SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A so-called "Safe Ground" site opened at Miller Park Monday, offering shelter for up to 110 people experiencing homelessness.
The 60-tent site will provide bathrooms, showers, electricity and a safe place for people to shelter, said Nick Golling, director of Homeless Services for the City of Sacramento.
The site will also be staffed 24 hours a day by staff who can help those living at the site transition to permanent housing. The site will remain open over a matter of months, not years, officials said.
“So, to be able to get folks and reach those who have traditionally been the hardest to be able to reach, is a gigantic game changer,” Golling said.
The City’s pilot safe ground site located along X and W Streets was able to help transition 200, out of the more than 500 people it served, out of homelessness. That site, which is under the busy Business 80 freeway, is closing.
However, homeless shelter program proposals and physical sites have brought opposition and criticism across the city over the impact these sites have on the surrounding neighborhoods.
Golling says the Safe Ground sites are one way to help those in need immediately, while City leaders work out more long-term solutions.
WATCH ALSO:
