New refrigerator for X Street shelter could help ‘feed the soul’ of its residents

Billed as a holistic answer to homelessness, Sacramento’s ambitious X Street housing and social service center has been open for two months, serving 100 residents who formerly lived on capital streets.

But the X Street Navigation Center is not quite complete.

Officials with Volunteers of America, the nonprofit group that operates the site for the city, say they want to buy an industrial-grade refrigerator for residents to store personal food on-site. The refrigerator VOA has in mind would cost $4,400, officials said.

To pay for it, the VOA is asking for community donations through The Sacramento Bee’s Book of Dreams holiday giving program.

“This (refrigerator) will provide security and independence, while also allowing those with dietary restrictions to maintain their health and well-being,” the VOA wrote in its request. People can store culturally specific food for instance, or just comfort food.

But it’s about a lot more than food, says Amani Sawires Rapaski, VOA’s chief operating officer.

The center, located on a Caltrans lot between X Street and Broadway west of Alhambra Boulevard, already offers residents meals prepared by workers who were formerly homeless and from local restaurants.

The new refrigerator would serve as a tool to help emotional healing as well as physical nourishment, Rapaski said.

She calls it feeding the soul as well as the body — something that could help some residents to become willing to talk with VOA case managers about their problems and what steps they should take to improve their lives.

“The more comfortable you feel, the more you are likely to develop a relationship that enables us to move you along,” Rapaski said. “They can be progressively engaged in understanding what needs to happen to get them out of homelessness.”

The X Street Navigation Center, launched by the city of Sacramento and its housing and redevelopment agency in September, is one of the more visible parts of the city’s effort to fight homelessness.

The half-block-sized facility includes a hangar-like dorm, a cafeteria building, on-site case management offices, a kennel for animals, storage pods for residents’ belongings and administrative offices.

City Councilman Jay Schenirer called it a “model” facility that responds to the city’s moral imperative to help the homeless, but also to be a good neighbor to the surrounding residential and business community.

Most residents of the X Street shelter previously lived on the streets in surrounding areas of midtown, Oak Park, Curtis Park and along the Broadway and Alhambra corridors.

Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg called the center a sign of things to come.

“This shelter has been a long time coming, but it is now ready to become a key part of our comprehensive siting plan to address homelessness,” Steinberg said in a statement during the facility’s opening. “These openings will continue in different forms throughout every part of our city in the many months ahead.”

Kaiser Permanente contributed $5 million to help fund the center. Other funds come from the city’s voter-approved Measure U tax, and from the state.

But, “the budgets for these programs often get exhausted on the basic needs of the program,” VOA wrote in its Book of Dreams request. “We rely on compassionate and generous donors and grant-makers to fill in the gaps so we can deliver a high level of service and wraparound care.”

VOA uses the word “navigation” in the center name because the goal is to help people find a route forward, Rapaski said.

The route forward depends on the life situation and capabilities of each resident, she said. Some are young and could find their way into the workforce. Others are older and more frail. Some have drug addictions. Some suffer from mental illnesses.

In all, about 25 people work on-site, including five social workers who serve as case managers. Their work may include preparing residents for drug or alcohol rehabilitation programs and getting them mental health services like weekly group meetings on-site.

The site team includes “housing navigators,” who work with residents on finding more permanent housing. Often, those navigators help residents fix ruptured relationships with family members, potentially allowing the person to move back in with relatives.

Already, a handful of the center’s first residents have moved on to permanent housing.

Some residents have jobs, but may struggle to keep those jobs. Among them is Tyrell Hamilton, who just turned 28.

Hamilton had a tough upbringing, handed from foster home to foster home — he’s lost count how many — from the age of 15 months until he was 18 years old. Hamilton spoke to The Bee recently about his life.

He said he left the foster care system with a long list of prescribed medicines, some for bipolar disorder, some for ADHD, but without sufficient coping skills or support.

He does odd jobs in construction but got let go from a job recently because he didn’t show up. He was living in his car, which broke down. He hasn’t been able to afford to fix it, which makes it hard to get to a job site.

He said he heard about the X Street center and applied for a spot, figuring this was a chance for some help.

“It’s a blessing, so far,” he said, picking up lunch in the cafeteria. “I’m here with a smile. I know I am destined for something better.

“I am trying to pick up odd jobs. I need to show (construction) companies that attendance is not going to be an issue.”

Rapaski said she believes Hamilton has what it takes to pull himself off the streets. She said VOA would help him find a way to get his car fixed.

“You have a spark in you, Tyrell,” she said, as the two talked about his life recently.

“I think we all got a spark,” he said. “It takes certain people to bring it out in people.”

How you can help

For more than three decades, The Bee has asked readers to provide a gentle lift to Sacramento organizations helping the needy during the holiday season. Last year, more than $200,000 was raised to help 32 community organizations. To help in this year’s Book of Dreams campaign, you can make a donation at: sacbee.com/bookofdreams.