March 31st is a California state holiday dedicated to Cesar Chavez Day, which is also observed by Sacramento Steps Forward. Cesar Chavez, alongside Dolores Huerta founded the United Farm Workers, and through decades of organizing and great opposition, grew a movement to advance “La Causa” across the country. In 1966, he led a march that began in Delano, California, that grew exponentially each day and ended in Sacramento with close to 10,000 supporters. “La Causa” utilized tactics such as boycotts, fasts, and strikes that led to a five-year boycott in support of farm labor unions across the country.
President Barack Obama declared, “On Cesar Chavez Day, we celebrate one of America’s greatest champions for social justice. Raised into the life of a migrant farm worker, he toiled alongside men, women, and children who performed daily, backbreaking labor for meager pay and in deplorable conditions. They were exposed to dangerous pesticides and denied the most basic protections, including minimum wages, health care, and access to drinking water. Cesar Chavez devoted his life to correcting these injustices, to reminding us that every job has dignity, every life has value, and everyone - no matter who you are, what you look like, or where you come from - should have the chance to get ahead,” Presidential Proclamation - Cesar Chavez Day, 2014
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The City of Sacramento, Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency, Sacramento Steps Forward, and the County of Sacramento are collaborating to keep you informed about our collective efforts to address Sacramento homelessness. This newsletter features information about the Project RoomKey program and how motels played a major role in sheltering people during the pandemic. |
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The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced in March that the Sacramento region has been awarded $29.7 million to fund 31 projects for individuals and families experiencing homelessness. Of the awards, 23 projects renew various homeless service programs. Combined, these critical funds will continue to finance 2,367 beds and add 210 new beds to the homelessness response system. Congratulations to the awarded projects and thank you for continuing to serve our community! |
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The 2nd Continuum of Care (CoC) Annual Meeting will be held on Thursday, April 21, 2022 from 9:00 am - 12:00 pm. Mark your calendars!
SSF has been working in partnership with the City and County of Sacramento to develop a local homeless action plan that outlines a regional approach to ending homelessness in Sacramento. Our goal is to develop a plan that is actionable and relatable, approaches strategies and activities at a system level, and will ultimately serve as a roadmap to guide funding.
This half-day session will begin with an overview of a gaps analysis, offering an opportunity for you to provide input and feedback on system level strategies and activities that will help improve our community’s performance measures. The gaps analysis and action plan will ultimately guide the CoC’s recommendations for HHAP-3 funding.
Please look for additional details regarding registration for the Annual Meeting, including a timed agenda so everyone can participate as their schedules permit in the coming weeks. We look forward to seeing you at the April 21st Annual Meeting!
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Sacramento has been participating in the 100-Day Encampment Challenge focused on serving persons experiencing unsheltered homelessness. Sacramento is nearing its final quarter in the challenge which involves establishing a team of providers, staff, and outreach navigators to test innovative ways to help persons experiencing homelessness.
This experience thus far has improved landlord engagement, opened many networking opportunities and allowed space to learn about each agency’s roles and offerings, as well as identified gaps in our homeless response system. We’ve also met people experiencing generational homelessness who can give insight into other ways we can approach homelessness response.
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The California Racial Equity Action Lab team was comprised of members representing Sacramento County, Sacramento Steps Forward, and the Berkeley Food Project. This team worked collaboratively to design racially equitable homelessness systems by utilizing equity-based decision making tools within policymaking, system and project design, funding process, and governance. These goals will be utilized in addition to Sacramento Steps Forward’s Racial Equity Action Plan to drive equity driven initiatives throughout Sacramento to eliminate homelessness.
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SSF and our local government partners are collaborating to implement a Coordinated Access System (CAS) to improve connections to crisis response services for people experiencing homelessness in our community. Working in partnership with 2-1-1 Sacramento and other community partners, CAS will attempt to divert single adults and families who call 2-1-1 from homelessness through partnerships with the Rapid Access to Problem-Solving (RAPS) pilot expansion efforts and additional providers who complete problem-solving training. Households who cannot be immediately assisted with diversion services will have access to street outreach and shelter beds as available.
Currently, callers to 2-1-1 can receive referrals to RAPS problem-solving access points, two emergency shelters, and/or complete a standard assessment for permanent housing programs over the phone, and we are excited to begin piloting this expanded CAS effort in July 2022. While full implementation of CAS will take time, our ultimate goal is to bring the majority of crisis response services into the program as soon as feasible to do so.
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We are very grateful to our COVID-19 Community Health Project (CCHP) partners who have collaborated with us since February 2021, and to the community-based organizations who demonstrated strong interest in building upon these 2021 efforts. As of February 25, 2022, a total of 2,531 J&J and Moderna vaccinations have been administered to people experiencing homelessness (an +86% increase since November). Our partners’ dedication to driving local action ensures that we continue to educate and encourage the Sacramento community to get vaccinated against COVID-19, especially populations most impacted by homelessness and COVID-19.
We encourage you to read about our partners and this work, as well as the ongoing vaccine clinics. We also have limited COVID-19 supplies available to you. Contact us if you’re interested in accessing educational materials, masks, sanitizers, testing kits, and more.
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The Dare to Dream Scholarship Program provides higher education funding to current or formerly homeless high school graduates or GED recipients who are living or have lived within the service areas of Volunteers of America Northern California & Northern Nevada.
Applications will be accepted until Friday, April 15 and scholarships will be awarded by the first week of June 2022. Please contact Reem Al-Amin at ral-amin@voa-ncnn.org to learn more about the program or to receive assistance with your application. Check the eligibility criteria and requirements!
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Reserve now! Cottage Housing is making available 4oz. bottles of hand sanitizer (24 bottles/case) to support agencies and programs serving Sacramento clients. Supplies are limited however, more could become available in the future. Reserved supplies can be picked up at SERNA Village at 5836 Dudley Blvd., McClellan Park, CA 95652. Please contact Lois Littlewolf, Cottage Housing Program Manager at (916) 339-2746.
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Browse our website for upcoming trainings available to the wider community. You can also access our previous discussions about how we can better serve people experiencing homelessness in Sacramento.
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04/21 | CoC Annual Meeting
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