SACRAMENTO, Calif — After getting multiple letters from local authorities, Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg announced more temporary Safe Ground sites for homeless residents.
But some advocates say they've seen enough of temporary solutions to the city's housing crisis.
"Safe Ground sites work for individuals unsheltered in the sense they provide safety from sweeps, or criminalization for not having housing. Nevertheless, tent cities, encampments and outside shelters are not safe, adequate (nor) humane options during the extreme weather temperatures here in Sacramento," said Zuri K. Colbert, founder of the Sacramento Community Lead Advocacy Program (CLAP).
Steinberg said Miller Park is set to reopen with 60 tents after being shut down for the past several months
The site was initially open through 2022 with about 80 tents, multiple bathrooms and electricity.
However, city officials closed the site after it was deemed unsafe during the January storms.
"If there is going to be an expansion of Safe Grounds, then implementing trailers or motorhomes like the great Camp Resolution site," Colbert said. "Trailers are expensive but will not be as costly in the long run than the detrimental impact being unsheltered has on community members."
Poor People's Campaign of Sacramento representative and pastor Kevin Carter said city officials need to move beyond creating small increments of housing and shelter.
"If you just put up a place that can hold, oh, 200 people, and you still have 10,000 more on the streets—what have you accomplished and who have you listened to?" he said. "When are you going to think bigger?"
According to Steinberg, Sacramento currently has 1,100 safe spaces and beds every night, though there are almost 9,300 residents in total without housing.
