Sacramento’s homeless community braces for a hot summer, looking for shade and water
When Sacramento temperatures start to hit triple digits, Shawna Chapman finds a little relief by placing silver emergency blankets over her blue tent for shade.
But recently she lost those blankets when the city cleared her encampment along X Street, she said.
With temperatures set to hit 80 degrees Monday, she’s bracing for her seventh Sacramento summer on the streets. This one could be extra dangerous for her as she was recently diagnosed with congestive heart failure and suffered a stroke.
Heat can exacerbate cardiac conditions like Chapman’s. In September 2022, Michael Hooper, 49, was homeless and died in his vehicle at a Sacramento park from cardiac arrest and heat stroke after “temperatures were elevated for multiple days,” according to coroner records.
The city and county now have more cooling centers and open them more frequently than they did during the summer Hooper died. But Chapman has reservations about cooling centers and shelters, partly due to concerns about her tabby kitten Taco, she said. She’s also worried about curfews and rules that could prohibit her from visiting her two adult children.
Instead, she has been focusing her efforts on trying to get permanent housing, with no success.
“You can go to all these different wait lists and talk to all these different people and at the end of the day you still ain’t got no hope,” Chapman, 44, said Sunday morning, sitting in her tent with her cat. “I’m on every list you can think of.”
Survive the heat
While she waits, she thinks the city and county could do more to help the homeless survive the heat.
“They should help us do more to get water and shade,” Chapman said. “They say you can’t be under bridges, but that’s shade.”
As of 2024, the city funds 1,375 shelter beds at 18 different sites, according to a March 18 staff presentation to the City Council. But there are not nearly enough beds for everyone. A count in January 2024 found that 3,053 people lived outdoors, not counting the ones staying in shelters.
Shelters and AC
Even those who have one of the shelter beds don’t always have air conditioning.
The city’s trailers at the Roseville Road shelter do not have power to provide heat and air conditioning, Department of Community Response Brian Pedro told the City Council during a meeting March 4. The city has ordered over 130 new tiny homes that will have air conditioning and will replace the trailers, which are toward the end of their life.
Sacramento County had delivered water to encampments since 2020, but stopped June 30 after the federal COVID-related grant ended. However, Sacramento County spokeswoman Kim Nava said a stockpile of water is still available for cities to pick up and distribute to encampments this summer, if they choose.
Whether the city of Sacramento, which is facing a budget deficit, will do so is unclear.
This story was originally published March 23, 2025 at 4:16 PM.
