The Sacramento region is shifting direction in its strategy on homelessness, putting more emphasis on finding permanent housing rather than providing emergency shelter beds, Mayor Kevin Johnson announced Thursday.
At an event that resembled a raucous pep rally, Johnson and other leaders kicked off the "Sacramento Steps Forward" initiative, with a goal of establishing and fully funding 2,400 housing units for homeless people during the next three years.
Johnson called on political entities, business leaders, churches, nonprofit groups and others to pitch in ideas, time and funding to make the goal a reality.
"We need sustainable funding. We need diverse funding streams. We need the support of the federal government, the state, the county, the city, the corporate community, philanthropic organizations," he said.
A policy board has been established to work toward finding funding, locating housing and support programs, and connecting homeless people with those services, said Johnson. That strategy has been successful in moving hundreds of people into permanent housing during the past two years, Johnson said, but the new plan will ramp up the effort.
Among those pledging support for the Steps Forward program at Thursday's event were county Supervisor Roger Dickinson and City Council member Rob Fong. Hundreds of others, including social service providers and homeless men and women, attended the kickoff, waving flags and cheering every speaker.
The event took place in a courtyard at Martin Luther King Jr. Village, an innovative housing program on Sacramento's south side for formerly homeless people.
MLK Village, a project of Mercy Housing California, has a "housing first" philosophy, which argues that homeless people need stable living environments before they can tackle such problems as drugs, alcoholism and mental illness.
Most of the 80-unit village's residents get government disability checks, a portion of which helps pay their rent. Those who are without income pay nothing.
Once they move in, they have access to counseling and other programs that can help them establish stable lives.
Johnson said programs like MLK Village will be critical to the effort to end chronic homelessness.
In the meantime, advocates are gearing up to move homeless people into temporary shelters during Sacramento's cold and rainy winter months.
If the new plan for permanent housing is successful, Johnson said, it will will put such shelters "out of business" forever.
Call The Bee's Cynthia Hubert, (916) 321-1082.
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