Sacramento church, landlord strike compromise over homeless services
Following a scuffle with its landlord earlier this year and complaints from nearby businesses, a North Sacramento church might have stopped offering services to the homeless on Del Paso Boulevard.
Instead it is doubling down, and on Monday launched a resource center called “The Stoop Collaborative” that people can visit for clothes, health and hygiene products, connections to mental and behavioral health providers, and get assistance navigating the safety-net bureaucracies of housing and social assistance programs. The center will, at first, operate by appointment only.
Karina Garcia, a minister and director of the non-denominational church, the Bride’s Chamber, emphasized that while the center caters to the homeless, it is available to anyone in need. And patrons don’t have to attend services or observe Christianity to get help.
“Anybody can have a bad month,” Garcia said. “We don’t require you to come to church service, or pray with us first. We’re here to give you resources. If God leads you in that direction, by all means. But we’re here to serve.”
Garcia’s church used to host a local nonprofit, Lifting Spirits Higher, that organizes weekly pop-up events for the homeless. People would gather in the church parking lot on Saturdays for food and prayer.
In December, the church’s landlord, Ethan Conrad Properties, requested that Garcia put a stop to the events. The company said the pop-ups violated Garcia’s lease, and nearby business owners had complained.
Garcia said Monday that she and the company had reached an understanding: The church would stop holding events in its parking lot, but could offer help and supplies to people in need from inside its building.
A spokesperson for Ethan Conrad Properties confirmed in an email that the church can offer resources to the homeless indoors under the terms of the lease, and said the church has been abiding by that agreement.
Advocates and outreach workers gathered at The Stoop Collaborative Monday to celebrate its opening and underscore the urgent needs of the region’s homeless population. They described the challenges people face navigating byzantine systems to get placed in housing — often without phones, transportation or mailing addresses. They said they hope their efforts at The Stoop Collaborative can restore people’s hope and dignity, and get them on the right track toward permanent housing.
Garcia said The Stoop Collaborative will be open on certain Mondays, from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. Organizers said they will operate by appointment at first, and walk the neighborhood to find people who need assistance. Eventually, they plan to expand to allow some walk-ins.
Garcia said the church sent out emails to its neighbors before the center officially opened Monday. But she was resigned to the likelihood that she will receive some pushback.
“We’ve prepared people the best we can,” she said.
Crystal Sanchez, president of the Sacramento Homeless Union, said the center has rules, like a ban on sleeping or camping at the site, a requirement that people respect the center’s neighbors, and zero tolerance for substance abuse.
“I’m the first person to say that we all are impacted by homelessness,” Sanchez said. People don’t expect to buy a new home or start a business, she said, and have an encampment pop up on their block.
“The thing is though, calling 3-1-1 and complaining about it isn’t changing homelessness,” Sanchez said. “Things aren’t changing.”
Meanwhile, the nonprofit that used to host the church’s weekly parking lot events, Lifting Spirits Higher, has moved its offerings to a midtown church: The Dream Center on C Street in the Mansion Flats neighborhood.
“It was pretty discouraging,” Lifting Spirits Higher Founder Kathryn Baldwin said Monday. “But, we move on.”
Baldwin said she hosts events at the Dream Center every Saturday, except the third Saturday of each month.
This story was originally published May 12, 2025 at 5:14 PM.
