SACRAMENTO, California — Sacramento city councilmembers will decide Tuesday whether or not to spend up to $7.7 million on continuing a COVID-era motel program for homeless residents through the end of June 2024.
This comes after Sacramento County officials announced they ended their Project Roomkey program weeks ahead of schedule, saying about 35 participants left the motels voluntarily without housing.
The city's motel program launched in Dec. 2020 with more than 100 rooms available.
According to Tuesday's city council agenda, city staff are recommending officials fund five motels across the city and rent the following amount of rooms:
- Arden Acres (24 rooms, $782K)
- Paul & Sons Inc (65 rooms, up to $1.75 million)
- Shree Enterprises (71 rooms, up to $1.944 million)
- Siyaram Hotel dba Gold Star (32 rooms, $872K)
- Sky Riders (30 rooms, $902K)
City staff said a sixth motel was qualified for their program, but they didn't have the funding available.
About another $1.4 million is set to be spent toward Step Up on Second Street for homeless support services.
Though the proposal goes in front of the city council Tuesday, contracts between the city and motel companies were renewed Sept. 1 through June 30, 2024.
Funded through COVID-19 relief grants, the city motel program served more than 1,575 people experiencing homelessness. About 16% of them went on to find more sustainable housing, according to city officials.
City staff said the motel program should continue to aid the ongoing need for homeless shelters and services.
