SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Hundreds of people living on the street will be housed at Hawthrown Suites off of I-5 across from Discovery Park in Sacramento apart of the city's Project Homekey initiative.
Project Homekey's purpose is to give the homeless a permanent place to stay, but people living in the area say there are already too many resources for the homeless.
Jenna Abbott is the Executive Director for the River District and said the city is once again going back on a promise that was made in 1989 to halt homeless services.
“That resolution has been largely ignored for the past 30 years,” Abbot said. "That resolution promised and recognition that there were so many homeless services in the River District that they wouldn’t add any more."
A huge lot where Rusty Duck a popular restaurant was once located was purchase by a group of developers wanting to build a luxury apartment complex, but they are now suing the city saying the homeless shelter nearby will deter development.
Maya Traditional Mexican Cuisine is located right across from the vacant lot and owner Danny Maya said he moved to the area because it was once a booming scene and was banking on the apartment complex to bring him more business.
“You’re in between a sword and a wall," Maya said. "You want to support homeless people having a home to stay or you want to be a businessman and say this is going to hurt my business and not make it a developing street."
Crystal Sanchez, President of the Sacramento Homeless Union, says Project Homekey is needed in the River District because if the homeless don’t have a place to go they end up sleeping on the door fronts of business and people’s homes.
“I don’t think that the lawsuit is going to get very far because when we look at this we are in multiple crisis one the homeless and we are in the middle of a pandemic,” Sanchez said.
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