The City of Sacramento has launched an additional “Safe Parking” site in a parking lot on the southern section of Front Street.
Known as South Front Street Safe Parking, the site is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week and can host approximately 60 vehicles, depending on their sizes.
The site, which is staffed around the clock, also offers port-a-potties, storage and meal access. Case managers work out of a trailer on site, offering social-services support and housing coordination. The City’s new Department of Community Response has taken the lead on establishing these locations and managing the programs available on site.
The launch of South Front Street Safe Parking comes less than two weeks after the City opened its first “Safe Ground” site near W and Sixth streets in Sacramento. In addition to a place where people can safely camp, that site also offers safe parking, case management and access to social services and meals.
“I’m so grateful for the community leaders, who have been pushing for safe camping and parking locations for years, for their tireless advocacy and support in standing these sites up,” said Councilmember Katie Valenzuela, who represents the district where the two new sites are located and spearheaded the projects. “We cannot wait any longer for meaningful action on homelessness.
“These sites are not a final solution but are an important step in the right direction,” she added. “Our office’s practice of working in partnership with service providers, business associations, neighborhood leaders and folks experiencing homelessness is a big part of what is making progress in District 4 possible, and I hope our work will inspire additional progress across the city.”
The new South Front Street Safe Parking and Sixth Street Safe Ground are part of the comprehensive master plan the City is developing to address homelessness. The City Council plans to hold district-specific discussions about additional Safe Ground/Parking, triage and shelter sites in the coming weeks.
“These new Safe Ground sites will be a key part of our new master plan for homelessness, which will offer a variety of housing solutions and services across the city to get at least 3,500 people off the street at a time,” said Mayor Darrell Steinberg. “Our hope is that we can provide better help to people and clean up areas of our city that are currently not safe and not healthy.”