There are nearly 1,000 homeless men and women sleeping outdoors on any given night in Sacramento. As the cold, rainy weather approaches, the demand for emergency shelter will exceed available beds in our community. Without a warm, dry, safe place to sleep, these homeless individuals may be at greater risk of illness, injuries and even death. Sacramento Steps Forward has partnered with the faith community early this year to make sure the third Winter Sanctuary Program is available for homeless men and women needing a place to sleep during the harsh winter months. Twenty-two churches and mosques have already signed up to provide nightly shelter and meals on a rotating basis to 100 single ho

Local homeless programs received a federal boost Friday with a $995,000 grant from the Housing and Urban Development Department – opening the door to shelter and services for more than 100 additional people this year. "This funding will help us meet our goal of ending chronic and family homelessness in Sacramento,” Ben Burton, executive director of Sacramento Steps Forward, said in a press release Friday. The award is part of $201 million in competitive grants that HUD awarded across the nation for 2012. In Sacramento, homeless programs offered through the city, county and a variety of nonprofit and volunteer organizations are coordinated by the county in what is called a “continuum of

On the eve of another cold night in Sacramento, Wells Fargo Bank stepped up to give $75,000 to help the city’s Winter Sanctuary program provide shelter for the homeless. “People talk about ‘occupy this’ and ‘occupy that,’ but this is what people want,” Mayor Kevin Johnson said at a press conference Tuesday. “They want the corporate community to have values that are in line with the least among us in our communities.” Wells Fargo representative David Galasso presented the $75,000 check at the press conference. Winter Sanctuary provides shelter to the homeless during the winter months and is run by Volunteers of America, Sacramento Steps Forward – a regional initiative launched in 2010 to

In spite of a $75,000 funding shortfall, Volunteers of America, Sacramento Steps Forward and Sacramento’s interfaith community are going forward with plans to offer nightly shelter and meals to Sacramento-area homeless men and women. The second season of the collaborative “Winter Sanctuary” program began Dec. 1, and is once again offering people in need safe and comfortable shelter in the dining halls, community rooms and gyms of faith-based centers throughout Greater Sacramento. While funding has only been secured to guarantee operation through January 2012, Volunteers of America Greater Sacramento & Northern Nevada and Sacramento Steps Forward have decided to open the doors now to prov

Winter Sanctuary, Sacramento’s interfaith, rotating homeless shelter, is currently facing a substantial gap in its budget. The program, which nightly shelters 100 homeless adults, is set to open on December 1st and run through March 31st. However, the program will not be opening on December 1st if the funding gap is not significantly narrowed. Christie Holderegger, Vice President of Volunteers of America, spoke of the urgent need for this program, “Our neighbors are experiencing homelessness for a variety of reasons and many for the first time. They are looking to us, all of us to help them out of this desperate situation. As a community we can reach and uplift them. We saw hundreds of li

Officials of the Sacramento County announced in a press release Tuesday that it has identified and will provide $150,000 to fund emergency shelter programs for homeless families this winter becoming the lowest amount of funding to date. The funding will go toward Winter Shelter – a program designated to operate during the cold and wet winter months which provides beds and individual apartments to homeless families that are unable to find housing in the county’s already-overcrowded shelters. The Department of Human Assistance identified the funding from salary savings, according to Kerri Aiello, spokeswoman for the county, because there was a delay in hiring in the department. The depart

On any given night in Sacramento 2,400 people are homeless in our County. According to the 2011 Sacramento Homeless Count, 955 of our neighbors are sleeping on the streets. As winter rapidly approaches, Sacramento Steps Forward (SSF) is seeking creative solutions to house those families and individuals who are forced to sleep outside due to overburdened resources. This harsh reality poses a dual risk to both the safety and health of those sleeping outside. Notably, Sacramento has been successful in reducing chronic homelessness by 50% in the last 3 years. However, family homelessness is on the rise; this year’s Homeless Count data shows an 11% increase. Loaves and Fishes, which serves mea

The 4th Annual Sacramento Homeless Connect event will take place this Saturday, May 21 at Sacramento City College from 10:00 am-3:00 pm. It is hosted by Sacramento Steps Forward, with support from presenting sponsor The Salvation Army. Speakers at the event include Assemblymember Roger Dickinson, Mayor Kevin Johnson and Supervisor Phil Serna. Over 1,000 homeless guests are expected; additionally the event hosts 500 community volunteers and over 60 different service providers. Project Homeless Connect is a national Best Practice model for bringing services directly to homeless folks. Started in San Francisco, it now occurs in over 150 communities across the country. Homeless Connect events

A group of Sacramento-area faith community leaders came out to be recognized on Tuesday for their participation in the Winter Sanctuary program to house the homeless in the winter. “From December to March, (the) Winter Sanctuary program sheltered 550 homeless men and women,” County Supervisor Roberta MacGlashan said. It also served to aid the homeless with resources, employment and treatment of health issues, MacGlashan noted. “(In addition), they were provided with sleeping bags and transportation each evening by bus to a safe congregation, and there the volunteers from each congregation (served) them with dinner, breakfast, social and spiritual fellowship,” MacGlashan said. Under the

A local group that combats homelessness is asking the public for $50,000 to shelter the poor during the winter season. Sacramento Steps Forward needs the funding to continue its new Winter Sanctuary program, which allows homeless people to sleep overnight at certain churches, according to the group’s director, Tim Brown. Volunteers of America is partnering with Sacramento Steps Forward on the program, which started Dec. 1, Brown said. The two groups have raised about $40,000, which will allow the program to run until the end of January, he said. Another $50,000 is needed to continue the program through the end of March, which is the goal. “The churches have really stepped up to open thei

An early bout of severe weather will hit Sacramento tonight through Wednesday night, endangering the lives of the approximately 1,200 homeless men, women and children sleeping outside in Sacramento County. The next three days will see lows of 28 degrees to 30 degrees, with rain forecasted for this evening. Due to the projected low temperatures, warming centers are being activated for Tuesday, November 23,  Wednesday, November 24, and Thursday, November 25, 2010. Open warming centers are: -Volunteers of America A Street Shelter (1400 North A Street, next door to TLCS Guest House: Men only -Salvation Army Shelter (12th & North B Street): Women and Men, 18 years + -Union Gospel Mission

The start of a new school year is daunting enough for homeless children without adding the stigma of sitting down to a desk without the essential tools many of their classmates may take for granted. Volunteers of America’s Operation Backpack, which continues through July 23, aims to boost the confidence of Sacramento-area youth in need by providing new backpacks and school supplies to help them achieve academic excellence in spite of their frequently precarious living situations. The sixth-annual community drive invites the public to support these children and their families by bringing a new backpack filled with fresh school supplies to one of the more than 130 Operation Backpack drop-o

Though homelessness is not a new problem, the number of homeless people in Sacramento has increased over the last few years because of the state's budget crisis and cuts to federal programs. On June 30, hundreds of county shelter beds became unavailable, forcing more homeless onto Sacramento streets. In answer to the shortfall, Safe Ground Sacramento was inaugurated on July 1. Organized by community members, nonprofits and businesses, Safe Ground seeks to provide the homeless with a safe place to be. Hundreds gathered that day for a rally and march to kick off the movement. Among them was Jacoby Shaddix, the formerly homeless lead singer of local band Papa Roach. The city of Sacramento e