New community of tiny homes signals change in Sacramento County’s approach to homelessness
Sacramento County officials often like to complain that they don’t receive nearly enough coverage of their successes. Well, they’re finally doing something right, so let’s acknowledge it.
The county announced last week that it will open its first “Safe Stay Community” for unhoused people. This project could be an example of the kind of supportive housing that advocates have long been fighting for.
The community of tiny homes will open in late summer or early fall on the corner of Power Inn and Florin, and will house up to 100 sleeping cabins. County officials said the community will include both single- and double-occupancy cabins, bathrooms and communal spaces.
The homes proposed by Sacramento County will be built through Pallet, a self-proclaimed “social purpose company” which provides not only the homes but also construction jobs for homeless people.
The “housing first” model prioritizes permanent housing for homeless people, which allows them to safely receive supportive services such as mental health care to improve their lives, according to the National Alliance to End Homelessness.
“Studies have shown that between 75% and 91% of households remain housed a year after being rapidly rehoused,” says a study from the Department of Veterans Affairs. “More extensive studies have been completed on (permanent supporting housing), finding that clients report an increase in perceived levels of autonomy, choice and control in Housing First programs.”
The closest of Pallet’s communities is in Chico, though that site is not open yet due to litigation that is expected to be resolved soon, according to city officials. The Chico City Council approved and built 177 Pallet homes on a dirt lot south of town that will include showers, laundry services, heating and air conditioning. There will also be an on-site behavioral health facility and one free meal a day plus snacks.
Butte County’s Board of Supervisors used approximately $1.7 million from its federal CARES Act funding to finance the site, said Chico Mayor Andrew Coolidge. (Let’s not forget that, in contrast, Sacramento County used $104 million of its CARES Act funding to finance the sheriff’s payroll while the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors looked the other way.)
The Sacramento supervisors are expected to officially approve this project at the April 26 meeting, and the cabins will start assembly next month, followed by the bathrooms and additional buildings throughout the summer. People are expected to start moving in by early fall.
Bob Erlenbusch, executive director of the Sacramento Regional Coalition to End Homelessness, said he hopes the proposed tiny home community “is a down payment on what’s to follow.”
He noted that it would be upsetting to see unhoused people in the Power Inn-Florin area given a paradox of choice: Either join the tiny home community nearby or be cited or, worse, jailed.
“(I hope) they’ll be really thoughtful about how they screen people who are appropriate for these communities,” Erlenbusch said, pointing out that the mental health of homeless people who served time in jail or in the military may deteriorate in small, enclosed spaces such as the tiny homes. “But, in broad brushstrokes, I think it’s an important step forward by the county.”
It’s encouraging to see the county finally taking steps to meet the city of Sacramento’s own recent efforts to provide housing first models, but as Erlenbusch pointed out, it’s important to remember that according to a conservative estimate, there are some 10,000 unhoused people living in Sacramento County, and 100 tiny cabins would house just 1% of that population.
With any luck, this project will prove to the county that shelter is what’s needed first and foremost, not a circuitous stream of services. Nor should we dangle a home as the prize for meeting the county government’s moving goalposts. Housing should be a right for all, not a reward.
