Mayor Kevin Johnson on Tuesday pledged his commitment for creating a sanctioned "SafeGround" for as many as 100 homeless campers in Sacramento, calling it a final piece of the area's mosaic of programs to shelter needy people.
"I believe we have waited too long" to create a place where homeless people can legally sleep outside with basic services and access to programs that can help them become more stable, he said at his weekly news conference. "We've studied this for three years. This is not that complicated."
With about 100 campers currently pitching tents on the south side of the American River near 10th Street, the City Council tonight is scheduled to take up the controversial matter for the first time.
Johnson urged some of the campers to join the "nomadic shelter" program, in which homeless men and women sleep in rotating houses of worship on cold winter nights. Wells Fargo salvaged that program this week by contributing $75,000 to keep it running through March.
The mayor called that program, along with a successful effort to find permanent housing for more than 2,300 people during the past two years, one of his proudest achievements.
"I'm trying to curtail my emotions," he said in thanking Wells Fargo for its gift.
But the nomadic program can host a maximum of only 100 people nightly, and most other shelters are full during the winter, so a SafeGround encampment is still necessary, said Joan Burke of Loaves & Fishes homeless services.
Burke said the nonprofit SafeGround has identified two pieces of property, one in the county and one in the city, that could serve as encampments with services for up to 100 people.
Councilmember Jay Schenirer said he toured the encampment recently and met some of those sleeping outside.
"I look forward to the discussion about SafeGround at the City Council," he said. "I think we can build a new sports and entertainment complex, and I think we also can take care of the homeless."
Burke said she believes that Schenirer and Johnson are committed to the cause.
"I intend to make sure the rest of the City Council dedicate themselves to that goal, starting tonight."
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