment, and No. 2, you can create jobs.”

Johnson said he is a proponent for building the sports arena downtown.

“Our community deserves a world-class facility, and I’d like to see that downtown because it creates jobs, and all the other businesses benefit from 20,000 people coming to that place 50 or 100 times a year,” he said.

The city has hired a business recruiter to find businesses to fill up the empty spaces on K Street, he said. He added that the pedestrian malls around the country haven’t worked, so cars are coming back to K street in 2011.

He also brought up the problems with Sacramento’s schools, especially the reading levels.

“In terms of third graders in the city of Sacramento, only 39 percent are reading at grade level citywide,” Johnson said. “That should be alarming. That means 61 percent are not.”

He proposed a citywide initiative to get 70 percent of third graders reading at grade level. The proposal would involve a tutoring and mentoring program utilizing seniors and recent college graduates.

Johnson said the initiative could begin in March.

People are moving away from the city for their children's education to places like Roseville, El Dorado, Folsom or Elk Grove that have better schools, he said.

One community member voiced concerned about Sacramento High School.

“Is there a threat to Sac High?” she asked. “How do we fight this idea that because student population has dropped we close the school?”

Johnson explained that the school district had prevented Sacramento High from recruiting students from the Oak Park area.

“What the school district did for the last five years was they would not allow Sac High to recruit kids from the normal middle schools that would go to Sac High,” he said. “They would not even send information to the middle school families to say that this is an option that you have.”

“That just doesn’t make sense,” said Johnson.

He expressed confidence that the community would fight to keep the school open.

An Oak Park Neighborhood Association board member wondered how people in Oak Park could work with the city volunteering effort.

Johnson suggested she contact Keith Hart, chief service officer, who is coordinating the city’s volunteer effort.

He said he set a goal of 500,000 volunteering hours in 2009, and the city got 1.7 million. In 2010, his goal was 3 million, and the city got 3.1 million hours. This year, his goal remains 3 million, with the addition of raising the number of Sacramentans who volunteer from 24 to 35 percent.

The mayor’s top four issues for volunteers to get involved with are education, homelessness, environmental issues and emergency preparedness.

“What are we doing about the homeless?” one attendee asked.

Johnson responded that the city set a goal of building 3,000 permanent housing units over three years and built 1,500 of them last year.

“In the first year we’re 500 ahead of schedule,” he said.

He mentioned an effort by the faith community called Winter Sanctuary, where churches bring in up to 100 homeless, the effort has saved the city a couple hundred thousand dollars, he said.

Sacramento had the opportunity to get $1.6 million from the federal Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program but had to raise $400,000 to receive the funds.

The city raised matching funds with the help of area churches who asked their congregations to contribute at least one day’s worth of their rent.

After the mayor finished, the OPNA held an election for seven board positions. Only seven people were on the ballot. One community member, Cory Cliff, attempted to put himself on the ballot but was ineligible because he hadn’t attended three OPNA meetings in the last 12 months.

The new board members are: Bill Knowlton, Terre Johnson, Micheal Luna, Charles Mason, Rev. Ashiya Edeye, Julian Slee and Joany Titherington.

The next Oak Park Neighborhood Association meeting will be held on March 3 at the Sacramento Food Bank, 3333 Third Avenue.

Another angle on Homelessness in Sacramento

2011-02-01T21:50:37Z

When we moved to Sacramento nine years ago, I was stunned by the beauty of the American river and the abundance of trees in this state capital. I was also surprised by the high number of homeless downtown. Sacramento was not the metropolitan area, I was expecting for a state capital.

In my opinion, Sacramento was a Californian urban area surrounded by suburbs. In a few years, the downtown-Midtown areas became more urban; people moved into lofts and renovated Victorians.

In 2009, Sacramento was labeled a tent city. The little secret about homelessness in this state capital worsened with the mortgage crisis. It was sad. A struggling middle class was losing houses far from downtown. Then they were reduced to find refuge in tents. Homeless and downtown residents live in parallel universes. Through the years and seasons, we share common areas but live parallel lives.

In spring, I took this picture in the midst of garbage. In a back alley, the Bible and the Sunday shoes were put aside. The neatness contrasted with the chaos. Someone tossed them away. And someone else found them and saved them because only he or she could see their real value for someone else.

I felt a mix of graciousness, awareness, kindness, gentleness, tenderness and selflessness. That is why I stopped and took this picture. I wanted to pick up the holy book, but it was not mine to take. It was there for reason. My reason was selfish. I was curious to find a note or anything. A lady did look at me like I’d lost my mind. Yes, sometimes when I find something outside that I can use and like, I take it. I guess she never did. So graciousness is another angle of homelessness. I hope that someone took the Bible and the Sunday shoes.

In summer, we took a bike ride to the river. My plan was to chill in the shade and read in peace. My son was planning to enjoy the freezing-cold water. However, we got there in the middle of a couple's courting rehearsal. I wanted to go farther away, but my son was already in the water. I sat down and watched their little opera. The lady apologized for the scene, and the man moaned at her. I told them that it was cool and they were cute together. And they started arguing about the labeling of their relationship. I knew my peaceful reading had just drowned.

A few minutes later, the lady introduced herself as Kim and her “friend” was Joe. Kim had a sweet, sandy and rocky voice. She had that protective armor that we build when we do not trust anymore. Joe was preaching every one of his sentences with all his strength. Joe, in his 50s, is from Michigan, and Kim, in her 40s, is from California. They are homeless and watch out for each other.

We talked about everything and nothing. Some parts were pure nonsense, but they also shared pure and real wisdom. Joe had a necklace with a wooden cross. His father left him when he was five years old. I could feel his childhood pain in his voice.

Joe told me, “Baby Girl, I will be real with you. Life is hard. You must never worship men. The secret is to love everybody, and the rest will come. I love every motherfucka out here, but the most difficult shit is to love myself. Baby girl, I am rich! God is my father!!” He also made me promise to read Jeremiah chapter 29 verse 11 “For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

Kim mothered my son like a loving auntie. She told him to be proud and confident, no matter what others say. Watching her mothering my baby made me realize that I was lucky to share this moment with her.

Next to my son, Kim dropped her armor, and she was soft and fragile. Even my son became aware of her calm and delicate aura. Kim shared that she has four kids who are staying with her mother. She has a drinking problem caused by really violent domestic violence. She has a large scar on her throat. She said “it is hard to be trusted again, but it is harder to trust. It is hard to find a good man that sees you and does not hurt you inside. I need to find myself first”

Kim and Joe were missing their children. They were longing to belong. And they starved to be needed. Beyond their opera characters, I saw glimpses of very deep and powerful persons inside. They were very appreciative of my listening. They were proud to share their wisdom and parenting skills. They were happy that I could see beyond the homelessness. They gave me priceless compliments and blessings that warmed my soul. We whispered to each other words of wisdom and hope.

Kim was dreaming to get back to her children. Joe was dreaming to travel around and be in his children’s lives before he becomes a grandfather. Kim also wished to have a place called home with her children. And Joe also wished to say, “I am going home for dinner.” At the end, we exchanged grateful salutations and blessings.

This winter, I hope that Kim and Joe did find a refugee. I am forever grateful for these two wisdom whisperers.

DSP program works on homeless issues

2010-12-21T05:11:12Z

Ryan Loofbourrow admits he didn't know anything about the homeless when he became field supervisor for Downtown Sacramento Partnership's Downtown Guides in 1995.

At that time, he believed social service agencies were responsible for handling the homeless and their problems. His attempts to work with people living on the business district's streets involved pointing the way north to Loaves and Fishes.

"That's not how it works," he said recently. "They are all individuals. And it takes a more individualized effort to get them into a more stable living situation."

Loofbourrow found social service programs were spread out and and hard to find, especially for those suffering from mental illness, drug addiction or chronic drunkenness. He also discovered homeless people sent to detox, jail and mental crisis centers against their wills were much harder to work with the next time around.

He created an outreach program, in partnership with a church and nonprofit housing agency, to go out to the streets and parks where homeless people live and help them one-on-one.

The private program now offers Sacramento’s only significant outreach to the homeless.

Within the last two years, providers including Volunteers of America (VOA) and nonprofit mental health organizations lost eight or nine outreach workers due to cuts in Sacramento County funding for homeless programs. Only one or two publicly funded outreach workers are still working, Sacramento Steps Forward Director Tim Brown said.

"The Navigator program is one of the only pieces of outreach that we have left in the whole system," he said.

Loofbourrow directs DSP's Community Services. He oversees the yellow-jacket Downtown Guides and a sister program, the blue-jacket Navigator program, which he began in 2006 to work with the Cathedral Square Homeless Program. The latter was started in 2005 by the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament and its St. Vincent dePaul Society, with help from DSP, Pyramid Alehouse and the California State Association of Counties.

Loofbourrow modeled the Navigator program after a now-disbanded Volunteers of America (VOA) HOPE team that did outreach work with homeless people. Navigators help connect homeless people with the Cathedral Square Homeless Program and a deacon there who helps them get into housing with Sacramento Self Help Housing. That agency can provide followup and case management.

"It's quite a collaboration, actually," Brown said.

Loofbourrow has helped develop a program designed to work with people experiencing different degrees of homelessness – from the incidental homeless, who are temporarily homeless mainly due to circumstances but have a desire to work and live inside; to the episodically homeless who may be in an abusive relationship, have a slight mental health issue or an addiction; to the chronically homeless, plagued by problems with drugs, alcohol and/or mental illness.

Every weekday, a staff of four outreach workers or "Navigators" walk the streets and back alleys of downtown and Midtown to work directly with homeless people. Loofbourrow gets out often as well. Downtown navigators cover an area from Front to 16th streets between H and L streets. A Midtown navigator works from 16th to 29th streets between J and L streets.

Their jobs include asking homeless people to move out of business entries and alleys early each morning, as well as establishing and maintaining daily contact with people. They call in police or paramedics when needed.

On a recent December morning, cold rain dripped down the sides of buildings. A panhandler grabbed recyclable cans from the trash and asked two passing men for money, while another guy talked loudly as he walked slowly past the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament. The doors of the church stood open despite the chill.

Three navigators – Jvance "J" Stewart, Crystal Jordan and Teresa Olivas – strolled through Cathedral Square. Olivas checked in with a man talking to his "inner stimuli" while Jordan talked to a third man who asked for help getting a small fee waived so he could stay at a single-room occupancy (SRO) building.

An elderly woman, her face hidden under a hood, pushed a cart down K Street Mall after spending the night in an alcove. Navigators checked in with her, but steered clear of a big woman talking to herself and carrying a big, wooden stick in her shopping cart when she shuffled past.

"She's angry," Olivas said. "See that stick? She could hit you. I've seen her throwing belts out in the street. You want to keep a distance when she's like that."

Most Navigators learn on the job. Loofbourrow searches for people with the right combination: outgoing, approachable and patient, yet firm. Navigators must work with people on complex issues. For many, their personal crises come into conflict with business owners and their customers, and others in the downtown environment, over and over again.

Only Olivas has prior experience doing outreach work, in her case, with VOA.

Navigators also act as advocates. They'll accompany people to agencies to get current identification or apply for government benefits. People working at government agencies or nonprofits may not have the training or the patience to help someone who is mentally ill or extremely stressed, Loofbourrow said.

The $175,000 annual budget for the Navigators program covers salaries and uniforms for Jordan, Olivas, Stewart and Tammie Van Hook, who does outreach in Midtown. The money also pays for services, such as bus tickets, clothes, transportation costs and other necessities. Olivas joined the team in late 2010.

DSP funds one Navigator. The others are financed by the Midtown Business Association, Sutter Medical Center and the Central Public Library.

Sacramento County is reported to have at least 1,200 people living on the street and about 3,000 who are homeless at some point each year. Tracking homeless people is such a challenge because their lives are in such flux, Loofbourrow said.

Three Navigators worked with 159 homeless people in the downtown and Midtown coverage areas in 2010. Of those, 19 percent are still active, 29 percent were housed with family or long-term housing, 9 percent in shelters, 18 percent referred to social services, 20 percent left the area, 2 percent were arrested, 2 percent refused service and 1 percent died, he said.

DSP rarely hears from homeless people after they’ve left the area.

Loofbourrow has learned much about the complex problems plaguing the homeless, mentally ill, indigents and addicts. He has helped spearhead efforts to combat these problems. For example, public drunkenness is down 70 to 80 percent downtown since Loofbourrow and the District Attorney's office started a serial inebriate program in 2005. He's worked closely with the DA's community prosecutor to solve recurring problems.

His confidence in the program's individualized approach was cemented when they took on their first client: a woman living in the park who was so seriously mentally ill, she urinated through her clothes on the benches where she sat. Loofbourrow was afraid they wouldn't be able to reach her.

But working closely with her, they got her to social services and into an SRO hotel within two weeks. They helped reunite her with her family a year later.

"That gave me hope," Loofbourrow said. "I thought, 'Wow. If we can help that lady, we can do anything.'

New organization to take over the fight against homelessness

2010-12-15T01:47:14Z

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 having it fully operational by the end of this fiscal year,” said Moore. “The actions today at the (County) Board of Supervisors and the (City) Council will actually start the process going.”

The new organization is scheduled to take over The Homeless Continuum of Care by July 1, 2011. The CoC oversees many county programs in the fight against homelessness.

The nonprofit half of the structure would take the reins of the CoC from the DHA. The JPA portion would set policies, procedures, provide a forum for multi-jurisdictional meetings and coordinate public-private sector collaboration.

A Dec. 14 City Council staff report said that the benefit of this public-private partnership is the ability to tap multiple sources of funding. The JPA would have access to federal and state funds.

The nonprofit would manage grants and private sources of funds. The partnership also helps smooth over transitional challenges stemming from funding sources requiring government administration as part of the deal.

This dynamic combination is being modeled after the success of Safe Passages in Oakland and the Community Shelter Board in Columbus, Ohio.

The CoC is a broad government and community response to homelessness in the county that oversees 79 different programs dealing with homelessness prevention, emergency shelter and transitional and permanent housing. CoC manages more than 70 contracts with organizations that provide services to the homeless. It receives $29 million to run its programs from federal and other sources.

The DHA is under a March 15, 2011 deadline to present a working plan to transition CoC to its new administrators.

Sacramento County Department of Human Assistance Funds Winter Shelter for Homeless

2010-12-06T17:28:57Z

The Department of Human Assistance (DHA), in conjunction with its partners, Volunteers of America and Sacramento Area Emergency Housing Center (SAEHC) will provide winter housing and shelter to homeless families from December 1, 2010, through March 31, 2011. DHA will provide $150,000 in funding. With half of this funding Volunteers of America will be able to provide up to 25 beds for families at 3547 Myrtle Avenue, and with the other half SAEHC will be able to provide up to 25 beds for families at 3671 5th Avenue.

“Sacramento County is committed to helping the homeless in our community,” said Paul Lake, DHA Interim Director. “While the funding amount is less than in previous years, it will provide shelter for many homeless families who otherwise would be spending very cold and rainy nights on the streets. We are thankful to our partners who provide these much needed services.”

Other partners, Sacramento Steps Forward (SSF), Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency (SHRA), and homeless service providers, will support winter shelter for single adults.

Sacramento Steps Forward is coordinating a faith-based nomadic shelter program to house up to 100 single adults per night. SHRA also plans to contract with Sacramento Area Emergency Housing Center (SAEHC) to provide motel vouchers for the most vulnerable homeless families and individuals. Funding for these efforts will come from private faith contributions, anticipated foundations grants, and up to $100,000 in Community Development Block Grant funds received by SHRA and approved by the Board in 2009 for homeless activities.

The Department of Human Assistance provides homeless programs from emergency shelters and transitional housing. Both provide different levels and kinds of services. DHA is also a partner with the City of Sacramento in the 10 Year Plan to End Chronic Homelessness approved by the Board of Supervisors in 2006.

Disclosure: Lucinda Serynek is employed by the Sacramento County Department of Human Assistance Communications and Media Officer

Effort to count the homeless underway

2010-11-26T18:34:06Z

A local group that addresses homelessness is already preparing to count the county’s homeless population in January.

Sacramento Steps Forward, a group formed by Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson to combat homelessness locally, is organizing the 2011 Homeless Street Count. While Johnson’s group is running the event, the information from the Jan. 27 count will be used by Sacramento County.

The county is required by the federal Housing and Urban Development agency to provide information from a count every other year, said Michele Watts, program manager for Sacramento Steps Forward. The federal housing agency provides millions of dollars to Sacramento County’s homeless programs, Watts said.

At this point, Sacramento Steps Forward is gathering information to map out where the county’s homeless are living. The group and hundreds of volunteers will use that information to find homeless people during the Homeless Count.

“What we have on our maps now is a lot of high-density areas,” Watts said. These areas include downtown and Midtown Sacramento, which are locations with many homeless people, she said.

About 20 people turned out for a series of drop-in sessions held last week to help pinpoint where the homeless are living in the county, she said. In addition, a group of about 50 participated in a session at Loaves & Fishes earlier this week.

Watts said she will continue to work on the mapping process in appointments with people who may have information about where the homeless are staying. For example, she said she had set up meetings with a Sacramento police officer and a Sacramento County park ranger.

Tracie Rice-Bailey, an advocate who was once homeless, participated in a recent mapping session. She echoed Watts’ comment, saying that the downtown area was mapped out well.

However, she said Sacramento Steps Forward needs more information about where homeless people are living in outlying areas, such as spots near Citrus Heights. She suggested that the group ask law enforcement officials in outlying areas for information on locations. “If they don’t know, nobody does,” Bailey said.

Watts also said that law enforcement representatives have good information on locations.

However, the role of law enforcement in the count and mapping sessions is a complicated matter, according to Watts.

Sacramento Steps Forward will not publish maps with the exact locations where homeless people live, she said. The group is making efforts to protect the homeless population from rousting, she said, pointing out that the city of Sacramento has a camping ban on its books.

“It is technically illegal to sleep outside,” Watts said. “That’s the concern.”

However, the group will rely on hundreds of volunteers to help count the homeless in January. The count will be conducted at night, which means there could be some safety concerns, Watts said. To address any safety issues, teams of volunteers will have a law enforcement official accompany them, she said.

The law enforcement presence during the count “is sort of a trade-off,” she said, between the group’s concerns about rousting and protecting the safety of the volunteers.

But Sgt. Norm Leong, spokesman for the Sacramento Police Department, said the location of homeless people is not a significant concern for the department.

“Identifying where the camps are is not a major issue for us,” he said. “The reality is, we only enforce the camping ordinance when we get complaints.”

Sacramento Steps Forward will recruit volunteers for the count starting Dec. 10, Watts said. About 350-400 volunteers are needed to count the county’s homeless on Jan. 27, she said. Volunteers may sign up to volunteer on the Hands on Sacramento website. More information about the sign-up process is here.

Photo by Brandon Darnell.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Severe Weather Alert: Warming Centers Open for Homeless People in Sacramento

2010-11-23T20:42:11Z

An early bout of severe weather will hit Sacramento tonight through Wednesday night, endangering the lives of the approximately 1,200 homeless men, women and children sleeping outside in Sacramento County. The next three days will see lows of 28 degrees to 30 degrees, with rain forecasted for this evening.

Due to the projected low temperatures, warming centers are being activated for Tuesday, November 23, Wednesday, November 24, and Thursday, November 25, 2010.

Open warming centers are:

-Volunteers of America A Street Shelter (1400 North A Street, next door to TLCS Guest House: Men only

-Salvation Army Shelter (12th & North B Street): Women and Men, 18 years +

-Union Gospel Mission (400 Bannon Street): Men only

The warming centers are open from 8:00 pm to 6:00 am. The warming centers will close on Friday, November 26. An additional bulletin will follow if the dates of availability are extended.

Please note: this is not a sleeping arrangement. This is a place to get out of the weather. Unfortunately, animals will not be allowed inside.

Folks can always call 2-1-1 (or 916-498-1000) from their phones to receive up-to-date information on warming centers or shelter in the future.

Additionally, those in need of shelter or housing resources, can visit Sacramento Steps Forward's Find Help: Shelter page for important phone numbers and information. The section on the page titled "Open Beds for Sacramento's Winter Shelter" will be updated with pertinent winter shelter phone numbers and information by the end of the week.

Please pass along this information on warming centers to any persons who might be interested or are in need of shelter from the cold during the next three days.

Local Homeless Initiative Launches Fundraising Campaign for Winter Shelter

2010-11-03T17:00:28Z

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.

Q&A with Safe Ground's Tracie Rice-Bailey

2010-10-01T23:29:32Z

If you attend the weekly Sacramento City Council meetings, you’re likely to see an activist with colorful clothing address city leaders on homeless issues.

Tracie Rice-Bailey, 57, has appeared at Tuesday night council meetings so frequently in the last year that she has become a familiar face at City Hall.

For more than a year, Rice-Bailey and other advocates for the homeless have lobbied council members for a legal camping ground for the area’s homeless.

Rice-Bailey is a vocal member of the advocacy group that calls itself Safe Ground Sacramento. The group wants the city to reserve a space for homeless people where the city’s camping ban would not apply.

Rice-Bailey, who said she was homeless for 12 years and now lives downtown, often intersperses her short speeches at City Hall with quotations from the Bible. She also has a distinctive style: She is instantly recognizable because of her 1960s-era necklaces and beaded headband.

The Sacramento Press sat down with Rice-Bailey at Loaves & Fishes recently to talk to her about her role with the Safe Ground campaign. In her responses, she referred to “Tent City,” the homeless campground in Sacramento that attracted major media attention last year.

The Sacramento Press: How did you become involved with the Safe Ground issue?

Rice-Bailey: I was trying to get John Kraintz (current Safe Ground president) to work with me because I wanted someone else to roll with ... and he flipped me to work with the Sacramento Homeless Organizing Committee. And out of SHOC, Safe Ground was born.

SP: So, SHOC was first, and then Safe Ground came after that.

TRB: Sacramento Homeless Organizing Committee has been here for years. And that is our mother. We were at a SHOC meeting actually trying to figure out what to do with the people from Tent City because everyone was being displaced.

John had to go to the bathroom, and everyone was jamming John up, (asking): “What are we going to call it? What are we going to do? Where are we going to go?”

And John’s going, “Man, I just need safe ground!”

Hence our name.

It became Safe Ground from that second on. That’s what we all need: We all need safe ground.

SP: Safe Ground has been around for —

TRB: July 1, 2009 was our maiden march and our maiden camp-out. We camped across from the water treatment plant. And from there we went by the mission on Bannon Street. From there, we went to what we call the “field of dreams.”

From there, we went to Mark Merin’s property on 13th Street — and everybody knows about that.

And now, we’re out in the woods hiding again.

SP: Field of dreams? What is that?

TRB: That’s the North 10th property. We call it the field of dreams because when you have nothing, it’s a dream to even have a field.

SP: That’s an empty property?

TRB: It’s an empty property with trees on it, which makes it a dream in itself. The tent city by campers was not called “Tent City.” It was called “The Wasteland” or “The Badlands” because there’s no trees. There’s no shelter. There’s nothing to shelter you from the sun.

SP: Safe Ground advocates have been lobbying the City Council for more than a year. How optimistic do you feel about a Safe Ground site being set up?

TRB: I think they really have no choice. There is no budget. Nobody has a budget ... If they would just give us a moratorium (on the camping ban). And I’m not saying (that we should) sleep on K Street or J Street, which people do right now anyway. But give us a place to be, and let us be self-governing. Let us take it from there.

SP: Are Safe Ground advocates taking their cause to the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors?

TRB: We’ve made one visit there. We’ve been talking about that as something we’re going to have to start doing. The reason we’ve gone to the city so hard is that the city has the ordinance, and the city has the ability to change that ordinance. They can sign a paper and give us a moratorium ... The county does all the homeless services. But now they’re cutting all of them. So, we’ve got to go there.

SP: I’ve heard you quote the Bible in your comments at City Hall. I’ve heard you speak many times. How do your personal religious views relate to your advocacy for a Safe Ground site?

TRB: We are our brother’s keeper. How the hell are you going to say I’m my brother’s keeper and not try to find him a place to be? You can’t. It’s not acceptable behavior. We’re here to learn to love each other. If we can’t figure out how to get along here, there is nothing left for us later.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

City still vague on specific Safe Ground sites

2010-09-14T20:40:34Z

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 establishing the site.

The mayor said he was “inclined to support” the idea of a Safe Ground site.

For more than one year, Safe Ground advocates have repeatedly asked the City Council to take action. They want a site that would not fall under the city’s camping ban.

While it does not appear that any immediate action will be taken on Safe Ground, both the city and county governments are now considering the idea of setting up a new nonprofit organization to combat homelessness.

City and county officials say a nonprofit will need to be set up in large part because the county’s Department of Human Assistance will not have enough funding to manage its homelessness program after February 2011.

Photo by Brandon Darnell.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Safe Ground opposes City Council vote on public comments

2010-08-25T05:39:44Z

A group that presses for a designated camping space for homeless people in Sacramento opposed on Tuesday the City Council’s decision to move the open public comment section of council meetings to the end of the meeting.

About 18 supporters of Safe Ground Sacramento stayed until the end of Tuesday’s City Council meeting to oppose the controversial decision the body made last week.

Before last week’s decision, open public comment was heard by the City Council at the beginning of weekly council meetings.

During the open public comment part of council meetings, Safe Ground Sacramento supporters regularly urge the city to reserve a space in which homeless residents can camp. The city enforces its anti-camping ban.

“You guys feel like our comments don’t mean nothing,” Safe Ground supporter Shane Eck told the City Council Tuesday.

Councilwoman Lauren Hammond said last week that she hoped moving the public comment session to the end of meetings would quicken the meetings. She also said that “special interests” dominate the open public comment time period.

Judging from comments from council members Tuesday night, it appears that the City Council may take another look its decision.

Councilwoman Bonnie Pannell said Tuesday that she now likes the idea of holding it at the beginning of the meeting as long as there is a half-hour time limit on the public comment session.

Council members Sandy Sheedy, Rob Fong, Bonnie Pannell, Robbie Waters and Lauren Hammond last week voted in favor of moving the open public comment session to the end of council meetings.

Mayor Kevin Johnson and council members Kevin McCarty and Ray Tretheway voted against the move and wanted to keep the session at the beginning of meetings.

Councilman Steve Cohn was absent from last week’s meeting. He said Tuesday that he missed last week’s vote because he was attending a family reunion. Cohn expressed support for moving open public comment back to the beginning of meetings, and putting a time limit on that segment of the meeting.

Photo: Safe Ground leader John Kraintz speaks at a July rally in Sacramento.

Photo by Dunia Hamza.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Cottage Housing Inc. celebrates 15 years

2010-06-28T02:07:30Z

Local homeless transition and recovery organization Cottage Housing Incorporated will celebrate its 15th year Wednesday with a fundraising celebration entitled "Beacon of Hope" at the Crest Theatre. The event will include and evening of reflection, entertainment and launch the program's Home Run! initiative.

CHI President and CEO Robert Tobin has been deeply involved with Sacramento's homeless community throughout the past 10 years.

"Homelessness is a symptom of larger systemic issues within our society," Tobin said. "Increasing challenges within our educational and medical systems affect some people more than others."

To aid individuals and families in need, CHI opened its first living facility, Quinn Cottages, in 1998. To qualify for the program, participants must make a commitment to sobriety, have self-defined personal development goals and render voluntary services. Participants may live in the facilities for up to 24 months and are considered graduates when they have secure housing, stabilized income and are sober at the time of their departure.

With the fall of the economy and rise of unemployment over the past few years, homelessness rates have shot up, and the need for homeless assistance has increased.

"The biggest change over the last five years is the length of time applicants are spending on our waiting list," Tobin said. "There was an 85 percent increase in the percentage of homeless population that is unsheltered."

Tobin went on to explain that waiting lists to get into Cottage Housing used to be three months, which is around the same time people are allowed to stay in emergency shelters. Now with the economic shift, typical waiting time is 10 months, forcing those in need to circle back to the streets before entering the program.

The Home Run! initiative is aiming to help heal that problem. The initiative is designed to double accommodations from 241 bedrooms to 500 and triple residential capacity from 450 to 1,400 adults and their children annually. Already $1 million has been generated for the expansion, and CHI is working to triple that amount.

The "Beacon of Hope" event will kick-off the public portion of the fundraising campaign. The night will be full of presentations and entertainment, including a performance by the Sacramento Gay Men's Choir.

The event will also recognize now-retired Bishop Francis A. Quinn, who has been involved with the organization since its inception. At the event, Quinn will be introduced by Mayor Kevin Johnson as the first annual Beacon of Hope honoree.

Wednesday's event begins at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $45 and can be purchased by e-mailing beaconofhotpe@cottagehousing.org or by calling 916-971-1566 x13. The Crest Theatre is located at 1013 K St.

For more information, visit cottagehousing.org.

All photos courtesy of Michael Iredale .

Residential housing program proves homeless individuals can turn their lives around

2010-05-28T18:02:34Z

Last week, 15 formerly homeless individuals were recognized for their transition off the streets during Cottage Housing’s semi-annual graduation ceremony. The honorees, seven men and eight women, tearfully but eloquently told the audience about the struggles to get into the two year program, and the success which has resulted from their time there.

Tom Pratt, a 2010 graduate of the program, started his stay at Quinn Cottages in January 2008.

“I came with very few possessions, no job and eight months of sobriety. I didn’t know a lot about Quinn Cottages, but I was determined to use my time here to get back on my feet and return to society as a tax payer and not a tax taker,” said Pratt.

Pratt has followed through with his goals. He is now married and working full time for the State Franchise Tax Board, a job he worked hard to obtain over the last year.

“What Quinn did for me was afforded me the time to pursue my goals and work towards a bright future which I now have,” Pratt added.

“When I came to Quinn Cottages I didn’t have more than the clothes on my back, but I had a lot of hope, commitment and determination and they were behind me all the way, said another participant, David Donnelly. “When you come here with nothing, and leave with something, it means a lot.” (Watch Donnelly’s full speech on Facebook.)

Residents at Quinn Cottages spend up to two years living in one of the program’s 60 midtown housing units. While there, the residents commit to maintaining sobriety, pursuing self-defined personal development goals and volunteering regularly in the community. Cottage Housing’s program has resulted in over 400 graduates since its opening in 1997.

Quinn Cottages is one of two residential housing units operated by Cottage Housing. Serna Village, located at McClellan Park, has 83 apartments which serve over 100 recently homeless adults and more than 200 children.

For more information about Cottage Housing, including how to volunteer or donate, please visit www.cottagehousing.org or visit on Facebook. http://www.facebook.com/cottagehousing.

*Full disclosure: Writer works for a marketing agency. Cottage Housing is a paid client of 3fold Communications.

Women's Empowerment offers professional makeovers

2010-05-05T07:16:49Z

Early Tuesday morning, hairspray filled the air and clothes flew off the racks while women in a fashion frenzy closely studied their figures in full-length mirrors. Laughter echoed down the hallway of the Women's Empowerment building as ladies were transformed into professional divas. The ambiance was similar to a group of friends during a shopping trip.

The makeovers were not simply a day at the mall. The event was aimed to prepare formerly homeless women for job interviews.

Women's Empowerment is an eight-week program designed to help women ease their way out of poverty. Although revitalizing physical appearance is part of the process, the three core emphases of the program include finding housing, job-readiness education and access to better health care. Since its inception, 662 woman have completed the program with 91 percent finding permanent housing.

The program's director of community partnerships, Amber Scott, said their main goal is to end homelessness for good.

"It's important to focus on women and children," Scott said. "I've watched children born homeless and grow up to be homeless. It's a cycle."

The participants of Women's Empowerment are prepared for a working lifestyle. Program curriculum ranges from resume writing to time management. Computer skills are also emphasized, aided by a computer lab donated by Intel.

The program is incredibly successful with preparing its graduates for a professional work environment, but job placement has become difficult due to the high rate of unemployment.

"These women have worked too hard to fall through the gap because of a shaky economy," said Executive Director Lisa Culp.

At the makeover event, Culp introduced the program's new two-pronged approach to help graduates find employment. The organization has hired a job developer to match women directly to employers. Also, the program is developing a social enterprise that will provide paid work opportunities. There are currently many models that include unpaid training, but Women's Empowerment believes payment is the key factor in helping women escape homelessness.

The participants all tell a different story of hardship and an even more inspiring tale of overcoming obstacles. Michelle Rose completed the program two years ago after loosing her house, her job and going through an abusive relationship.

"I didn't know where to go," Rose recalled. "I was stressed and depressed. I needed a safe place to focus." Once Rose began the program, she became committed and didn't miss a day. After finishing the program, she said she realized how strong she is as a person.

"(Women's Empowerment) has so much spirit and so much love," Rose said.

Another success story of the program is Kari Scow. A former victim of domestic violence, Scow chose homelessness for herself and her children over the unsafe environment.

"I left everything," she said with a sigh. Scow spent 45 days in a shelter before learning about Women's Empowerment. She said the support was the most beneficial aspect.

"I have always had the skills," Scow said. "But now I have the confidence."

Since their completion of the program, Rose and Scow have donated their time and effort to other nonprofit organizations. Both women are off the streets but are still struggling to find steady jobs. The new job placement assistance could help the women and others like them find solid employment soon.

For more information about Women's Empowerment, visit womens-empowerment.org.

Photos:

1) Hairstyling by Mellow Me Out Salon

2) Women trying on clothing

3) Women awaiting their turn

4) Woman showing off options

5) Michelle Rose

6) Kari Scow

Affordable housing defined

2010-05-04T04:05:34Z

Everyone wants "affordable" housing. But few people know what that is.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has defined affordable housing as no more than 30 percent of a household's income.

That means you shouldn't be paying more than 30 percent of your income for housing — whether mortgage payments or rent — plus utilities each month.

"People think affordable housing means just one thing. But it doesn't," said Sandra Hamameh, program director for the Sacramento Housing Alliance. "It means being able to afford a place to live, at whatever stage you're in in your life."

Levels of affordability are also based on an area's median incomes. The median incomes for Sacramento County, based on 2009 figures, are $50,950 for a single person, $58,250 for a two-person household and $72,800 for a family of four.

For housing to be affordable, that single person should pay no more than $1,274 per month; the couple, or parent and child, household shouldn't pay more than $1,456; and the family of four should pay $1,820 or less, according to the California Department of Housing and Community Development.

Income levels that fall below the median include low income, very low income and extremely low income.

Low incomes are those at 80 percent of the median:
• $40,800 for a single person, making affordable housing no more than $1,020 a month;
• $46,600 for two people, and $1,165 a month for affordable housing;
• $58,250 for four people, and $1,456 a month for housing.

Very low incomes are those at 50 percent of the median:
• $25,500 for a single person, and $637 a month for affordable housing;
• $29,100 for two, and $727 a month for housing;
• $36,400 for four, and $910 a month for housing.

Extremely low incomes are those at 30 percent of the median:
• $15,300 for a single person, and $382 a month for housing;
• $17,500 for two, and $437 a month for housing;
• $21,850 for four, and $546 a month for housing.

Affordable housing may include subsidized housing projects such as multi-family apartments or single-family homes built or leased through public-private programs.

Single-resident occupancy units, or SROs, boarding houses and other arrangements offer housing for extremely low-income residents, but little of such housing exists, said Hamameh.

HUD has a housing choice voucher program known as Section 8 for elderly and disabled people, very low-income families, and homeless or otherwise-eligible veterans. Recipients use the vouchers to rent or buy housing.

Extremely low-income housing may also be occupied by people whose only income comes from monthly supplemental security income (SSI), Social Security or disability checks. A person getting $474 monthly SSI checks can afford rent of no more $142. A widow who now gets $718 a month in Social Security and $240 from her husband's retirement fund can afford rent of $287, Hamameh said.

In 2010, fair market rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Sacramento County is $852, according to HUD. Some people who can't find safe, quality affordable housing end up renting from private owners who still charge "fair market rate" for substandard housing, said Hamameh, whose organization has been advocating for affordable housing since 1989.

Suzanne Hurt is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Read the story about the proposal for the biggest SRO in Sacramento here .

A life-changing home for homeless, working poor

2010-05-04T04:05:00Z

A proposal is in the works to create one of the largest permanent supportive housing projects in the city.

The $41 million building at Seventh and H streets also is poised to become the city's newest single-resident occupancy, or SRO, structure. The infill project would feature sustainable design and materials, so the developers and architects will ask the U.S. Green Building Council to certify it as a sustainable building.

But perhaps most unique about the public-private project being developed by Mercy Housing and the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency is that it would offer support services to formerly homeless people in innovative and mixed-population permanent housing. Its architects are Mogavero Notestine Associates of Sacramento and SERA Architects of Portland.

Half of the mid-rise's 150 units will be set aside as for homeless people. The other half will become home to the working poor: low-income workers who earn 40 percent to 50 percent of the median income, or $20,000 to $25,000 a year.

The 7th and H Mixed-Use Affordable Housing project differs from transitional housing, such as Mercy Housing's Quinn Cottages, which provide up to two years of transitional housing close to downtown.

"We (represent) that next step, to what is now permanent supportive housing. You don't have to leave," said Rich Ciraulo, project manager for Mercy Housing in West Sacramento. "Instead, you are put in an environment where there are a lot of supportive services and community building, and an attempt to really support your reconnection to the rest of society."

Supportive programs will focus on health, education, community integration and finances.

An on-site 3,800-square-foot, federally qualified health clinic will serve residents and the public. The Effort, a Sacramento nonprofit health services provider, will operate primary health and behavioral health services.

Doctors, nurses and physician assistants will provide health screenings, immunizations, lab work and other medical care. At least one licensed clinical social worker will provide therapeutic counseling and recovery support groups will have a space to meet.

Mercy Services Corporation will handle property management. Three on-site resident service coordinators, working as case managers, will connect tenants with community resources and on-site services.

By working with other service organizations, the service coordinators will identify people who qualify as homeless. They would come directly from transitional housing, including emergency shelters, or off the street. Tenants for other units would have to qualify based on income, Ciraulo said.

Two property managers will also work on site. The building's entrance will be secure, with tenants and guests checking in with 24-hour front desk clerks.

Residents will have access to tutoring, computer classes and leadership training, as well as career counseling and financial literacy and planning. They also will have opportunities to work within the broader community via volunteering, community watch groups and other programs. An on-site job-training program is being explored, Ciraulo said.

Public spaces are vital for building a sense of community and encouraging people to get out of their units and interact with neighbors, he said.

Inside, the project's public-space centerpiece will be a community room with an adjacent communal kitchen — a large gathering place where residents can hang out and bond at events like Thanksgiving dinner. Three smaller lounges will be on alternating floors of the eight-story building.

"You really want to feel like you're invested in where you live and who your neighbors are, and like this is a very special place to live," Ciraulo said.

Outside public spaces also will improve residents' quality of life and give them access to fresh air in private settings, he said. Two second-floor roof gardens will be for residents' exclusive use. Each lounge will have a balcony facing Seventh Street.

The building also will have a computer room. While some money has been budgeted for equipment, Mercy Housing is trying to get computers donated.

Mercy is proposing ground-floor retail such as a cafe or bakery, that would be an amenity to the neighborhood, Ciraulo said.

The project is being designed to fill a gap in care for homeless people who were getting help with health, mental health and substance abuse issues while on the street. Tenants will be able to receive those services onsite instead or be connected with new services.

"It's really critical that services are matched if you're trying to house homeless or formerly homeless people," said Tim Brown, director of Sacramento Steps Forward, a nonprofit formerly known as the Ending Chronic Homelessness Initiative.

The project also is designed to help people working at low-wage jobs downtown by providing housing close to their jobs, Ciraulo said.

Sacramento has some mixed-population, supportive-housing developments, such as one near Arden Fair Mall. This one is being modeled after Portland's Richard L. Harris Building at 8 NW 8th St., which has won awards for affordable housing innovations and integrating housing and social services. SERA Architects designed that project.

The building is intended to create 122 of the 200 SRO units the city must replace by 2011, under its own ordinance, said Christine Weichert, assistant director of housing and community development for SHRA.

Sitting behind the Sacramento County Jail, the project at Seventh and H streets would include 122 studios measuring 325 square feet that rent for $206 to $581, and 28 one-bedroom units for $207 to $619. Both would have full kitchens and bathrooms, unlike standard SROs, which usually have kitchenettes and communal bathrooms, Ciraulo said.

Rent will be income-based. Mercy Housing will target people on Social Security or disability for most units. Whether tenants are formerly homeless or low-wage workers, they will pay 30 percent of their income, he said.

In the 1970s, Sacramento had about 3,000 SRO units. A 2006 city ordinance called for no net loss of the remaining 712 SRO units.

"Preservation of the SROs is vital to including a much-needed piece in the housing continuum," said Sandra Hamameh, program director for the Sacramento Housing Alliance.

Proposals call for the project to be largely publicly funded. Mercy, which is quite possibly the largest provider of service-enriched housing in the area, and SHRA are going after local, state and federal funding, including highly competitive federal tax credits, Weichert said.

Several sources will pay for services, including public funding and fund raising. Community services will be used as much as possible, and some services — such as those for resident service coordinators — will be integrated into the building's operating budget. About 15 percent of the operating costs would be set aside for services, Ciraulo said.

The city's Planning Commission is set to give final approval to the project May 6. The Sacramento City Council is expected to be asked to provide some funding at a June meeting, said Weichert, adding that the amount will be determined within two weeks.

Developers hope to have financing in place by September. If so, construction could begin by February. The building would be expected to open by October 2013.

With its mix of housing and support services, the project would keep a wider range of people with different income levels downtown, said Robert Tobin, president and chief executive officer of Cottage Housing, which operates the Quinn Cottages at 16th and North A streets.

"This is a population that is vulnerable," he said. "It really helps if you can have some support on site."

Graphic provided by Mercy Housing. Suzanne Hurt is a staff reporter covering business and development for The Sacramento Press.

Read more about what defines affordable housing here

About 50 people urge City Council to help form Safe Ground

2010-04-24T02:03:50Z

About 50 people urged the Sacramento City Council Thursday to help efforts to reserve land for the homeless. The people who addressed the City Council were supporters of the “Safe Ground” campaign, which opposes the city’s anti-camping ordinance and advocates for a living space for the city’s homeless.

The recent stabbing death of 68-year-old Bernice Nickson, a homeless resident, was mentioned in the comments of some of the Safe Ground advocates.

The Safe Ground supporters spoke during the part of the meeting reserved for public comments on subjects that are not covered in the agenda. Council members do not respond to citizens during that part of each City Council meeting.

Comments from some of the people who addressed the City Council Thursday are below:

Tracie Rice-Bailey, advocate for Safe Ground: Had [Nickson] had a safe place to sleep, she would be alive today. If this is not a solid reason for safe ground, what might be? We need to get real and not let this happen to anyone else. We need a moratorium on the anti-camping ordinance now.

Joan Burke, director of advocacy for Sacramento Loaves & Fishes: Please give us Safe Ground so that no woman has to sleep outside in Sacramento, and no woman has to die because she’s homeless.

John Kraintz, advocate for Safe Ground: Safe Ground is hoping to offer something that provides a solution of empowerment, rather than entitlement. To try to be contributors. That’s why these people are here tonight — because they’re part of your community. They care. How many normal citizens do we find coming out to talk to the City Council and tell them what’s on their mind?

Mark Merin, civil rights attorney: When people say they’re part of Safe Ground, and they’ve counted on Safe Ground, what they’re talking about is a group of people who stay together. They camp at night ... break their camp in the morning, and they drag their stuff away. So, it’s a clean site. That is not ideal. What they need is a place where they can actually be and their stuff can stay safe. And they can go about connecting with family (and) friends, qualifying for services, and moving up.

Cres Vellucci, member of the board of directors of ACLU of Sacramento County and a Vietnam veteran: As I understand it, a number of the people that are homeless ... are military veterans. As a veteran, I would like to encourage all of you to consider that these people have served their country. They’ve done what they had to do — whether they were drafted like I was, or whether they joined.

Photo caption: The city removed "Tent City" last year. Photo by Jonathan Mendick.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Of Cabbages, King, and Homeless Veterans

2010-04-20T07:06:09Z

Every time I eat rice now, I've become 13 again on a tiny fishing boat, bounding on the choppy green swells of the South China Sea.

I was terribly nauseated, light-headed and felt quite limp sitting on the uneven surface of fishing nets. They felt damp, ropey, and stringy on my boney buns. My stomach felt mossy green, my throat overloaded with anxiety, big fat tears poised behind my weary eyeballs and anytime now everything could all scream out to match the roar of the wind, the tempestuous ocean. But neither tears nor screams came because survival was paramount.

My mother hydrated the rice in a heavy-gauge plastic bag with hot water, and within minutes we had rice in bowls that we passed around. I was seasick and stopped eating because gusts of wind picked up every grain of rice, and like a terrible joke, blew them all away before the chopsticks reached my mouth. It was more than I can bear in one week.

In April of 1975, I was in eighth grade at an all-girl school in Danang, Vietnam. That day, 35 years ago, my family of eight was on the South China sea, somewhere between Nhatrang and Saigon. I was going through puberty, and my irregular periods started again on the boat, hemorrhaging before I knew what happened. My older sister panicked but quietly tucked some cotton washcloths in my white hands to remedy the situation.

We didn't anticipate becoming refugees like this, especially since my father was a high-ranking officer in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam.

Emotionally and physically drained, I needed a flat surface to sleep, but there was none. We all lay our insecure and frightened bodies on mountains of fish nets, trying to even out the lumpy tools of livelihood as best as we could. I held on to some structures on the boat as not to roll right into the sea. I also held on to my sister's arm. We drifted into stints of deep sleep while listening to the gusts, the putt-putt outboard motors and smelling the pungent fish nets, the diesel fumes infiltrating the salty sea air. My mouth tasted hunger, nausea, discomfort, and fear.

I feared of falling overboard, of one of my family members falling overboard, of being capsized, of running into pirates, of the uncertainties of tomorrows. I feared the communists capturing and killing us, of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam arresting my father for taking care of his family now instead of his men.

Even in the darkest time of the night when I was awake, the sky remained poignantly peaceful and beautiful. Black clouds were briefly silver-lined as they passed the unaware and unconcerned moon. Earth was indifferently oblivious of my troubles and sorrow, and I felt disconsolately tiny and insignificant, though benignly grateful that we headed somewhere promising, anywhere away from this seemingly omnipotent and omnipresent ocean.

I thought of the last night we spent in Danang, of being in the room I shared with my three siblings. I slept on the top bunk where I had been conditioned to hit the floor during air raids. We threw our shocked and disoriented bodies on the cold tiles under the bottom bunks, hugging each other sometimes because the sounds of rockets got louder, meaning nearer. I could hear myself whimpering and my brother comforting me, perhaps himself, with the hushing sounds. He rocked me back and forth, saying, "Sh...sh," and he continued until my whimpering subsided. Sometimes the rockets sounded like thunder cracking overhead. Sometimes the deafening whistling sounds made me visualize the ravenous grim reaper cursing and spitting for missing us once more.

I thought of the finest things we left behind and laughed out loud. My parents only brought out porcelains and delicate linens when my father brought American officers over for dinners. The towering men in their olive-drab uniforms and shiny, black boots. Their appearance was as foreign as the language they spoke. Their voices deep, their eyes deeper-set yet and their red-scared mission was the deepest of all. I was mystified by their appearance but in awe of them for their sacrifices on our behalf, for they were oceans away from their loved ones.

And now I am here in Sacramento, in America. I often come to the Vietnam War Memorial at the California State Capitol. It is small but visually high-impact. The names on the walls list the soldiers' ages and hometowns. The oldest soldiers were 24, but most were 18 and 19 years old. I was and still am sickened at the abrupt ends of these youthful soldiers, barely older than my son now. They died for my people, for my family and me, a misdirected intervention. I felt sicker for the grief their families must still endure. I'm compelled to tell their families that I am profoundly sorry for their losses.

Thirty-five years after the war ended in Vietnam, I am now reading about returning veterans from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars struggling to reintegrate. Some are homeless, and there's a suicide trend among enlisted soldiers. So when Loaves and Fishes called and asked if I could come in for three hours and help make egg rolls, my response was an emphatic, yes – of course I would.

"Why egg rolls?" I asked Eddy, the kitchen coordinator, when I settled down at a table with other volunteers at Loaves and Fishes.

"Someone donated a ton of cabbages, and we thought that it'd be a nice change in the menus, ya know?" He casually offered as he wiped his brows and turned the radio on for us, and Coldplay pined away, "I used to rule the world..."

Fifteen volunteers donned their aprons at 10 a.m. in the dining room. We chopped cabbages, shredded them, cracked too many eggs and rolled about 2,000 egg rolls in less than three hours. They will be fried tomorrow and possibly serving up to 1,200 diners.

I neatly rolled my share of egg rolls for the homeless. I don't know the statistics but I would not be surprised if some of them were returning veterans. The economic inequity is so gapingly monumental, and all I can do is make egg rolls while feeling a sense of camaraderie with the volunteers at my table. View my amateur video taken on my Blackberry of the volunteers at Loaves and Fishes.

Here's to the returning veterans. I will correspond with those who would like to share experiences and feelings, and I will attempt to advocate and champion for your welfare, for I am indebted to you for your services.

Last week I provided the Social Services Map at: http://bit.ly/dnaUkR . And this week I would like to share with you the "Green" and Recycling maps and invite your collaboration. Respectively, they are: bit.ly/9mU70R and bit.ly/b6V6tp, or visit our website at http://cartographyfornonprofits.org/24101.html

Photos by HML Photodesigns. Email hmlphotodesign@gmail.com . Facebook HML Photodesign

Diggin' in and Diggin' it! Part II

2010-04-16T15:38:53Z

(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 April hay the moment I looked at pictures of
children in that barren tent city environment. This is one of
the reasons why I want to map for nonprofits in the Sacramento area. I
want to lovingly give back to my beloved community, which nurtured me
to who I am today.

After a couple of revisions, I turned in the computer file of the finished
map I’d made for Sacramento Loaves and Fishes to Justin, from
which he will print hard copies for his guests. He mentioned that he
would also put the map’s shortcuts on the laptops at their library for
quick reference.

While I was creating the map and its table of resources information,
I could see the faces at the park. I envisioned them using my map to
the food closet or the health clinic, either having to walk, bike or
taking the buses. I carefully checked and double-checked that I didn’t
transpose the phone numbers or addresses, that I got the bus routes
correct, because it could be their last dollars, and I could not
afford to make a careless mistake anymore than they could afford to
not go to their destinations.

They were the best clients I’ve ever had the privilege to serve, and
it was the most satisfying map I’ve ever created. You can see it at

http://cartographyfornonprofits.org/pdfs/StreetSheetTableNew.pdf

This was the glow that I wanted to bask in when I donated my meager
$20 to the American Red Cross for Haiti, and now I was feeling the euphoria by
mapping for the Sacramento area homeless. And this is my story of how
I created my nonprofit in January, called Cartography for Nonprofits and NGOs,
or CaN. Please visit my website and leave comments in the Guestbook section.

http://cartographyfornonprofits.org/

I have since created several Google Map-based maps for the Sacramento
area and responded to the request of Grace in Action in Davis to make
a social services map for their area. Another map in similar format
created for Sacramento Loaves and Fishes is in the making at their
request.

http://bit.ly/dnaUkR

This is what Cindy B. kindly said about the Google Map-based map
that I’ve created for her outreach: “What an incredible resource! We
(at Grace in Action) will use this resource frequently, and I can't
WAIT for the Davis version. Blessings and thanks so much for your
efforts to help those most in need in our community."

I will attempt to write weekly and share my thoughts with you as a
founder of a nonprofit, and how our organization is doing. Currently,
we’re incorporated and applying for our IRS tax exemption status. We
are feverishly working to prepare for our fundraising event at Bogle Winery on
Saturday June 12th, and inviting you to join us at this festivity.

http://cartographyfornonprofits.org/22401.html

I warmly welcome your thoughts and any ideas for maps that would be
useful and better serve the people in our area. This week, I invite your
collaboration in documenting the danger zones for biking and your
suggestions for better infrastructure or alternate routes for other cyclists.
Visit this link and view the screencasts on how to document and revise
your routes to make the Sacramento area a safer place to bike. Please
let me know how I can better assist you in this mapping collaboration project.

hoangchi@cartographyfornonprofits.org
http://bit.ly/950Zxu

I will leave you with some resemblance of a quote from writer Zadie
Smith: “Take something painful and make it into something beautiful.”

Our system leaves unbearable pain for many people, especially the
marginal and the forgotten returning veterans. My heart aches for
them, and I cannot right the wrong without the help of people like
you.

Diggin' in and Diggin' it! Part I

2010-04-15T23:18:31Z

“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 orientation.”

They knowingly nodded and waved my car into a parking spot near two porta-potties at the loading dock. A dull and lazy grey sky sprinkled a light mist of rain – not enough to carry an umbrella, but enough to make me cold and wet. I made small talks with the burly and friendly traffic control guys as they pointed me upstairs where the sign said “Orientation.”

There were many red shirts already in the room, sipping their coffee, and I wished I had brought some to warm my cold fingers. Ah, so they were from the Target store, hence the red shirts. I looked around as I settled into my squeaky seat. Three people next to me were from another outreach group inquiring how they could help. Fred, the volunteer coordinator, started to explain the services that Loaves and Fishes offers its homeless guests, which I mistakenly repeated later to my family and friends as clients, because that was what my consulting industry would call the people we serve: clients, not guests.

It became apparent that an overwhelming amount of volunteers wanted to help with the Mustard Seed School for the homeless children. I was one of many because they represent the most vulnerable population that needs nurturing. However, I learned that volunteers mostly start in the kitchen and work into specialized areas, especially in helping with vulnerable children and abused women, who deserve experienced and
knowledgeable staff and volunteers.

A woman with a raspy voice like Demi Moore’s said, “I have a lot of experience working with dogs and cats. Can I work in your kennel?” Yes, a kennel at Sacramento Loaves and Fishes cares for homeless dogs and cats. There is a monthly clinic, when a volunteer Veterinarian examines and diagnoses pets. They also give away food and medication for the animals. Surprisingly, Demi Moore’s Sound-alike and I were the only ones who volunteered as individuals and not with groups from Target, AT&T, or other outreach groups.

Fred led us on a tour to the warehouse when someone drove up and dropped off some canned goods and socks. A cheery desk clerk wrote up a receipt for the donor, and then he chatted up our group. Everyone looked around at the neatly stacked packages of toilet paper, cans of coffee, bags of diapers, stacks of blue tarps and canned goods. Everything was kept behind chain-link cages. They needed shoes and socks – lots of them – and tents, too, Fred said. He jokingly asked the raspy-voiced young lady for her very fashionable boots, which she of course laughed off pleasantly. Everyone alternately looked at their shoes and at the warehouse surroundings, undoubtedly feeling grateful to be helping instead af being at the receiving end. I, for one, did.

We had to pick up the pace of the tour before they served lunch (between 450 and 1,000 meals per day) and walked to the Mustard Seed School, Mary House for the women, the library, the kitchen, the surprisingly warm and homey dining rooms and Friendship Park. The rain came down harder as we left the park where men and women huddled in sheltered areas out of the rain. There was a steady stream of folks coming up to the counter to pick up plastic garbage bags. Some picked up the “Street Sheet,” a map with information about social services, the same as the ones which Fred had handed out at the orientation.

As we parted, I came up and thanked Fred for the tour and orientation.

“Are you retired?” He asked me, and I chuckled.

“Naww, work is pretty slow right now, so I thought, why not volunteer?”

“What do you do?” He turned to look at me now.

“I make maps. I’m a cartographer.” I fumbled the Street Sheet open.

“So Fred, I was just thinking that I could make a map for your organization. You know? A map a little bit clearer for your guests to read and follow, and maybe even be done to scale. What do you think?”

He answered so quickly that it seemed almost impossible, “You would? We’d love it! Let me introduce you to Sister Libby, the Director. You
know, she was a navigator – really into maps too!”

I loved his contagious enthusiasm.

“Yes, Fred. I’d love to meet her,” I said.

Fred and I pulled up our hoods and walked into the rain toward the office to find Libby. She was on her way to an appointment but warmly
shook my hand and asked me to work with Justin, the IT guru, to get it published. Fred left after pointing me upstairs where I could find
Justin, but for a moment I stood looking at Friendship Park in the dreary yet softly padding rain.

Some young men stood by themselves with that 1,000-yard stare, and some huddled in groups talking. I saw a tall man in his mid-30s
wearing a day pack and hiking boots like he was on a day hike, walking alongside his friend who was riding a bike slowly. He was clean-cut,
cleanly dressed and looked like he could be going to a job. Others, however, showed signs of being out in the elements with either
sunburned or leathery skin with unkempt hair and disheveled clothing.

A director in my office who happened by while I was making the map for Loaves and Fishes had surprised me when he said, “Wow, you are so
brave to volunteer and work with the homeless.”

I restrained from being flippant but was in awe. “Well, they are just people like us but without any family support or safety net, you know?”

I was appealing to his otherwise gentle and kind sensibility.

“I always wanted to help, but I am just always so busy with work.” He explained.

“I understand. It’s slow now so I’m making a map for them,” I replied. I showed him the map on my computer screen, and we made small talk
till he said goodbye for the evening. And that was the last time I saw or spoke to him.

His comment gave me pause. I’ve never thought that working with the homeless would somehow be a brave thing to do. Perhaps because I know a little bit about what it feels like to be homeless.

(Part II to be published tomorrow)

Sacramento Steps Forward initiative announced

2009-11-06T04:36:58Z

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 launch was held.

Johnson said the goal of Sacramento Steps Forward is to provide 2,400 "decent and affordable" permanent housing units over the next three years. That would nearly quadruple the amount of permanent housing units created in the city over the last two years.

The mayor asked the Sacramento residents to advocate for the homeless, educate others about services needed to end homelessness, and to help find public, corporate and nonprofit funding.

"The homeless do not need a handout, they need a hand up," Johnson said. "They want to be empowered."

Johnson is chairman of a multiagency task force, part of the Policy Board to End Homelessness, that found funding for 269 winter shelter beds last month. This came despite an 84 percent cut in county funding for homelessness and the elimination of funding for winter shelters in September.

Tim Brown, director of the Sacramento Ending Chronic Homelessness Initiative, said last week that federal stimulus money will house 150 people who are now in shelters, freeing up 150 shelter beds over the next few months.

With an expected 419 beds, the city and county intend to provide 151 more beds this year than last year's 268 beds. According to the 2009 Homeless Count Summary Report, there are about 2,800 homeless people in Sacramento, including 711 in emergency shelters, 895 in transitional housing and 1,194 who have no shelter.

After Johnson thanked Brown, Sister Libby Fernandez and Joan Burke, both of of Loaves and Fishes, he introduced Sacramento-native Ling, the host of National Geographic Explorer. Earlier this year, as a special correspondent for The Oprah Winfrey Show, she reported on Sacramento's "tent city," which brought other media outlets to the site.

"Your mayor, so many members of the homeless advocacy community, members of the city and county rose to the occasion and decided to tackle (homelessness) head on," Ling said. "I'm so proud of the way so many members of this community have come together (and) if Sacramento is successful (housing the homeless), it could be a model for the rest of the country."

County Supervisor Roger Dickinson, St. John's Shelter director, Michelle Steeb, and City Council member Rob Fong also spoke. Fong explained the Faith and Families initiative that he helped create.

"We're asking the faith communities to see if they would be willing through their congregation to make a commitment for one year to help house a homeless family," he said. "In the last year we've housed 10 homeless families (and) we're hoping to get a dozen more housed before the holidays."

Three formerly homeless people spoke about their experiences. They credited programs such as Serna Village, St. John's Shelter and Lutheran Social Services with changing their lives and giving them hope.

"It was absolutely marvelous," Fernandez of Loaves and Fishes said about the city's effort. "In one year, this mayor has talked more about the issue of homelessness than any mayor ever has. He spends time with the homeless, policymakers and advocates."

Although she applauded the push for transitional and permanent housing, she noted the nine-month waiting period to get into Quinn Cottages, a transitional housing shelter. This means that homeless need somewhere to go in the meantime, Fernandez said.

"It takes too long for the next step. (Creating a) 'safe ground' is just an added piece to get to the final goal, which is permanent housing."

Mayor Kevin Johnson addresses homelessness

2009-09-23T04:02:45Z

Tuesday morning, Mayor Kevin Johnson was joined by a handful of Safe Ground supporters for a weekly press conference inside City Hall. After reiterating his goal to end homelessness in Sacramento, he invited Sister Libby Fernandez and Greg Bunker, the respective executive directors of Loaves and Fishes and Francis house, as well as a homeless man named Thomas Jackson Ashmore III, to speak.

Johnson spoke about his meeting over the weekend with campers at the recently vacated 1220 C St. campground owned by Mark Merin. At the camp site, Merin had also been involved in a property dispute over the land with the neighboring Pedro and Gracilla Hernandez residence.

Johnson mentioned that a comprehensive plan to end homelessness would be launched in October, but also that two immediate issues are the most pressing: creating a legal "safe ground" called Stepping Stone; and helping finda location for winter shelters as they are set to open in mid November.

Johnson has created a task force for both issues, but it will take up to three to six months to create Stepping Stone, he said. Some key factors the task force is looking at for Stepping Stone include size, location, resident selection criteria, governance, security and services.

"The county cut 84 percent of their funding for the homeless," Johnson said. "They're talking about making even more cuts; that means there's a disproportionate amount of cuts going to the homeless population."

"This is a moment that we advocates really appreciate," said Fernandez. "This is the first time a city mayor has stepped up to the plate to think not only for the city but also for the county and the region of Sacramento when it deals with homelessness."

"We need to stop the arrests on people being homeless; we need to put a memorandum on enforcement of camping ordinances," said Ashmore, a homeless man, whom Johnson introduced to the crowd by the nickname "Hawk."

"It's a waste of taxpayer money. Every time we are arrested, it costs between $1500 and $2000 to take us all into jail," he added. "Then we're put back eight hours later on the streets, just to be arrested again."

Bunker also applauded Johnson and asked the entire community to join the effort to think of solutions to house the homeless.

Asked if Johnson would do a good job in helping homeless people, Merin said last week, "I think the Mayor is certainly well intentioned. The question is: can he get the majority of the city council to support him? It just depends on him knowing how to get something accomplished."

"The goal is to get people into housing," said Tim Brown, director of the Ending Chronic Homelessness initiative, in a phone call before the press conference on Tuesday. "We're spending so much on keeping them homeless, it's cheaper to provide housing and services in a lot of cases for chronically homeless."

"With federal stimulus money, for the first time, we're going to be able to prevent homelessness," Brown added. About $4.8 million will become available Oct. 1 for homelessness.

"We've housed 350 people in two-and-a-half years," Brown said. "What has made a dent is the switch to permanent housing."

As far as the vacated Safe Ground location at the Merin property (only a pair of port-a-potties remains), the Hernandez family have expressed "gratitude and relief" that the camp is gone, said their lawyer Aldon Bolanos. Their health has been deteriorating since the campers moved behind their property, Bolanos said.

"They're trying to get on with their lives," he added. "They absolutely are traumatized and it's going to be a while if ever before life gets back to normal for them."

"I'm not going to tell you that what [Merin] is trying to do [for the homeless] is wrong," Bolanos said. "This time when he did what he did, it really trampled on the lives of some innocent people; the real civil rights that were violated here were Pedro and Gracilla Hernandez."

Bolanos explained his view of the homeless.

"This whole episode really seems to underscore a leadership problem in this city, where no individual or group is willing to take accountability for what was happening here for over a month. This [homeless] situation is not going to go away, and providing this 'safe ground' outside of the downtown grid is just going to push the problem into someone else's backyard and the city is going to experience sad and difficult times and consequences."

Photographs one, two and three credit Sacramento Press staff reporter Suzanne Hurt. All other photographs credit staff reporter Jonathan Mendick.

"Safe Ground" abandoned

2009-09-22T06:54:46Z

At Mayor Kevin Johnson's request, homeless campers have cleared out of a vacant lot used in a "safe ground" dispute with the city, he said Monday.

Johnson visited the property near 13th and C streets, which is owned by attorney Mark Merin, over the weekend to discuss the ongoing controversy with campers, the mayor said in a late afternoon press conference.

On Sunday, as many as 40 people left the property where they'd been camping for a month after saying they believe their statement has been made. They agreed to negotiate with the city for at least one legal campground, Johnson said.

"I felt this would be a distraction if they continued to camp there illegally," he said outside City Hall.

Late Monday afternoon, all that remained of the campground were two smelly portapotties and a plastic washing station. An older couple living next door did not want to comment on homeless campers' abandonment of the campground.

City regulations prohibit camping on public or private property for more than 24 hours. Camping in city parks overnight, when the parks are closed, also is illegal.

Merin, a civil rights attorney, now faces lawsuits over the campground from the city and the couple. Merin was involved previously in a land dispute with the family.

Johnson, who describes homeless citizens as a "high priority" in his administration, has formed two task forces. One is coming up with proposals for one or more city- and county-sanctioned, or "safe ground," campgrounds. The other is determining how much space will be available for the campers in winter shelters.

The campground task force is considering two to five locations that could be used as a campground. One possible scenario would include three sites — one near nonprofit services for the impoverished, a second in another city location, and a third somewhere else in the Sacramento County, Johnson said.

Each campground would take no more than 50 to 100 people. The task force is considering whether a private security company should be hired, or whether campers should be counted on to police themselves. The plan would be for campers to stay for a limited time, such as 12 to 24 months, and then transition to housing, he said.

"Our goal is to end homelessness in Sacramento," Johnson said.

However, Johnson added, he has not garnered the support of all council members and cannot guarantee that a safe ground campground would be approved.

A plan to address homelessness and an alternative campground or campgrounds may be launched as early as the second week in October. Johnson said he will seek a decision on winter shelter no later than November.

Suzanne Hurt is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Finding homes for the homeless

2009-07-07T03:44:51Z

Religious congregations are assisting homeless families through a new housing program backed by Sacramento City Councilman Robert Fong. In the program, known as the Faith & Homeless Families Initiative, local religious groups find housing for homeless families with children.

The program is emerging as local homeless shelters say they’re turning away families because of limited shelter space, according to Tim Brown, director of the Ending Chronic Homelessness Initiative, a local public/private partnership.

“There’s a lot of newer homeless families,” he said.

The program began in February and has linked six families to congregations. The congregations then found housing for the families, Brown said. The program is still working to house a seventh family, he noted.

The program is now connected to the Ending Chronic Homelessness Initiative. Fong is currently working to set up the faith program as a nonprofit organization unique from the chronic homelessness effort.

“I thought there was something we could do as human beings,” Fong told The Sacramento Press.

The program, which is still in a pilot phase, plans to connect a new group of homeless families with a new set of congregations by August or September, Brown said. In order for the program to expand, organizers will need to raise money for additional staffers, he noted.

The program works with three local homeless shelters. Case managers at the shelters refer the families to the program, Brown explained. Volunteers from the congregations are trained in a three-hour session by program staff, he added.

In addition to locating housing for the families, the congregations can further help the families with rental assistance, Brown said.

One of the program’s rules is that the congregations cannot require homeless families to attend religious services, Brown said. However, the congregations are allowed to invite the families to services.

The local congregations currently participating in the program are: Spiritual Life Center, All Nations Church of God in Christ, St. John’s Lutheran Church, First United Methodist Church, Westminster Presbyterian Church and Bayside of South Sacramento.

Information for congregations interested in joining the program is available here.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

In search of sleep

2009-07-02T05:40:38Z

Emergency overflow shelters shut down their accommodations to the homeless in Sacramento, including Cal Expo so the homeless took a stand Wednesday morning.

Hundreds gathered in front of Loaves & Fishes on the corner of North 12th and Ahern Street for a march to bring awareness to the recent closings of shelters and the criminalization of poverty and homelessness.

Event organizers expected around 200 attendees, but at one point during the march, there were counts of close to 1,000 people walking to 420 Richards Blvd., a vacant parcel next to the new police station.

Many of those participating in the rally who rely on shelters for a place to sleep at night said they are afraid of legal consequences for camping out on streets.

"There was a woman, six months pregnant on the street, and when the police found she was homeless, they put her in jail," said G.P. Bailey, an activist and songwriter. "That is a scary thing."

"It's a crime against people for existing," said Robert, an 18-year-old a recent graduate of Jesuit High School.

He endured the heat and 1.2-mile march in solidarity for the community of people he was immersed in as a part of a community service project. Robert spent one week living as a homeless person, scrounging for food and pedaling for money with the guidance of teachers.

"We come from a pretty privileged school and they want us to learn that there is more to life than that cloistered area in Carmichael," he said.

Another appearance from the ranks of the privileged was made by the lead singer of local band Papa Roach, Jacoby Shaddix, who lived in Del Paso Heights since the age of 18.

He mingled with the rally participants, held up signs of support with his family, and led a cheer for a safe, legalized camping ground for the homeless.

"My family was homeless for the first year of my life, and to be where I'm at now, I'm super blessed," he said.

Papa Roach has donated money to Loaves & Fishes, and when he is not touring on the road, he serves food there in his spare time.

Birte, a librarian at Loaves & Fishes, as well as a Danish immigrant, was attracted to the homeless environment because of her experiences in Denmark.

"Healthcare for everyone was a big difference back home," she said. "A lot of folks out here end up here because they didn't have healthcare or had big bills."

Tina Reynolds, the owner of Uptown Studios, expressed the need to reform public policy that criminalizes homelessness.

"We are working on repealing laws and making politicians aware of the situation," she said. She also expressed dissatisfaction with the various laws that prevent people from setting up camping gear, rolled up beds, and how these apply to everyone with homes as well. "You are not allowed to camp out in your backyard for more than one day," Reynolds said.

The issues at hand are not specific to the homeless population, they also affect the community in general.

"It's not one side, it's affecting everyone," G.P. Bailey.

Bailey feels the cuts in shelters are creating a ripple effect which affects more than those looking for a home on the street.

"It is affecting the police department," he said. "It's hard to hire anyone from the new graduating class" of the police academy.

Reynolds suggested a dome-like model structure on display from World Shelters that they hope to implement in the future.

"They have if for disaster relief, and there's no disaster like homelessness," she said.

The structure, which costs roughly $2,495, is made of panels of corrugated plastic, and is said to protect from UV rays and can be equipped with optional solar panel attachments. For $2 a day, people can live in these structures.

Reynolds said she wants to look for property within the city that is unclaimed and hopefully set up safe facilities. She described the ideal location as an inexpensive community off the grid that has access to services like Loaves & Fishes, water, toilets, showers and garbage collection.

"What I hope is that we'll be able to understand that there's a legitimate problem in Sacramento," Robert said.

To learn more, click the following links:
Sacramento Loaves & Fishes
World Shelters

Homelessness: The public can help create new program

2009-04-20T01:24:41Z

Gerald Celestine knows Sacramento residents have a stake in how the city and county will spend federal stimulus dollars that are intended to counter homelessness.

Celestine, an active member of Sacramento’s Area 1 Neighborhood Advisory Group (NAG), planned a discussion for the April 20 NAG meeting so residents can brainstorm how they want their local governments to use about $4.8 million in federal monies for homelessness.

The pot of money will be distributed almost evenly between the county and city: The city is expected to receive $2.375 million, and the county expects $2.397 million.

Sacramento neighbors would like to express “some of our hopes and desires for this money,” Celestine said.

Residents can present their views on specific ways the money should be spent in two separate meetings on April 20.

Sacramento residents will discuss federal monies coming to the city and county at the Neighborhood Advisory Group (Area 1) meeting Monday at 6:30 p.m. The meeting will take place at the Hart Senior Center, which is located at 915 27th Street.

Shamus Roller, executive director of the Sacramento Housing Alliance, will explain to residents how the city and county are expected to receive the funds for homelessness through a new federal program.

The new federal effort, known as the Homeless Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program (HPRP), is part of the national stimulus package.

Roller points out, however, that the federal funds for this program are not going to solve the big financial problems for social and health services in the county and city. “The stimulus money is not a panacea,” he says, and “it’s not going to fix everything.”

A separate public meeting on the federal funding will be held earlier on Monday. The public is asked to weigh in on how the city and county should create its application for the federal monies to address homelessness at the local level. The public meeting will be held Monday from 3 to 5 p.m. at 2700 Fulton Avenue.

The Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency, county Department of Human Assistance and the Interagency Council on Homelessness are hosting the forum.

Cindy Cavanaugh, an assistant director for policy at the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency (SHRA), explains that SHRA will apply to the federal government for the funds.

The federal dollars will be used for homeless people to rent housing and for prevention of homelessness. Cavanaugh explains that in the “rapid-rehousing” model, homeless people are encouraged to find housing rather than live in shelters. Under this program, a homeless person could receive up to 18 months worth of funds to help cover the cost of rent, she said.

Roller said there is flexibility in the program. The HPRP monies can be used in various ways, including for utility bill costs, Roller said.

SHRA and the county’s Department of Human Assistance are planning the application for funds.

The city and county are almost guaranteed to receive the federal funds as long as they complete the application process, Cavanaugh said. Assuming the application for funding is accepted by HUD, the city and county can access the funding October 1.

The city and county’s application for the federal funds will be addressed in public hearings at both the City Council and the Sacramento Board of Supervisors.

Sacramento’s City Council will discuss the application at its May 12 meeting. The Board of Supervisors will address the issue at its May 13 meeting.

The deadline to send the application to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is May 18.

After May 18, the application will be completed but the program will continue, Cavanaugh said. SHRA will hold stakeholder meetings and form the details of the funding program with the help of the Interagency Council on Homelessness.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Reporting on the “Tent City” media spectacle

2009-04-17T05:13:50Z

News Analysis

Nearly all of the homeless people who lived at the “Tent City” on the American River had left the site by Thursday morning, but the media outlets were still there.

Sacramento’s Tent City has received so much news coverage that the media hubbub itself plays a large part in the story.

The city’s removal of the campsite Thursday was no exception. Television journalists from several outlets — including KCRA Channel 3, CBS Channel 13 and Noticias Univision Channel 19 – were at the scene, covering the camp’s removal.

While the media has seized on the Tent City story, campgrounds created by homeless people are not a new phenomenon in Sacramento. For years, homeless people have been creating small camps in the city, according to Sgt. Norm Leong of the Sacramento Police Department.

Nonetheless, the Google News website Thursday afternoon listed 204 news stories in response to the search: Sacramento tent city.

Photojournalist Scott Zentner, from CBS Channel 13 and CW Channel 31, was at the site Thursday to cover the cleanup. When asked what he thought about the Tent City media frenzy, he said he hadn’t really thought about it.

But Carol Davis, who lived at Tent City, had an immediate negative reaction when asked the same question.

“It sucks,” Davis said, adding that she didn’t like reporters taking pictures of the camp.

Davis was sitting near the site Thursday, as vehicles hauled away the odds and ends that former residents had left behind. Now that Tent City is gone, she said she didn’t know where to go.

Filmmaker Costa Mantis criticized media coverage of the issue. He said that “nobody else seems to be telling the truth,” about Tent City. That’s why he’s been reporting on Tent City via YouTube, he said. Mantis said he lived at Tent City for 16 days in a tent, while journalists come to the site for 20 minutes to get a story.

Meanwhile, the extensive media coverage didn’t bother Thom Dickens, who lives at a camp adjacent to Tent City. He said the police, not the media, are the problem. He also said Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson are to blame.

The clearing of the site was not the only story Thursday. Reporters were also covering a planned protest by the charity Loaves and Fishes. Sister Libby Fernandez of Loaves and Fishes said she and other protesters would refuse to leave a campsite adjacent to Tent City. “We are standing in solidarity” and will not leave this property until we’re removed, she said.

The protest will take days, Fernandez said. Protesters will be staying at the campsite in shifts. There isn’t enough shelter or housing in Sacramento for the city's nearly 4,000 homeless people, she said.

But Leong said Loaves and Fishes is incorrect when it says there is no shelter space. “As of yet, we’ve not filled up the spaces,” Leong said.

He noted that the locations where couples can stay together are limited. Sacramento police are ready to give out vouchers for temporary housing and motels, he said.

Asked about the nearby campsite, Leong said that Sacramento has had “little camp areas” for more than 11 years. The city is concerned about clearing the Tent City because it’s on private property, he said. But he also noted that it is illegal in Sacramento to camp.

“But you cannot tell me it’s OK to camp when I have shelter space open.”

The police are not trying to shut down the protesters, according to Leong.

“We’re allowing them to air their concerns, and basically show to the media, which is their primary target, that they have issues that they want voiced,” Leong said. “We’re prepared to let them do that right now.”

Leong described the police department’s relationship with the homeless in the area as “really positive.”

The police department's count for the number of homeless people who lived at the Tent City was between 100 and 120, according to Leong.

Dinner and a Movie, for the Homeless?

2009-03-18T23:37:50Z

Sacramento is now also known for the "Tent City" for the homeless. That’s okay. If Sacramento, the capitol of the seventh or eighth largest economy in the world has to be the poster child city for the homelessness problem in America, then so be it!

Probably every man, woman and child in our area is aware of the growing homeless community. It does not matter where you are in the Sacramento area, homelessness happens. In fact, some of the people interviewed for the stories about our tent city, said "we never dreamed that we would be homeless and in this condition". I have never dreamed of being homeless, have you? Maybe we are next.

I come from a very large family and I believe if my world got to the point of having no place to go home to or sleep, someone in my family would give me a place. My dear mother, Marilou Nordby, whenever she would see someone less fortunate than herself would always say, "there but for the grace of God go I". Which means, that could be me in those peoples shoes, but because of God's grace it is not me. One time she confided in me and said that her greatest fear was becoming homeless. I was shocked! My mother had nine children and at the time she told me this every one of them were still alive. I told her that as long as I was alive she would never be homeless. I hope that gave her some peace in her fears.

As compassionate people we need to be reminded that not all homeless are mentally unstable, drug addicts, alcoholics or even losers in this game of life, but rather each of them at one time had a home, a mother, a father, brothers and sisters and even children and we should treat them as if they were our mom or dad, or a sister or a brother because we don't know their circumstances.

I have been stirring the idea around with friends that I know that we should have a dinner and a movie night for our homeless. Today I want to share this idea with the readers of the Sacramento Press with hope that this will go further than this online news source.

Here is what I am envisioning for that night.

We will ask the churches and clothes closets to donate clothing for all ages and gender and we will have an opportunity for anyone who needs a new set of clothes to pick out what they want to wear for that dinner and to leave in. We will have a place to dispose of old clothes. Of course we will have some sort of changing rooms available and port-a-potties on 10th street.

This banquet honoring our less fortunate neighbors will be done on the west side of the Capitol building using this glorious building as a backdrop for this event. The Capitol also represents the state government for the people, all the people, even the homeless. The grounds will be decked with tables all decorated like a fine restaurant(except everything is disposable) a tablecloth with a candle and a flower, nice plastic ware and napkins. We will serve steak, chicken, potatoes, fresh veggies, milk, or soda, coffee or tea, and a dessert that is fit for a politician or cupcakes and cookies for the little children.

After dinner we will show a movie on a giant screen with a great sound system. The movie should be heart warming with some comedy and rated for all ages. Perhaps the newly released "Marley and Me". I have never seen it, but I think everyone would enjoy it. There will be popcorn, movie type candy and bottles of water and other drinks.

After the movie we will have blankets, sleeping bags and personal items for anyone in need of these things.

I don't know all the logistics of this yet, but if enough of us get together with our influences and connections we can totally bless our homeless and let them know that we care. Perhaps the lawmakers and city leaders will see this event as a wake up call and put some real attention towards helping ease the sting of the plight of the homeless which now include many little children.

I know everyone reading this is now thinking, 'this is going to cost some money'. Yes it is! But I believe every good cause can be very easily funded by anyone who can afford a little to help. Some who can afford more will also help. I believe if we make this event known to everyone, there will be plenty to take care of the cost. I am also sure that many who have other needed resources will also want to be involved. I am going to put my money where my heart is so I will make the first donation to this cause and I believe the rest will come. Kind of like the “Field of Dreams”, build it and they will come. I say “do it and it will come”.

I was talking to a homeless man today and asked him about this dinner and a movie idea and he was very excited about it. I asked if the homeless would come? He said "oh yes they will". He also shared with me of his hope of the "Ten Year Plan" to get the homeless problem under control. We can't wait for ten years. We need to do something now.

I realize that this is not a "fix" to a serious problem, but if we can bring some joy to people if only for a night, it will be well worth it.

If anyone who reads this article would like to get involved somehow, someway, your service and willingness to serve will be much appreciated by those who come. Leave a comment and contact me personally at jacknordby@hotmail.com

P.S. When was the last time a homeless person heard the words, "your table is ready" or, "how did you like the movie"? Lets give them something to talk about. Better yet, lets give them some love with hope that things can turn around for them.

A brush with death.

2009-01-24T00:37:24Z

Yesterday it rained in Sacramento. Yesterday I didn’t pay close enough attention to the weather forecast in Sacramento. Rather than parking near my office, I decided to park about a mile or so away and ride my skateboard in to work. It’s fun and gets me a little exercise. The ride in to work was quite pleasant. The ride back to my truck wasn’t so much, and the rain was not the worst part.

I left my office around 5 PM, at which point a steady rain was falling. Skateboarding in the rain sucks. Getting wet sucks, having your wheels get super slippery sucks. That would’ve been plenty to spoil what’s usually an enjoyable ride. Not only did I have to endure getting soaked and trying not to fall and bust my ass on the pavement, but I also dodged what could have been a quite unpleasant encounter.

I work in a building in downtown Sacramento. It’s also very near the river and Old Sacramento. These three elements make it prime territory for homeless people and crazy people… and often people that are a 1-2 punch of both. To skate from my building to my truck, I have to go along the river walk alongside the river. The river walk has lots of benches and open electrical sockets. This is practically a luxurious hotel to the homeless. They can sit on a bench and stare at the river and also plug in their stereos and listen to music. This is usually fine. I skate past homeless people every day who are just admiring the view and talking to their imaginary friends, no problem. I used to talk to myself too, but I was only 3 and tried not to do it in public or in a manner that made it appear I was arguing with myself.

So back to yesterday. As I said, it was rainy pretty steadily and I was skating down the river walk. On rainy days, the usual homeless folks are taking cover somewhere sheltered rather than hanging out getting rained on. This was the case as I started my way down. The river walk is probably about the length of two football fields and fairly slender. As I got about halfway down, I noticed that indeed not all the homeless folk had headed for cover. At the end of the river walk, I spotted one. This would usually not register as being anything of consequence; however, this gentleman was standing out in the rain wearing only a pair of denim pants. No shoes, no socks, no shirt of any kind, and due to his pants being drenched and sagging with water, I had a pretty good idea of the fact that he probably was going commando as well.

Perhaps it’s just me being a Nervous Ned, but when I spot a shirtless, shoeless man hanging out in the rain after the sun has gone down, it raises a bit of a red flag. You don’t hear many stories of a shoeless, shirtless man out in the rain changing your grandma’s flat tire on the side of the road. I spotted the dude quite a ways away and at first thought that perhaps he was just a highly fashionable gentleman wearing a skin tight ostrich leather coat and Italian leather shoes. As you now know, that wasn’t the case. When I got about 30 yards away, he had done a sufficient amount of pacing and turning to and fro for me to be able to conclude that he was indeed just a guy standing out in the rain looking like a lunatic. This then got me thinking of the multitude of possibilities that I should be prepared for when I passed him by. Here are a few examples of what my brain was envisioning happening (in order of likelihood) as I gingerly floated by on my skateboard like a prey waiting to feed the predator:

1) Crazy guy would wait until the last second, pounce on me like a hungry leopard, smash me across the face with my own skateboard, throw me over the river walk wall on to the bank and sodomize my unconscious body.
2) Crazy guy would wait until the last second, pounce on me like a crazy shirtless guy and bite my nose off of my face.
3) Crazy guy would wait until the last second, Liu Kang Mortal Kombat karate style kick me off of my skateboard, smash me across the face with it and skate away with my property.
4) Crazy guy would wait until the last second, turn to face me and compliment me on my excellent taste in shoe wear.

Now that my brain had cooked up it’s top 4 logical responses from the crazy guy, I was prepared to pass by in defense mode. I approached, keeping him in my sites and as I got about 10 feet away, as expected, crazy guy turned and faced me. As he turned, he made direct eye contact. In order to try to diffuse what I had concluded would most likely be a very uncool situation, I politely nodded to the man and said hello to which he responded by saying, “You’re gay” as I cautiously floated by continuing on to my truck and eventually back home.

My feelings were so hurt by his assumptions about my sexual proclivity that as he turned back around to face the river, I quickly jumped off my board and proceeded to option 1 his unconscious body. That’s not true.

What IS true is that I have a solution to Sacramento’s ongoing homeless problem. Two words. BROKEN BLUETOOTHS. Think about it. The problem with homeless people isn’t necessarily that they don’t sleep in a house at night. The problem is that they make me uncomfortable when they’re shouting at nobody (yes, that is the real problem). If we took all our broken bluetooths and forced homeless people to wear them at all times, it would just look like a bunch of dirty, smelly businessmen having heated business discussions on their wireless head sets. It’s genius!