A new shelter and tiny home community opened in Sacramento. Here’s a look inside
A new south Sacramento shelter will soon be home to 175 people, their tiny cabins a respite from the streets they hope to leave behind.
Local leaders and advocates gathered Wednesday at the Stockton Boulevard Stay Safe Community, the tiny home campus tucked off of Stockton Boulevard and Riza Avenue where residents receive case management and behavioral health services, job placement and housing assistance, the tools they will need to prepare for their housing journey.
Most important in the near term, said organizers on Wednesday, beds and a roof overhead; showers and a laundry; hot meals and a sense of security away from the streets.
“I want people to come live with safety and dignity here. That starts with the homes. A predictable experience here each day. That’s our goal,” said Joseph Pacheco, executive director of First Step Communities, the Sacramento-based nonprofit that coordinates the site’s day-to-day operations.
“There’s nothing more important for the people who come here than a door that locks,” Pacheco said. “These are victims of violence, theft and crime. It’s a sense of security for people who’ve experienced a lot of trauma in their lives.”
The site, a partnership between Sacramento County, city of Sacramento and State of California, opened Dec. 30 and is the county’s third and largest of its Stay Safe Community sites. It’s the first tiny homes site funded through the Governor’s Tiny Homes Project and $17.6 million in state Department of Housing and Community grant funding. The grant funds operations costs for the site’s first three years, say officials.
More than $500,000 a year over that span will come from Sacramento County Department of Health Services to support homeless clients who need substance abuse services and mental health support.
The community has 155 cabins, 135 of which are single-occupancy; another 20 are double-occupancy for identified couples and adult families. Restrooms fitted with showers, a laundry room and a cafeteria ensure clean clothes and a warm meal.
Forty people so far live in the homes, many who were living along the W/X streets corridor and nearby neighborhoods, said Sacramento County officials. Residents can also bring their animal companions. Outdoor pens and an open area allow for pets and pet relief.
State encampment relief funding targeted homeless people living on the streets for outreach. City of Sacramento outreach workers at its Department of Community Response have been talking and working with unsheltered people in the neighborhoods, building client lists for the newly opened site.
“All of this came together with the need for immediate shelter,” said Sacramento city councilman Eric Guerra, in whose district the shelter community calls home. “They need a dignified setting, not tents. A place to stay and regain normalcy is essential.”
This story was originally published January 15, 2025 at 3:25 PM.
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