City staff on Tuesday provided its monthly update of the comprehensive siting plan to the City Council, outlining its progress to create new shelter spaces for people experiencing homelessness.
Director of Public Works Ryan Moore led the presentation, with Director of Homeless Services Nick Golling and Housing Manager Danielle Foster providing additional information about the costs and future budget for sheltering people experiencing homelessness.
All together, the City is spending more than $44 million to provide a variety of shelter settings and other resources for people. Most of that comes from state and federal grants that are not certain year to year.
“We think for 2023 we have pulled together the funds to cover the shelter piece, from both the State Homeless Housing Assistance and Prevention (HHAP) grants and by redirecting some funds within the Department of Community Response budget,” Foster shared at the meeting.
While the comprehensive siting plan contains 20 potential sites, City staff currently is focusing its efforts on eight sites that have shown the most potential for development and activation. Some of these sites have been added to the plan in recent months.
Here is a quick rundown of the status of the eight sites:
- Joshua’s House is a private hospice facility to be built on a city-owned lot in North Sacramento. The developer recently applied for a permit and the site could be up and running late this year.
- Miller Park Safe Ground is a 60-tent low barrier shelter has been opened since Feb. 8. It has already served approximately140 people, 25 of whom have moved on into positive settings.
- Auburn Boulevard Respite Center is sited at the former Science Center Museum. It is in use now as administrative space for Hope Cooperative and Department of Community Response outreach teams. It is ready to be used as a respite center for adverse weather conditions.
- North 5th Street is an existing 104-bed shelter which, under the siting plan, has been expanded to 145 beds and will add another 18 in July for a total of 163.
- Downtown Service Hub is an unnamed location that is the subject of ongoing negotiations to purchase the building and use it as a central hub for people experiencing homelessness and the service providers who work with them.
- Colfax Yard is a vacant city-owned lot being used now as an unsanctioned parking spot by people experiencing homelessness. The State Water Board is requiring additional work on the site to meet environmental safety standards for longer-term, sanctioned safe parking. The people there now will need to vacate soon to allow that work to be done.
- Roseville Road RT Station will require a three-way agreement among the City, RT and Cal Trans. When completed, that agreement will allow between 50 and 70 vehicles to safely park there.
- The 102-acre Job Corp site was recently purchased as federal surplus land. In the short term, the site requires new road access and other improvements before part of it could serve as a safe parking site. Councilmember Vang has begun a series of meetings to gather public input about the long-term uses for the site.
In addition to these sites, the City is collaborating with the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency (SHRA) on three Project Homekey motel conversions, La Mancha, Vista Nueva, and Central Sacramento. Together, these motel conversions will offer more than 300 rooms to be used mostly as supportive and transitional housing.
The City also has partnered with WEAVE Inc. and St. Johns Program for Real Change, offering transitional living spaces for women who are escaping domestic violence and recovering from substance use disorder.
To find the agenda item, slide presentation and watch the archived video of the Council presentation of the comprehensive siting plan update, please go to item nine at this link.
