x
Breaking News
More () »

Mayor Steinberg floats South Sacramento homeless shelter idea

Sacramento Mayor Darrel Steinberg announced an idea to convert a South Sacramento educational building into a homeless shelter at Tuesday’s city council meeting.

Sacramento Mayor Darrel Steinberg announced an idea to convert a South Sacramento educational building into a homeless shelter at Tuesday’s city council meeting.

The vacant building at 2401 Florin Road was used as the Adult Education Center and is owned by the Sacramento City Unified School District. Steinberg said he is currently in discussion with the district about converting that space into a homeless shelter to serve that area.

"We are committed to opening multiple triage centers throughout the city until we have an ability to adequately address the crisis our community is facing," said Mayor Darrell Steinberg. "The Florin site is a promising location so we are working closely with the school district and the councilmembers from the surrounding districts to determine if this is a possibility. No final decision will be made without input from the impacted community and I look forward to working with the community and councilmembers on this critical piece of our citywide solution to address homelessness."

Sergio Alberado owns La Barca Taqueria that is across from the proposed site. He said if the shelter opens up, he will shut down his business.

"I've been having a lot of stress on this kind of business, you know with this, if they bring it over probably gonna quit,” Alberado said.

He said the homeless often enter his business and cause trouble, often scaring away customers. Alberado said he thinks building a shelter could make it worse.

According to the latest point in time count commissioned by Sacramento Steps Forward, more than 3,600 people are homeless in Sacramento. The number of unsheltered has risen 85 percent in just two years.

The announcement came a week after backlash from some business owners and residents in North Sacramento over an idea to establish two separate shelters there.

Before You Leave, Check This Out