A stay-at-home order cleared out downtown Sacramento. The homeless population then spiked
The coronavirus pandemic closed restaurants and bars, shut down Golden 1 Center and sent state employees home with laptops in tow. Perhaps it’s no surprise, then, that Sacramento residents didn’t notice as the downtown homeless population shot up nearly 50 percent.
A Downtown Sacramento Partnership survey on April 19 tallied 172 people living in parks, doorways and on sidewalks in the 66 blocks between Front and 16th streets and H and N streets, up from 116 in a November count.
The 48.3 percent increase represents a substantial spike beyond the normal ebb and flow of downtown’s transient population, said DSP public space services director Dion Dwyer.
“The surge is very acute with the COVID crisis, so it was something of note to us,” Dwyer said. “Typically it’s much more like a tide that goes in and comes out, but this was more like a surge that we haven’t seen in some time.”
The 172 people living on downtown streets represent a 91 percent rise from DSP’s May 2019 survey, which counted 90 homeless people on the 66 blocks. The cause of the most recent increase isn’t known, but the early release of hundreds of inmates from the Sacramento County Main Jail about a month ago could be a factor, officials said.
In late March, the sheriff’s office released about 540 inmates from the Main Jail and the Rio Consumes Correctional Center near Elk Grove. The inmates had less than 60 days to serve on their sentences and met other requirements. Those being housed at RCCC were released outside the Main Jail at Sixth and I streets in downtown Sacramento.
Councilman Steve Hansen, who represents downtown, said he has not noticed a significant increase in homelessness downtown and is skeptical about the accuracy of the count. If there has been an increase, though, he thinks the jail releases could be a factor.
“They’re not released back to where they came from, they’re released downtown,” Hansen said.
Coronavirus, which can spread quickly in congregate living situations, has caused some homeless shelters to close. The Union Gospel Mission Sacramento last month temporarily closed its 60-bed emergency overnight shelter, said Jed Dahlen, assistant to the development director at Union Gospel Mission. That shelter was typically full and hospitals relied heavily on it when discharging homeless patients, Dahlen said.
Some of the people who were staying in the emergency shelter are likely now staying on the streets, Dahlen said. He has noticed an increase in downtown homelessness.
“I’m shocked when I drive around down here to see how many people are still out, with as much housing as they said was coming,” Dahlen said.
Long-time homeless rights activist Sister Libby Fernandez has also noticed an increase in downtown homelessness amid the virus.
“I’m telling you there’s so many people in the parks,” said Fernandez, who’s been giving out hand sanitizer and other supplies to the homeless. “They can’t stay at home so they stay in the park.”
The scene in downtown Sacramento
On Wednesday morning, Cesar Chavez Park, a longtime homeless hot spot, appeared to have more homeless people than before the virus hit.
On one stretch of grass along I Street, about a dozen people were sitting on blankets surrounded by big piles of belongings, and two dogs were tied up. While the park was full, the crowds of state and Capitol workers who normally flood the downtown streets on weekdays were notably missing. It was rare to see a person who was not a construction worker, landscape worker or homeless.
The emptiness of downtown is likely making the homeless even more noticeable, Fernandez said.
One homeless person told Fernandez they were released from the jail due to coronavirus, she said. Several others have told her they were staying in the Capitol Park Hotel shelter at Ninth and L streets, but did not find permanent housing after leaving.
Capitol Park was sheltering 114 people on March 6, before the virus, according to a weekly report from Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency. On Friday, it was down to 72. After the virus hit, shelter operators started placing only one person per room instead of two, to allow for social distancing, Hansen has said. He does not suspect that’s a reason for the increase, however.
Since the Capitol Park shelter opened in September, 353 people have spent time there and 100 have moved into permanent housing, the report said.
Fernandez said a lot of homeless people ask her how they can get one of the motel rooms the county has opened for the homeless during the coronavirus.
Since April 8, officials have so far moved 125 homeless people into motel rooms and three people into the state-issued trailers at Cal Expo, according to a county news release Friday, leaving another roughly 100 motel rooms available that are not yet filled.
The county is placing homeless people who have the virus or were exposed to someone with the virus into the trailers, which come with medical services. To get a motel room, homeless must be experiencing symptoms, have a pre-existing medical condition or be 55 or older. Previously, the county’s criteria to get a room was more limited.
Officials keep track of how many homeless people are living in Sacramento County by conducting a countywide survey every other year. A January 2019 count estimated 5,570 homeless people were living in Sacramento County, mostly sleeping outdoors and mostly in the city of Sacramento.
The Downtown Sacramento Partnership’s count, although unofficial, provides a more up-to-date count of homelessness downtown, as it’s done four times a year.
This story was originally published May 1, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
