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

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

“Searching for Safe Ground,” a film series by Costa Mantis, reveals the daily struggles of being homeless in Sacramento and addresses the bleak reality of not having a safe place to sleep. Starting in October and continuing until February, a different episode of the five-part series will play at First Methodist Church on the corner of J and 21st streets during Second Saturday Art Walks. Mantis moved from his home in Pennsylvania to Sacramento on Apr. 1, 2009 on a “mission to give the homeless a voice,” he said. In 2009, an estimated 250 of Sacramento’s homeless lived in a collection of tents on the banks of the American River in a community called Tent City. Without running water, bath

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

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 ca

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

Sacramento continued its two-week-long film festival at the Crest Theatre on Saturday. The evening began with a short film remembering former Sacramento Mayor Joe Serna Jr. The short, "Joe Serna Jr. Tribute" called Serna a champion of school reform, a "public servant, not a politician."  Serna, who was inspired by Cesar Chavez, may be remembered most for his passion for education and community work.  He was an inspiration to immigrants and younger generations, according to the film. The tribute to Serna was followed by "Third World America," a documentary by Costa Mantis about Sacramento's Tent City. The film, which ran about an hour, shed new light on Tent City and its residents. While

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

Sacramento Police investigators don't believe a homeless man found dead near an American River levee Tuesday morning was the victim of a homicide. The Sacramento County coroner must determine the cause of death. The man, believed to be in his 30s, died at his secluded campsite below a popular bike trail near the former Tent City. The family has not yet been notified, so officials are not releasing the man's name, said Sacramento Police Sgt. Norm Leong. Another homeless person found the man dead in a wooded area behind a commercial/residential neighborhood near 16th and North C streets and reported the death to police at 7:56 a.m. The area, which is used by homeless campers, sits betwee

By Philippe "SHOCK" Matthews We drive by them everyday in cities and towns around the country. We turn our heads when we walk past them and frown if they make verbal contact. They are ignored and ridiculed, sometimes assaulted. They are human beings struggling to find their way. They are us one or two paychecks missed. They are the homeless population here in Sacramento. Recently, I had the privileged of meeting Jodi Nerell at a downtown social function where Jodi shared with me that she was the Program Director for the Guest House Homeless Clinic for El Hogar Community Services here in Sacramento. After my conversation with her, Jodi invited me to sit in on one their first advisory boar

Since the existence of tent city gained national attention on the Oprah Winfrey Show, a firestorm of controversy has ensued. A lot has been said in the last few weeks about the ‘homeless problem’ in Sacramento. Government officials have scrambled to free up shelter beds and come up with enough funding flush into alternative housing programs. But, the issue of homelessness does not appear to be going away anytime soon and throwing money at it may not be the answer. “You can put government money on the table,” say Mark Chaclan, former Loaves and Fishes volunteer, “but there are still going to be people that have to resort to tent city.” Chaclan visited tent city twice last week to join fell

As the John Deere vehicles loaded the remaining items of Sacramento's Tent City into large garbage trucks Thursday, an observer could easily think that campers' belongings were getting hauled away along with garbage. But at least two homeless campers said the police and cleanup crews were not throwing out their belongings. Carol Davis, who lived at the Tent City, was sitting near the site Thursday. She said no one took her belongings from her. Asked about the items being hauled into garbage trucks, Davis replied that the items left at the site were trash. Thom Dickens lives at a campsite near Tent City. He said police "haven't taken nothing from me yet." Sacramento police said the proce

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 b

The following is a photojournal including photos and observations from the removal of Tent City on April 16 between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. : Around 100 inmates on 5 busses were transported from Sacramento County Sheriff's Work Project  to help clean up Tent City.  Some helpers piled remaining large objects that were left behind from Tent City dwellers who had already left. Smaller items were put into trash bags. Foreground: large bulldozers with pinching claws attached transported the aforementioned piles onto dump trucks. Background: a cargo train passes by. Foreground: a police officer in a city truck picked up some items of value which were supposedly taken into storage. Background: items

The Midtown Monthly blog is reporting that homeless advocates and charity workers are asking community members vigils this week as the police disband the homeless encampment known internationally as Tent City. In a letter to the Monthly, Greg Bunker of Francis House of Sacramento writes, "We are willing to be arrested on behalf of our homeless folks rather than see them be moved or be threatened with an 'arrest' if they do not move when they have NO SAFE PLACE to go!!!!" Sister Libby Fernandez of Loaves & Fishes, Paula Lomazzi of SHOC and Mark Merin of Mark Merin Law Firm also signed the letter.   The letter calls on community members to "bare witness" to police action at the Tent City

Sacramento's "Tent City" has become national, even world-wide, news over the last two weeks. This article is Sacramento Press' take on the situation based on a visit by myself and our photographer, Anthony Bento, earlier this week. I had been by there before, on several occasions, and expected to see a dozen or so tents and a large pile of trash. But what I found blew my mind. After ascending a certain hill (I'll leave the exact location undisclosed in this article) the gathering comes into view. It is, by my estimation, at least 10x larger than it was in July 2008. Hundreds of tents scattered over several acres make up "Tent City", and a city it is indeed. Estimates of the total number

Last week it was Oprah. Today it was CNN. And on Monday morning, NBC's "Today" show will focus on Sacramento's growing homeless population. NBC crews will be in Sacramento on Saturday and Sunday to do their special report. They plan to interview officials from Loaves & Fishes, several other nonprofits, and city officials, including Mayor Kevin Johnson. Sacramento has become the focus of a mini-media frenzy because of a sharp rise in its homelessness population. The jump in home foreclosures has left hundreds of families (yes, children too) without homes. The sudden jump in homelessness has overwhelmed nonprofit providers and resulted in a virtual "tent city" along the American River. Las