Dear Friends and Partners,

As we close out the year and consider the National Homeless Persons Memorial Day today, it reminds us that homelessness continues as the number one urgent issue in our community and nation.

It is critical that we maintain the steady resolve to act urgently with the long view in mind. Resolving homelessness requires building a coordinated and systemic approach to reducing the inflow of those becoming homeless, quickly providing crisis services including diversion and sheltering services, and accessing and improving the flow to permanent housing solutions.
 
Shelter without a permanent housing option leaves people stuck. There is upwards of nearly 600 permanent supportive housing units on the way, but we will need far more affordable housing options to solve our region’s housing crisis.

We need to be ever mindful that being unhoused is not an individual shortcoming. It is a grave policy and system failure and can only be changed through local, state and federal coordination and community partnerships.  
 
Sacramento Steps Forward stands ready to engage the community toward that goal. Sacramento can benefit enormously by setting up a more coordinated infrastructure where we as a region leverage our assets to create a person centered, equitable coordinated response.
 
In coming months the CoC will be discussing a coordinated access proposal as a critical system improvement. This proposal will optimize program resources such as sheltering, problem solving and rapidly resolving housing crisis issues for individuals and families. 

The CoC will also be hosting the development of a state-required Homeless Action Plan and we will be working to ensure that our resources are invested for the maximum impact possible.
 
We stand ready to help forge systematic solutions to house the unhoused and we look forward to bringing together all those who care about homelessness to shape system solutions that can more urgently and effectively cut through this continuing humanitarian crisis. There is no better time to do this than now.  
 
Thank you for the hard work from each of you this past year and I look forward to continuing our partnerships in 2022.

On behalf of the SSF team, best wishes to you and your family this holiday season. 
Lisa Bates
Chief Executive Officer, Sacramento Steps Forward
2022 Unsheltered Point-In-Time (PIT) Count
Join us at the unsheltered PIT Count on January 26th and 27th, 2022! We will survey Sacramento to get a snapshot of people experiencing unsheltered homelessness. You can volunteer to go in the field and interview community members or provide support at the deployment centers. For the safety of all participants, our volunteers must meet several requirements such as being fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Check out our website for more details and/or email our team with questions!
100-Day Encampment Challenge
Sacramento is coming together with Santa Cruz, Merced, Fresno and San Bernardino to participate in a 100-Day Encampment Challenge, which will be focusing on serving persons experiencing unsheltered homelessness. As a part of this challenge, Sacramento will establish a team of providers, staff and outreach navigators to test out innovative ways to help persons experiencing homelessness. The challenge officially kicks off on Tuesday, Jan. 4th, 2022. More information will be shared at the January 12, 2022 CoC Board meeting.
COVID-19 Community Health Project 2.0
We’re excited to continue our COVID-19 education and vaccination outreach for unsheltered communities through the COVID-19 Community Health Project (CCHP) 2.0. This project is a collaboration between The Center at Sierra Health Foundation and the California Department of Public Health’s Vaccinate All 58 campaign. In this next phase, we will utilize the funding awarded to encourage COVID-19 vaccination in select Sacramento zip codes with the largest numbers of unvaccinated populations and areas with a high number of families with young children.
Homeless Hiring Tax Credit
Assembly Bill (AB) 150 was signed by Governor Newsom establishing the Homeless Hiring Tax Credit (HHTC). The credit is available for taxable years beginning January 1, 2022 through December 31, 2026. Employers may receive $2,500 to $10,000 in tax credit per eligible employee based on hours worked in the taxable year. Employers may claim up to $30,000 of credit per taxable year.

To be eligible, the employee must be certified by a certifying organization through the Homeless Hiring Tax Credit Certificate. Organizations participating in coordinated entry and/or HMIS will be able to complete the certificate with the following information:
  • Continuum of Care: Sacramento City and County CoC
  • Identification Number: CA-503
  • Community-based service provider project number: This information can be obtained by running an APR report in HMIS for the program the client you are certifying is enrolled in. If you need assistance running this report, please attend the HMIS support office hours every Thursday 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM at this link:
HMIS Open Office Zoom | Meeting ID: 821 6854 7133
Passcode: 120041
8th Annual Homeless Memorial Vigil
Today, December 21st, 6:00 PM, at Sacramento's City Hall the Sacramento Regional Coalition to End Homelessness (SRCEH) will conduct the 8th Annual Homeless Memorial. At the candlelight vigil, speakers will read the names and ages of 139 unhoused neighbors who died in Sacramento County in 2021. Learn more and attend this special event!
CoC Provider Trainings
Missed the CoC Provider trainings? Access our discussions from 2021 on topics such as trauma-informed care, fair housing, social security income, and more! Please also stay tuned for more information about 2022 CoC trainings.
If you have questions, please contact Kathreen "Nica" Daria.
CoC Meetings
The Sacramento CoC meetings occur on a monthly basis. Stay informed by attending the upcoming January 2022 meetings:
CoC Membership Recruitment Update
We're excited to announce the CoC is recruiting for new CoC Board and CoC Coordinated Entry System Committee (CESC) members starting today, Tuesday, Dec. 21st, 2021 through Monday, Feb. 21st, 2022. All applications are due Monday, Feb. 21st, 2022 by 5:00 PM. Learn about the new CoC membership recruitment process and apply. If you have any questions, please contact Michelle Charlton.
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