SafeGround Sacramento's Community Bulletin

If you would like to donate , sleeping bags, tents, or any other equipment, even office equipment (old but working PCs needed), please contact us at 916-448-2448 and/or come by our office, located across from Maryhouse.

Safe Ground Office
1800 21st Street
Sacramento, CA 95811

Donations of any of these items are always appreciated:

Tents

Tarps

Sleeping Bags

Blankets

Backpacks

Warm Coats
Rain Coats
Rain Boots

Scarves

Hats

Gloves

Socks

Long Johns (thermal underwear)

Umbrellas

Hand Warmers (like hunters use)

Insect repellent

Donations are tax deductible.

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Safe Ground Sacramento's

Community Bulletin

May/June 2013

Fourteenth issue

Hello and Welcome to Safe Ground's newsletter

Steve Watters Executive Director

Safe Ground wishes to thank all those who participated in the Safe Ground Stake Down event in May. The event was successful both in bringing our effort to the forefront in local media, and in sharing the prototype cabin and community plan with many more members of the general public and public officials.

The busy summer predicted in the last newsletter is unfolding. The Safe Ground Board of Directors, volunteers, and I are working on the creation of the first piece of the Safe Ground Community business plan, the operational component. Work is proceeding on schedule and we expect to complete this portion of the plan this month and then start on the documentation and budget work associated with the pre-development phase. To that end, we have met and are working with City Planning and Buildings departments.

This 14th issue of the Community Bulletin contains some great articles. Take a moment to look at the report below on the 2013 Street Count numbers just published by Sacramento Steps Forward. It shows, among other things, a 22.4% increase in the number of chronic homeless individuals in Sacramento County between the last point-in-time count in 2011 and this year's count. This alarming statistic confirms the suspicion of Safe Ground and other service providers and advocates that homelessness is once again on the rise and affecting the most vulnerable of our society. This is not, of course, good news but it reaffirms the need for a Safe Ground community that will provide a model for a first step community, and a fast track to permanent housing.

Let me also like to call your attention to the article on our participation in the ACT town hall event held at St. Mark's United Methodist on May 22nd. ACT declared support for the Safe Ground Community project and received the endorsement of City Council members Jay Schenirer of District 5 and Steve Cohn of District 3 for the creation of a Safe Ground community in Sacramento City Council Districts 2, represented by City Council member Allen Warren, and 5. County Supervisor Don Nottoli of County District 5 also expressed his support. Safe Ground wishes to express our sincere appreciation for all the research and hard work ACT did in preparing for the event. It was a great success.

Additionally, Safe Ground, under the leadership of Samantha Hodges of the Sacramento Housing Alliance / Hunger Coalition, participated in Hunger Action Day activities including visits with several state legislators. Thank you Samantha for providing us with the opportunity to support important legislation (see article below for details). I also want to thank our homeless volunteers who bravely shared their stories to support the activities - Thank you to Mia and Youvan and Angela and Derek. Great job guys!

I look forward to seeing some of you at Luna's Café on Saturday, June 15th at 7:00 pm for some great music!

See you at Luna's...Steve Watters

Safe Ground Fundraiser

Luna's Cafe on Saturday June 15th at 7 p.m.

Luna's Cafe is located at 1414 16th Street (near N Street) in downtown Sacramento. Admission is $7, on a sliding scale.

Performers include JD Valerio, Jenn Rogar, James Israel, Ricky Berger, G.P. Bailey and Patrick Grizzell.

more info here - Luna's SG fundraiser

Come enjoy the music and help the Safe Ground effort.

We hope to see you there!

Loaves & Fishes 30th year anniversary celebration

On Wednesday June 12th, Loaves & Fishes celebrated its 30th anniversary. A parade full of homeless people of all ages, L&F employees and supporters, banners, signs, costumes, and balloons began at 10 in the morning and marched three blocks to the center of Loaves & Fishes on North C Street. There the marchers joined a growing audience under two large tents, and close to 1,000 people listened to speeches that began at 10:30.

Chris and Dan Delany, who started Loaves & Fishes in 1983, were honored, as were Sister Libby Fernandez and Joan Burke, who lead Loaves & Fishes today. Mayor Kevin Johnson spoke glowingly of Loaves & Fishes, wished it another 30 years, said the city needs "a bed for every head", and donated two season tickets for Sacramento Kings basketball games. State Assembly member Ken Cooley from District 8 in Rancho Cordova attended.

Over the years, forty organizations have grown out of or been affiliated with Loaves & Fishes. At the end of the speeches, these organizations were recognized. As The Great Parade, a song specially written to honor the occasion, was performed, people holding signs showing organization name and year of inception moved onto the stage. There were three waves of sign bearers, one for each decade of Loaves & Fishes service to Sacramento. The celebration concluded with lunch for everyone.

Congratulations to Loaves and Fishes!

Safe Ground Stake Down

The Stake Down event, help from May 1st through 7th at 12th & C Streets in downtown Sacramento, was a definite success that supported our homeless neighbors and stimulated public awareness of the immense need for help.

The lengthy background to this event began in December 2012 when Mark Merin, owner of the lot at 12th & C, submitted a permit request to the City of Sacramento. The City took well over a month to respond with a long list of requirements for fencing, lighting, sanitation, security, hours, and number of people permitted on the site. After all requirements were met or negotiated, the City scheduled a meeting in Old City Hall on April 22nd for area residents and business owners to express their concerns about the pending event. Safe Ground was not invited to this open meeting but learned of it and attended and attempted to persuade the invitees of the benign and positive purpose behind Stake Down. The NIMBYism, anger, and fear expressed by area residents, while not uniform, was predominant and depressingly familiar. One individual said he had emerged from six years in jail and wondered why the homeless can't turn their lives around as he has. An irate landlord at least directed some of his anger toward the failure of politicians to fully acknowledge and address area homelessness. An apartment manager said, alluding to the City's interest in professional basketball, that the homeless need some "financial whales". Three homeless individuals told their stories and hopes to the audience.

In the end, the City approved the permit request for a week long event, but only allowed three nights of camping. An appeal to allow the originally requested seven nights of camping was denied on April 30th by Judge Balanon. Stake Down began on May 1st, and, for three nights, symbolically close to the prototype cabin which will be used in the Safe Ground Community, homeless people slept in fifteen tents and enjoyed respite from the usual daily rousting by police and park rangers.

StakeDown 1

Numerous positive events unfolded at Stake Down. There was television and print media coverage. The National Lawyers Guild conducted "know your rights" sessions to help the homeless in their interactions with police. Organize Sacramento provided messaging training. The Western Center on Law and Poverty discussed AB5, the CA Homeless Bill of Rights, and other legislation. Health clinic information and assistance in signing up for MediCal were available. Residents of WIND Youth Services, an organization that helps homeless youth, attended and met with Chancellor Brian King and faculty and counselors from Los Rios Community College District.

The large variety of arts based activities included music by G.P. Bailey, sessions in sculpting, origami, yoga, and silk screening, poetry readings, and photography by Francisco Dominquez of homeless people sleeping outside in downtown.

A highlight of Stake Down was the press conference at which City Council member Allen Warren expressed his support and understanding of the need for a Safe Ground community.

StakeDown 5

Elliot Cavnaugh from Assembly Roger Dickinson's office also spent time at Stake Down asking questions and speaking to the homeless.

Stake Down concluded on May 7th with a meal with local Native American leaders who spoke of their own experiences with homelessness and sympathy for the homeless , and kindly provided a performance by the Wokini Indigenous Drum Group.

If you have a FaceBook account and would like to see more photos from the Stake Down event, login at

SG on FaceBook , select Photos, and then select Albums.

Angela's story

Angela is a young homeless woman who has been associated with Safe Ground over the past year. She is a member of the Homeless Leadership Team within the SG Pilgrimage church shelter program. She has agreed to share her story, which follows, in her own words -

A few years ago my life was typical. I had a good job, an apartment of my own caring for my two daughters and my disabled mother. In a year, my job as a retail allocator was one of several cuts made by my company, my mother required more care, and my rent was raised. After 6 months, when I ran through my savings and was still unable to find a job, I had to make arrangements for my daughters to live with their father, my mother moved into subsidized housing and everything I owned had to be sold. Unable to make rent and still without a job, I found myself homeless.

Life on the streets has been more than challenging. In addition to trying to secure meals on a daily basis, the elements take their toll. I have to stay hydrated in the summer and dry in the winter. Prior to being homeless, the police always referred to me as "miss" or "m'am" and I expected them to protect and serve me. Since being homeless, I have only seen the authorities wield their power in ways that rob us of our dignity and criminalize our circumstance. The police have confiscated our tent, bags and carts...leaving us with nothing but the clothes on our backs.

I found out I was pregnant in October and decided that despite my current circumstances I would keep my baby. I found out just weeks later that I was expecting twins. On February 14 I went into premature labor, delivering my twin daughters at only 5 ½ months along. My first was taken immediately to the ICU and my second was delivered stillborn. After the doctors examined her, they told me that we had lost Genevieve 1 ½ to 2 weeks prior and carrying her had caused an infection that induced early labor.

I have since then researched my premature labor and wondered if any of my actions could have caused the loss of my daughter. I came across several sources of information that said unsanitary conditions, like malfunctioning toilets and unmaintained portable outhouses, can lead to infections of all sorts.

Loaves and Fishes, a wonderful program that I support completely, unfortunately does not have the capacity to maintain the outhouses on the weekends. These are the only facilities I have access to as local businesses refuse to allow non-patrons to use the bathrooms.

I will never truly know why I delivered early and why I only got to keep one of my twin girls, but the conditions that I, and other pregnant homeless women have to deal with need to be addressed.

In my 17 years as a parent raising children indoors, I have only personally known 3 women who have lost children. Living outside for the past year, I have personally known 6 women who have lost children. I am here today to share my story, but remember that I am not the only one.

SG participates in May 22nd Hunger Action Day

On Wednesday May 22nd, Safe Ground partnered with members of the Sacramento Hunger Coalition, the Sacramento Homeless Organizing Committee, and the Western Regional Advocacy Project in visiting the offices of the Governor, Senators, and Assembly members to promote the passage of these progressive bills:

AB 5 - Homeless Person's Bill of Rights
SB 283 - Reentry and Job Support
(for released prison inmates)
AB 309 - CalFresh benefits for homeless youth
AB 191 - Strengthening ties between CalFresh and Medi-Cal
SB 134 - No Hunger for Heroes Act

Our team focused on the promotion of AB5, and visited the offices of Assembly members Ken Cooley, Democrat for District 8 in Rancho Cordova, and Roger Dickinson, Democrat for District 7 in Sacramento. Assembly member Cooley was noncomittal, said he needed to read AB5, and said many business people in his district oppose the legislation, but then clarified that he only meant to say many of his constituents oppose AB5. Elliot Cavnaugh, a member of Assembly member Dickinson's staff, met with us and gave the strong impression that Assembly member Dickinson supports AB5.

An article about Hunger Action Day, with many photos, is available here on the website of the Sacramento Press.

Safe Ground attends May 22nd ACT event

Sacramento ACT (Area Congregations Together) www.sacact.org hosted a Housing and Healthcare Community Meeting on May 22nd at St. Mark's United Methodist Church.

An audience of several hundred listened to religious and community leaders address the topics of Healthcare, Blight (caused by foreclosures and lack of code enforcement) and Homelessness. Each of these three categories was covered using the format of a research report, followed by individual testimony, followed by proposals and recommendations to elected officials. Mia Adrade's very moving testimony of what it is like to enter homelessness in one's 60s received a standing ovation.

A Community Covenant directed to the City Council and the County Board of Supervisors was distributed. It asks all City Council members to support a Safe Ground Community in both District 2 and District 5, in keeping with the expressed support of Councilman Allen Warren of District 2 and Councilman Jay Schenirer of District 5.

City Council member Jay Schenirer and County Board of Supervisors member Don Notolli both attended, expressed support for ACT's goals, and answered numerous questions. City Council member Steve Cohn was not present, but sent a letter which conveyed support for a Safe Ground community, provided it is not located in the River District, which is in his District 3, or in Alkali Flats or Mansion flats, which are in District 4 and are represented by City Council member Steve Hansen. Councilman Hansen was not present and ACT distributed cards for audience signature that encourage him to meet with ACT. Such a meeting has not yet occurred, despite the fact that many ACT congregations are in Councilman Hansen's district.

AB5 - CA Homeless Bill of Rights

in "suspense" status until January 2014

Unfortunately, AB5 will not become state law this year. Looking on the bright side of things, it has not been voted down, and there is now more time to advocate for its passage. It failed to make it out of the Assembly Appropriations Committee in late May and will not be reconsidered until January of next year.

WRAP, an organization that has been fighting hard for AB5, has an article about this here - AB5 delay

The saying "Laws are like sausages, it is better not to see them being made." is often, and perhaps mistakenly, attributed to Otto von Bismarck. For those who tolerate sausage, these sites may be of interest -

http://openstates.org/ca/bills/20132014/AB5/

leginfo.ca.gov on AB5

leginfo.legislature.ca.gov on AB5

SSF releases 2013 "point in time" homeless counts

Sacramento Steps Forward, the "public-private" non-profit that distributes close to 15 million HUD Continuum of Care dollars each year to area organizations combating homelessness and poverty, is required to conduct a census of the homeless in January of odd numbered years. This year's census occurred on January 24th. SSF's summary of the census is a 24 page report titled "2013 Sacramento Countywide Homeless Count Report". It is now available online here - SSF 2013 census Here is a Sacramento Bee article about the count - SacBee on SSF 2013 census

Broadly speaking, HUD definitions say the "unsheltered" homeless are people living outside or in a vehicle, the "sheltered" homeless are people in emergency shelters or transitional housing, and a "chronically" homeless person is "an unaccompanied homeless individual with a documented disabling condition who has either been continuously on the street or in an emergency shelter for a year or more, or has had at least four episodes of homelessness in the past three years".

The following data, which includes SSF's 2013 counts, is taken, for all other years, from the HUD site
http://hudhre.info/index.cfm?do=viewHomelessRpts

year/unsheltered/sheltered/total/chronic

2005/0645/1584/2229/626

2006/0645/1584/2229/626

2007/1005/1447/2452/718

2008/1266/1349/2615/680

2009/1194/1606/2800/468

2010/1194/1540/2734/432

2011/0955/1421/2376/353

2012/0955/1857/2812/454

2013/0786/1752/2538/432

Homeless Services Open House at St. John's

St. John's Lutheran Church at 1701 L Street hosts a Homeless Services Open House on Thursday's from 9 to noon. Services are provided through the efforts of both the Midtown Business Association's Homeless Outreach program and the Central Downtown Food Basket.

The Midtown Business Association provides information and literature about numerous programs and resources such as food banks, adult education, emergency shelter, low income housing, help with pregnancy, glasses, dental care, and health care for veterans. They also provide haircuts to help job applicants.

The Central Downtown Food Basket (http://cdfb.org) gives free groceries to anyone who needs food. Recipients are asked to accept food only if their household income is below a specified level, but no proof of income is demanded.

Safe Ground Pilgrimage Overnight Shelter Program in Midtown Sacramento

Safe Ground wants to recruit churches, synagogues, mosques, temples, congregations, union halls and business owners in the midtown area to permit Safe Ground sponsored homeless to stay overnight on their property from 6pm to 7am the next day. This provides the homeless with a sanctuary from arrest, and also, during much of the year, gives them a life-saving night free from the cold and the rain. The SG Shelter Program provides its own staffing and cleanup. Many hosts also provide a dinner and/or breakfast, but this is not required. Those who sleep with us promise to be alcohol free, drug free and nonviolent.

We need your help with the following:

Volunteers All Ages:

* Fellowship hosts - Safe Ground sponsored homeless provide check-in. Volunteer hosts welcome people and provide information.

* Coffee host - Brew and serve

* Food supplies, paper cups and napkins - Food and paper supplies are provided by volunteers - bulk items always welcome

* Food preparation and cooking - we have great kitchen captains that would love your assistance

* Food serving - Fill those empty bellies!

* Kitchen & Great Hall cleaning

* Dishwashing

Volunteers 18 Years and older:

* Overnight/breakfast hosts - men and women

All we need is a large room and someone to open the doors. We provide the rest. Please contact Dave Coburn at 916-337-7733 or coburn180@gmail.com or Amani at 916-893-0736 or amani.sfg@gmail.com for more information if you can help.

We are actively seeking new religious organizations within a walkable 3 mile radius of Loaves & Fishes to participate in the Pilgrimage program. If you are a member of such an organization, and think it might like to join hands with us in providing overnight shelter, food, and fellowship once a month, please contact Dave Coburn.

Pilgrimage Overnight Shelter Program calendar

First United Methodist Church

2100 J Street

Sacramento CA 95816

Contact: Glenn Tilton

tilton2@comcast.net

916-446-5025

May 19, 2013*

May 26, 2013*

June 23, 2013*

June 30, 2013*

* = breakfast 8:30 - 9:30

Pioneer Congregational United Church of Christ

2700 L ST

Sacramento, CA 95816

Contact: Pam Tureen

pamelat2@sbcglobal.net

(916) 442-0814

May 24, 2013

June 28, 2013

St. John's Lutheran Church

1701 L Street

Sacramento, CA 95811

Contact: Steve Ruder

scruder@gmail.com

(916) 412-0075

May 13, 2013

June 06, 2013*

June 13, 2013*

June 20, 2013*

June 24, 2013

June 27, 2013*

* = homeless services open house 9 to noon

Trinity Episcopal Cathedral

2620 Capitol Avenue Sacramento, California 95816

Contact: Cheri Meadows

cheri.meadows123@gmail.com

(916) 601-6441

May 01, 2013*

May 08, 2013

May 15, 2013*

May 22, 2013

May 29,2013*

June 05, 2013*

June 12, 2013

June 19, 2013*

June 26, 2013

* = dinner at 6

Contact Safe Ground

Location:
1800 21st Street
Sacramento, CA 95811
(21st & R)

Mailing Address:
PO Box 1644
Sacramento, CA 95812

Website:
safegroundsac.org

Letters, Questions, Comments

are welcome. Email Contact:
SafeGroundDirector@gmail.com

About Us

Safe Ground was founded in December 2008 by homeless leaders of Sacramento's 2008-2009 Tent City encampment along the American River near downtown Sacramento. We have been incorporated as a 501(c) 3 since January 2010. We support and assist an underserved population of unsheltered homeless adults who sign a covenant to be alcohol, drug and violence free, and who are committed to using every opportunity to reintegrate into mainstream society. We help those who are among the neediest and the most overlooked.

Safe Ground advocates for the rights of homeless adults. Our goal is to create cost effective, model communities where homeless people can live in safety and dignity, without threat of violence, addiction or arrest. We envision communities that, rather

than treating homelessness as a crime, embrace the dignity of each person, and provide supportive housing with a full range of social services.