Hope for Homeless in Sacramento?
At 6:00 pm on January 31st, 2017, the Sacramento City Council and County Board of Supervisors met in a joint meeting in downtown Sacramento. This was the first time that these two groups had come together in over 20 years; the issue that finally brought them together: homelessness. Over 400 concerned citizens attended the meeting, approximately 100 of which hoping to speak directly to our representatives, hoping to suggest solutions to this massive problem.
This should come as a shock to no one. Homelessness has become (or does it simply continue to be?) a prominent issue in the Sacramento region. Individuals speaking on behalf of different interests– businesses, activists, landlords, nonprofits, builders, health professionals– implore our city and county officials to do something about it.
People are dying, children are sleeping outside. The time to do something is now.
After last week’s joint meeting–and for weeks, months, and years prior–The Sacramento Bee published many important articles on homelessness in Sacramento.
The following articles are taken from The Sacramento Bee throughout the last week, and highly worth reading. They are a snapshot, a point in time picture of what homelessness is right now, and how we are addressing the issue as a government and a people.
Hopefully we can look back on these articles in the future, and celebrate how far we’ve come and the solutions we have created. For now, here we are:
“Let Sacramento’s homeless sleep in Peace” Dave Kempa
http://www.sacbee.com/opinion/california-forum/article128747574.html
“Is there hope again to find a way off Sacramento’s Streets?” Erika Smith
http://www.sacbee.com/opinion/opn-columns-blogs/erika-d-smith/article129273259.html
“Overcoming the dysfunction on homelessness” Erika Smith
http://www.sacbee.com/opinion/opn-columns-blogs/erika-d-smith/article130237214.html
“Sacramento city and county take first steps toward giving housing to homeless” Anita Chabria and Ellen Garrison
http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article129977289.html
“Sacramento moves ahead on public housing for homeless, but county wants more time” Anita Chabria and Ellen Garrison
If I would’ve known about this, I would’ve attended. I’m an educated single mom who found herself homeless living in our car for 3 months… would’ve had a LOT of input….