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Safe Ground Sacramento's
Community Bulletin
November/December 2013
Seventeenth issue
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Hello and Welcome
 | | Steve Watters Executive Director |
to Safe Ground Sacramento's
Community Bulletin for
November and December 2013
With the cold and wet weather season now upon us, Safe Ground would like to thank everyone who has donated warm clothing, blankets, sleeping bags, and cold weather survival equipment to River City Phoenix and the SG Pilgrimage Program churches. More is always needed and if you can help with a donation, please contact us at SafeGroundSacInfo@gmail.com . Items that help those outdoors stay warm and dry help save lives, and are always greatly appreciated by those in need.
We have drafted a construction budget for the planned Safe Ground Community and will be sharing it with City Council members Allen Warren and Jay Schenirer in the next few weeks. Once these numbers are refined we will have a clear picture of the amount of funding that must be raised to construct our first site. It is our goal to announce the project in early 2014 and name a site for the first Safe Ground Community shortly thereafter.
As we celebrate the holiday season, we should take a moment to reflect on the less fortunate in our prosperous region. Those suffering in poverty and homelessness cannot enjoy the season as many of us are able to, but must instead worry about getting enough to eat, and staying warm and dry as winter approaches.
It must be our ongoing objective to provide a place where they can find safety, shelter and food while getting the services needed to help them toward permanent housing, improved health, employment, and family reconciliations.
During this season of peace and compassion, let us all rededicate our efforts to ensure that no more winter seasons pass before we have a Safe Ground Community underway, and helping the most vulnerable in our midst.
Our thanks to all who support Safe Ground's efforts. Our task is large but not impossible, and we are making progress. Without your generous support we could not succeed.
Happy Holidays and Happy Winter to all,
Steve Watters
We always appreciate your comments and feedback and you can email us at SafeGroundDirector@gmail.com. We also need your ongoing support, so please consider visiting our donation page by clicking on the DONATE link to the left.
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National Homeless Persons' Memorial Day
Friday December 20th at 10:30 a.m.
in Friendship Park at Loaves & Fishes
This annual event is well explained by an excerpt from this interesting manual ,available on the nationalhomeless.org site -
"Each year since 1990, on or near December 21st, the first day of winter, the longest night of the year, the National Coalition for the Homeless (NCH) has sponsored National Homeless Persons' Memorial Day to bring attention to the tragedy of homelessness and to remember our homeless friends who have paid the ultimate price for our nation's failure to end homelessness. Beginning in 2005, the National Health Care for the Homeless Council and the National Consumer Advisory Board joined NCH as co-sponsors of this meaningful event." National Homeless Persons' Memorial Day will be observed in Sacramento on Friday December 20th, at 10:30 a.m. in Friendship Park at Loaves & Fishes.
The event is dedicated to all the homeless people who have died in our community, and will feature the release of the report
Sacramento County Homeless Deaths Report: 2002-2013
This report will be issued by Sacramento Steps Forward, and was created in partnership with the Sacramento Regional Coalition to End Homelessness, the Sacramento County Coroner, and the Sacramento County Public Health Department.
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Safe Ground & SHOC Benefit Show
Luna's Cafe Friday January 17th 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.
Once again, our thanks to Jenn Rogar for organizing a fourth (!) fundraising event, and to Art Luna for being a great host and providing such a nice venue.
Musicians Jenn Rogar, Carly Duhain, Joe Kye, Marty Taters, G.P. Bailey, Steven Payan, Sal Valentino, Darin Bradford, and Sandra Delores will perform.
Come enjoy the music and help Safe Ground and SHOC.
We hope to see you there!
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Extreme December cold and the local response
Sacramento experienced sustained cold weather during the first two weeks of December, as can be seen in this table, where each vertical triplet depicts day of the month/high temp/low temp. The data comes from this National Weather Service site and the report produced by specifying Product = Preliminary Monthly Climate Data, Location = Downtown Sacramento, and Timeframe = Archived Data for December 2013.
| 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 |
10
| 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | | 68 | 68 | 56 | 49 | 51 | 47 | 46 | 43 | 51 | 52 | 57 | 61 | 61 | 62 | | 41 | 42 | 42 | 34 | 29 | 29 | 33 | 28 | 25 | 28 | 30 | 30 | 33 | 33 |
Sample local media coverage of this prolonged cold spell, and its threat to our homeless neighbors, can be found in this SacBee article and in this SN&R blog post .
Area government responded to this genuine crisis, one affecting thousands of homeless Sacramentans, by: - Opening a warming center in Southside Park from 8 p.m. until 6 a.m. for the seven consecutive nights of the 4th through the 10th.
- Opening a warming center in Elk Grove from 7 p.m. until until 8 a.m. for a similar stretch of days.
- Opening a warming center in Galt.
Details about these efforts, including the remarkably low turnout at the warming centers (there were over 20 people at Southside Park on only one of the seven nights), as well as the efforts of various local non-profits and religious groups, are available at this County news site . "In response to expected night temperatures in the upper 20s and low 30s over the next three to four evenings, the City and County of Sacramento, coordinated by the County Office of Emergency Services, are opening a nighttime warming center for residents to get out of the cold. The criteria for this response, according to the County/City Severe Weather Guide, are extreme cold/freeze warnings for three days accompanied by night temperatures of 32 degrees or less." and this paragraph raises various questions. The coordinating role of the County Office of Emergency Services seems rather opaque. There are no references to warming centers returned by the search function on the OES site . And the "County/City Severe Weather Guide", which sounds like a discrete document, cannot be found via a Google search. Presumably this Guide also specifies the rules governing the opening of cooling centers during heat waves, something the City and County did on June 30th of this year. Of course it is necessary, appropriate, and good that the City and County respond to weather emergencies that threaten citizens without shelter. But the regulations in effect are not easily found, and it seems there is a mismatch between effort, need, and assistance rendered. Safe Ground would like to thank Trinity Episcopal Cathedral for quickly providing unscheduled emergency shelter and meals to the homeless on both December 5th and 6th. Trinity is a long time participant in the Safe Ground Pilgrimage program, and regularly helps the homeless with shelter and food throughout the year.
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Placerville's Hangtown Haven closes
 | Hangtown Haven closes
video by Hector Amezcua of Sac Bee |
Hangtown Haven (HH) was a small community of homeless people in Placerville CA that existed, with political support, for 16 months. Described by the LA Times as "believed to be California's only authorized, self-governing campground for homeless people", it succumbed to an increase in NIMBYism and claims of poor behavior by homeless people attracted to the area, as well as a severe retraction of political support. In late spring and early summer HH was optimistic about securing a new location and hoped it would be a 1 acre site owned by El Dorado County and next to Highway 50. Neighborhood opposition and lack of County support prevented this from happening. At the October 8th Placerville City Council meeting Mayor Wendy Thomas announced that HH would be closed when its temporary use permit expired on November 15th. On October 30th HH filed a request with the City of Placerville asking that its temporary use permit be extended to July 1, 2014. This request was unsuccessful and on November 15th HH was shut down and all its residents left. Although the search for a new site continues, thus ends, at least for now, a well intentioned and successful humanitarian effort that deserved a better fate. Our condolences to founder Art Edwards and to all the residents of HH. Mountain Democrat coverageSac Bee coverageLA Times coverageHH siteSG visit to HH in December 2012 |
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
November 12, 2013
November 17, 2013*
December 22, 2013*
December 29, 2013*
* = breakfast 8:30 - 9:30
The House Church
1901 Broadway
Sacramento CA 95818
Contact: Ashlei Baker
ashlei@thehousechurchsac.com
916-706-2337
November 07, 2013
December 12, 2013
Pioneer Congregational United Church of Christ
2700 L ST
Sacramento, CA 95816
Contact: Pam Tureen
pamelat2@sbcglobal.net
(916) 442-0814
November 22, 2013
December 22, 2013
St. John's Lutheran Church
1701 L Street
Sacramento, CA 95811
Contact: Steve Ruder
scruder@gmail.com
(916) 412-0075
November 07, 2013*
November 11, 2013
November 14, 2013*
November 21, 2013*
November 27, 2013**
December 02, 2013
December 05, 2013*
December 12, 2013*
December 19, 2013*
December 26, 2013*
* = homeless services open house 9 to noon
** = Thanksgiving meal 11 to 2
Trinity Episcopal Cathedral
2620 Capitol Avenue Sacramento, California 95816
Contact: Cheri Meadows
cheri.meadows123@gmail.com
(916) 601-6441
November 06, 2013*
November 13, 2013
November 20, 2013*
November 27, 2013
December 04,2013*
December 05, 2013**
December 06, 2013**
December 11, 2013
December 18, 2013*
* = dinner at 6
** = unplanned nights to help
with cold weather emergency
Trinity Lutheran
1500 27th Street Sacramento CA 95816
Contact: Church Secretary
(916) 456-8701
December 27, 2013*
* = dinner 3-5
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Contact Safe Ground
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Location: 1800 21st Street Sacramento, CA 95811 (21st & R)Mailing Address: PO Box 1644 Sacramento, CA 95812 Website: safegroundsac.orgLetters, Questions, Comments
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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. |
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