On Saturday, over 30 Democrats and friends helped build a house for a Sacramento family. When the team arrived, they found an empty lot, with only a concrete foundation and piles of lumber that would soon become the walls of a home. By the end of the day, the structure of a home had replaced the empty lot. Event organizer, James Schwab said, "We helped to build a house but we also built friendships and relationships that will help us build a better Sacramento in the future." The cold, foggy morning did not dampen the volunteers' spirits. After touring a recently completed nearby home, the team received instructions from site supervisor, Terry Hardin and set to work building a new, LEED c

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

Thursday afternoon, about 50 seniors, homeless and other community members participated in the Sacramento Housing Alliance Affordable Housing Bus Tour. The tour surveyed 10 different housing options and stopped to provide in-depth tours of three housing complexes. Guided by Shamus Roller, director of the SHA, Ken Cross, CEO of Sacramento Habitat for Humanity and Paul Ainger, Mercy Housing project developer, the four-hour tour began and ended at the SHA office in Midtown. "It's important to know what affordable housing means," Ainger said. According to the federal government, housing is considered "affordable" when a person renting or buying it spends no more than 30 percent of his or her

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 compr

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 Ha

Though homelessness is not a new problem, the number of homeless people in Sacramento has increased over the last few years because of the state's budget crisis and cuts to federal programs. On June 30, hundreds of county shelter beds became unavailable, forcing more homeless onto Sacramento streets. In answer to the shortfall, Safe Ground Sacramento was inaugurated on July 1. Organized by community members, nonprofits and businesses, Safe Ground seeks to provide the homeless with a safe place to be. Hundreds gathered that day for a rally and march to kick off the movement. Among them was Jacoby Shaddix, the formerly homeless lead singer of local band Papa Roach. The city of Sacramento e

In a previous story in The Sacramento Press about a "Safe Ground" encampment behind the Pedro and Gracilla Hernandez residence, Mark Merin, civil rights attorney and Safe Ground partner was not contacted. He is the owner of the property and responded to the article Thursday. Merin explained the land dispute differently. He said "it's unfortunate" the story made it seem as if he were trying to harm the Hernandez family financially or use the homeless to bully them. Merin explained that when he bought his property, he had been planning to use the corner lot at 13th and C streets as a law office, and the strip behind the Hernandez residence as a parking lot. It turned out that, in a rare in

For about 30 years, the Hernandez family has owned the only house on the block of 13th Street between B and C Streets. Until Aug. 21, the rest of the block surrounding their home was filled with vacant lots. "Safe Ground" came to the block when Sacramento lawyer and homeless advocate Mark Merin, who has owned several of the adjacent lots since 2007, teamed up with non-profits, businesses and other individuals. Tightly fit rows of matching tents complete with a "Safe Ground" logo (click here for photograph) began filling the one vacant lot directly behind the Hernandez's house, and for nearly a month, tents have housed about 40 homeless people on the property. Monday, the Hernandez family

SafeGround advocates rallied at Sacramento City Hall this morning. Over 150 people congregated in support of SafeGround and to rally around the push for a moratorium on the city’s anti-camping ordinance. The rally started at 10am, but was preceded by SafeGround music written and performed by Glen Bailey. The Rev. David Moss started the rally out with a prayer asking city officials for a favor, to have “compassion, justice, and mercy “ and “for something that is a basic human right for most people, but not the homeless – the right to sleep in safety.” Joan Burke, a homeless advocate, read a declaration from the Sacramento Democratic Party announcing it’s support for the SafeGround movemen

The Democratic Party of Sacramento County (DPSC) voted to unanimously endorse a resolution in support of Safe Ground for Sacramento’s homeless community, urging an amendment to the city's anti-camping ordinance to create city-sanctioned campgrounds to provide safe, sanitary and regulated facilities. DPSC supports this measure to avoid forcing Sacramento’s 1,200 homeless men, women and children to fend for themselves on the streets.   "Homelessness in Sacramento is a crisis affecting working families hit hard by the recession," said DPSC Parliamentarian Alan LoFaso, "The community needs to rally in support of our most vulnerable residents and back innovative ways to help these families re

Sacramento City Police once again have raided the small SafeGround camp site in downtown. This time they weren’t just looking for illegal tents and sleeping bags, instead they came looking for people. They arrived around 7:30 am, with a warrant, and quickly proceeded to handcuff and line up most all the campers still on site. With over half a dozen squad cars, seventeen officers, the police van, and the CSI unit, they were able to arrest and move downtown seventeen campers including retired Methodist Minister Rev. David Moss. As of this writing, the campers are being processed and released with a citation and court date for October. Six of the campers along with Sister Libby of Loaves

Early this morning Sacramento City Police descended upon the small SafeGround campsite in downtown Sacramento. They came with half a dozen squad cars, a dozen officers, the paddy wagon, and a search warrant. They announced the site was a crime scene forced everyone to leave and taped off the site while they searched the premises for evidence of illegal camping. They then proceeded to take down and bag all the tents and sleeping bags as evidence of the crime, dumping peoples personal belongings in the dirt. After 3 hours of bagging and even the CSI unit taking pictures they hauled off the “evidence” and let the residents back in to gather their stuff out of the dirt. The SafeGround residen

Fox 40's Natalie Bomke, and Mayor Kevin Johnson camped out with Sacramento’s homeless community, August 11, 2009. This is a huge step in making homelessness a priority and bringing forth change. Safe Ground’s mission is to help the homeless community to have a safe and legal place to stay until the housing issues are resolved. Mayor Johnson and Bomke showed up at Safe Ground’s recent camp-out spot to learn first hand what it is like to be homeless. Johnson and Bomke signed Safe Ground’s participant agreement; which is required in order to camp: no drugs, no alcohol, no violence. This agreement is set to keep the homeless community safe. John Kraintz, a homeless leader and a member of Sa

This is the fourth vacant space Sacramento homeless have been forced to leave since July 1. For more background on this event, click the "Storyline" tab on the right, or click this link

Police arrived at the most recent Safe Ground location on North D and North 11th streets Monday afternoon to notify about 100 homeless campers that they must vacate the premises. Safe Ground is an attempt to find a safe, legal space for the homeless to settle. Reverend David Moss was the only arrest made that afternoon for trespassing. Sacramento Police Department spokesperson, Sgt. Norm Leong commented, “He refused to identify if he was camping on the site and refused to leave.” The empty lot is owned partially by the city and two private property owners. Joan Burke, Director of Advocacy with Loaves & Fishes, said those camping were aware only of the city ownership of the property. “W