SACRAMENTO COUNTY, Calif. — California is experiencing a housing crisis, including Sacramento County.
The latest Point in Time Count (PIT) estimates there are 9,278 people living unhoused in Sacramento County on any given night. Out of those numbers, 72% are living unsheltered, meaning they're living in a tent, vehicle or without any shelter. The nightly count translates to about 16,000-20,000 people that experience homelessness at some point in the year.
No one should be without a home, but the same research shows people of color are overrepresented among those experiencing homelessness in our region. Black residents, specifically, are 3-4x more likely to experience homelessness compared to other groups.
Habitat for Humanity of Greater Sacramento partnered with Mutual Housing California to create more affordable housing. A ribbon cutting ceremony was held Monday for the Cornerstone development in south Sacramento.
"It's a really proud day," said Leah Miller, president and CEO of Habitat for Humanity of Greater Sacramento. "This means a lot to the community. We're able to bring together people from a variety of different backgrounds in life and find housing across the spectrum. In order to address the housing crisis in our state, we need to come together with solutions. It's going to take all of us coming together to develop unique partnerships to add units across the spectrum of affordable housing to make an impact and a difference that we really need to see."
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Conerstone is an affordable rental housing community for low income people and their families. It comes with 108-units, including 1, 2 and 3 bedroom apartments. There are also 18 new Habitat for Humanity single-family homes. The community can house more than 400 people in total.
Some of the community amenities include a playground, garden, laundry facilities, bike racks and a picnic area. The apartment amenities include window coverings, wheelchair access, refrigerator, electronic thermostat, efficient appliances, disposal, dishwasher, ceiling fan, air conditioner and more.
"Cornerstone is a really exciting project," said Roberto Jiménez, CEO of Mutual Housing California. "We've been wanting to develop single-family housing for about a decade and we couldn't find the right partnership. Then, we found Habitat for Humanity of Greater Sacramento. We're doing organizing within the community, not just within our own housing, so there's a new Sacramento County park adjacent and it's a beautiful location."
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Tiffany Timberman is a first-time homeowner at Cornerstone. She says it's a dream come true compared to her last rental.
"Before we got this opportunity, we lived in an old Victorian home," Timberman explained. "It was split into two apartments and we lived upstairs. We had mold and rodents. It was overcrowded and it was 50% of our income, so we were barely getting by. Now, at Cornerstone, we're able to afford our mortgage payments. The house is clean and brand new."
When it comes to California's housing crisis, housing advocates say it takes everyone working together to make a positive change.
"Support affordable housing," Jiménez said. "The voters in California have been really explicit in supporting affordable housing and we need those elected to also continue to support affordable housing, even though there are budget issues at the state and city level."
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