SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The Sacramento city council will vote Tuesday on a new $62 million plan to help people struggling because of the housing crisis.
"A $62 million package to help vulnerable Sacramentans both get off the streets and avoid becoming homeless," said Mayor Darrell Steinberg.
The mayor announced the plan at the site of a new homeless navigation center on Meadowview Road in Sacramento. The center will provide shelter to women and help them transition from homelessness to permanent housing.
"Today we are standing in a shelter that will serve just women. We didn't feel it appropriate to put children in this space," said Mayor Pro Tem Angelique Ashby. "Hotel conversions are ideal for women and their children because there is a restroom, there is a kitchen."
The plan includes $4 million for new tiny home communities around the city and acquiring two motels for permanent housing.
"A significant portion of this money is going to go to make motels permanent housing in addition to using vouchers and other strategies to get 1,100 people from those motels, some have already left from those motels, into permanent housing," said Mayor Steinberg.
Another $5 million would be used by the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency to help prevent low-income residents behind on their rent from being evicted. There's also $1 million set aside for a meth sobering center.
"The meth problem is a unique and very serious problem, and it deserves special attention," said Mayor Steinberg.
The mayor admits the $62 million investment won't solve the homeless crisis, but he says it's a big step in the right direction. The city council is expected to vote on the plan on Tuesday.
"We will remain fiercely committed to making this unacceptable situation better, better. Thousands of people indoors, thousands of people avoiding homelessness," said Mayor Steinberg.
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