SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Sacramento's Department of Community Response recently updated city councilmembers on the progress of an initiative launched in June 2021 ― the Clean and Safe Pilot Program.
Residents struggling with housing insecurity who live in River District shelters can apply for full-time or part-time employment through the program. Currently the program retains six employees working five days a week. Since it began, the Clean and Safe Pilot Program has led to the removal of close to 150 tons of trash and debris.
"I know you've had constituents say to you, 'Why don't we just take people who are homeless and put them to work cleaning up our streets' ― this program does exactly that," Department of Community Response spokesperson Gregg Fishman told the City Council on March 22.
The program's ultimate goal is to create a model for other parts of the city to replicate, and to encourage partnerships between businesses and organizations to address their housing and trash concerns.
How does the program work?
Department Director Bridgette Dean said the Clean and Safe Pilot Program is a partnership funded by the city, the River District and real estate firm 29th Street Capital.
Unhoused residents hired out of local city-run shelters can get paid anywhere between $15 to $18 per hour, of which Dean referred to as a living wage.
Workers with the program are also offered paid vacation time, paid time off and other benefits, if necessary. The program is running the city about $250,000 annually, while its two other partnering organizations are handling the rest of the expenses.
"That's about a fifth of what we pay some of these consultants to come in and give us these ideas," Councilmember Sean Loloee said.
How sustainable is the program?
During the March 22 council meeting, lawmakers said the cost of the newly-established program was more affordable compared to the city's other homelessness prevention initiatives.
But River District Executive Director Jenna Abbott said permanent supportive housing should also enter the conversation. She related a story about one of the three formerly unhoused residents who have so far found more stable housing since joining the Clean and Safe Pilot program.
"I'd like to promote this person. I think there's more in him than what we're using him for, but I can't because if I pay him any more ― he loses his house," Abbott told the council. "We have to address that."
As workers continue progressing past the pilot program's goal, Abbott said she's seeking labor contracts from River District businesses for the workers to keep developing trade skills.
"I know it's been transformational for the lives of the people whom we've been employing," Abbot said.
