Sacramento is launching a pilot program to move people directly from encampments into permanent housing. The city’s Street to Housing program is funded by a $5.85 million state grant that will transition 100 encampment households into apartment living.
A household will be defined as a group of people who live together, whether related or not. This means the program could house more than 100 individuals, as some encampment households could include couples, families or roommates.
Participants will receive one year of rental assistance, along with case management and stabilization services, according to city officials.
The program marks a change from the recent past. Sacramento’s city and county governments over the past decade have focused on interim solutions to homelessness, creating emergency shelters and sanctioned camping and parking sites to address the region’s homeless crisis.
Ya-Yin Isle, the city’s housing manager, said she hopes the new program’s ‘housing first’ approach will prove successful.
“We’re really trying to test this approach whether or not we can place people into housing if there are landlords out there who are willing to work with us and then whether or not we can stabilize clients while they're in housing,” Isle explained.
She added that the city will oversee rent payments and work with landlords. Isle said she hopes the program’s financial incentives will encourage more property owners to participate.
"Our hope is that between our incentive and the guarantee that the rent will be paid, that those will be enough to incentivize landlords to bring clients in that may not meet what their typical tenant looks like,” the city housing manager said.
The program will offer housing to people experiencing homelessness in North Sacramento. City officials said outreach to people who are unhoused will begin soon.
Willis Wiggins, an unhoused resident in Sacramento, said he feels longer-term solutions and a stable home could be life-changing. He spoke to CapRadio at Cesar Chavez Plaza, often a central gathering spot for unhoused residents in the city’s downtown.
“It helps the community, as well, because now the environment that we live in is not the local parks and restaurants and abandoned buildings. It's [the] actual place we can call home,” he said.
Beyond stability, Wiggins said housing would allow people to access opportunities that are difficult to take advantage of from shelters.
“Some of us don't have transportation at all, so we have to walk,” Wiggins said. “Having something more concrete makes us have the ability to be part-time workers at a job and pursue getting education at a college campus.”
Niki Jones, executive director of the Sacramento Coalition to End Homelessness, said finding long-term funding will determine whether the city’s program succeeds.
“I would hope that these outreach efforts are partnered just with folks in their pathway to find housing not partnered with any encampment removal efforts,” Jones added.
City officials said rental assistance through the program will not have a strict one-year limit. Some households may no longer need assistance before the year is up, while others may qualify for extended support beyond 12 months based on their situation, city officials said.
Brian Pedro, director of the city’s Department of Community Response, said if the program is successful, it could redefine how Sacramento approaches housing solutions.
“The real test on this is if we can get 100 people placed in six months, then it raises the bar on ourselves. Because now, once you see that that can be done, then we're going to want it done again and again,” Pedro said.
City officials hope to move 100 households from encampments into permanent housing within six months. They added they’ll evaluate the program in the future to see if it can be expanded beyond the pilot phase.
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