Homelessness in Sacramento is an ‘all of us issue’ with life-or-death consequences

One of the most visible and troubling impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic during the past year has been a pervasive rise in the number of homeless individuals in Sacramento. While much of the recent hope for reviving the prosperity of our region has centered on wider vaccine distribution, dropping infection rates and a lifting of restrictions, it is obvious to us that Sacramento’s future must include a new and collaborative approach to assisting the homeless.

The most obvious sign of deterioration of quality of life in our community is homelessness. Current efforts, while well-intended, are not working and the suffering continues. Our local jurisdictions have invested millions of dollars in a variety of attempts to provide lasting relief, working cooperatively with service providers, yet the exploding population of unhoused continues to grow in size and complexity.

According to recent estimates, the streets of Sacramento County were home to more than 11,000 people experiencing homelessness over the past year. Public records from the county coroner tell the story that living on the streets is a deadly proposition. Deaths recorded among the unhoused population have increased by 94% since 2016, with a 151% increase in the last two years. Make no mistake: living unsheltered is a life-or-death issue.

To end this suffering and have a meaningful impact, we must demand a unified effort between the city, county and community resources committed to a comprehensive plan that delivers genuine results.

The health crisis arising from COVID-19 has exposed our past shortcomings. If regional efforts had been aligned instead of siloed, our region (and our unhoused) would likely have fared better through the pandemic. There is no excuse for continuing old patterns.

A unified effort, coupled with available state and federal monies earmarked for homelessness programs presents the opportunity to reboot our approach, to pursue realistic rehousing goals and create effective outreach to bring unhoused residents inside. It is essential to restore clean and safe conditions to our neighborhoods, both to provide humane assistance and to create an atmosphere that restores the public’s confidence in visiting and patronizing businesses.

Short-term, we need to approve the city’s plan for temporary safe campgrounds with basic services like water, power and sanitation. That option needs to be extended to the rest of the county. Long-term, we need a partnership with a laser focus on permanent housing solutions, behavioral health and mental illness services, substance abuse treatment and prevention, and paths to foster work experience and employment.

A health care crisis like the one we’ve been living through calls for urgent initiative to develop a genuine plan to address the needs of the unhoused. A concerted effort is needed to build trust among unsheltered people and those seeking to help them. New facilities and safe campgrounds must be attached to services with a goal of permanent sustainable housing for everyone. Living on the streets, sidewalks, and waterways and the accumulated burden of mistreatment creates trauma for our community’s unhoused and addressing this is essential.

Likewise, neighborhoods experiencing some of the resulting impacts need assurances that facilities and safe campgrounds will restore clean and safe conditions that are paramount to staging a comeback for our region; a comeback that is critically important to the economic and social future of Sacramento.

We are out of excuses and the time for finger pointing has passed. This isn’t an advocate issue, this isn’t business issue, this isn’t a city or county issue. It’s an all of us issue. It’s our community and we need to collaborate to identify solutions. The table is large enough – and it’s time for all of us to have a seat and work together.