Safe Ground – a Stepping Stone to Home

Loaves & Fishes along with Safe Ground Sacramento, Francis House, Sacramento Homeless Organizing Committee, Volunteers of America, and other homeless advocacy groups are supporting a proposed new Safe Ground site called “Eden” or “a Stepping Stone to Home”. This new site is located behind the Union Gospel Mission and Bannon Street shelters. The plans for it consist of 60 Tuff Sheds equipped for sleeping at night, communal food preparation area, and restrooms. The site will be staffed with support personnel to assist the residents in challenging their individual barriers to achieving more permanent housing.

A sample Tuff Shed can be seen at Loaves  & Fishes on the corner of Ahern and North 12th street. Come on down and take a look.

Watch the media coverage on KCRA 3

The Plan

Safe Ground – Eden, a village community of 60 domiciles complete with cooking and bathroom facilities, meeting places, gardens including green houses and composting sites, storage rooms and security, social worker & job development offices.

We are considering sponsored individual Tuff Shed like structures fashioned as cottages. They will have two windows that are enhanced by a flower box and/or shutter details. All doors and windows are detailed with wood trim. They are quaint and yet built with traditional 2-by-4 framing methods, utilize 6-inch galvanized steel floor trusses and are designed with a treated subfloor to prevent mold and mildew. They use premium plywood siding and a 30-year composition roofing.

Each cottage ranges from 8-by-10 feet to 12-by-14 feet, the size of most bedrooms. These sleeping cottages easily accommodate beds and dressers while providing individuals a private space. Each cottage will have all of the basic needs including curtains and linens and solar powered light. These cottages, with the support of the core facilities, will afford the homeless an opportunity to get back on their feet and build toward a new beginning in traditional housing.

The Site

We have selected what we consider to be an ideal location between VOA’s Bannon Street Shelter, Union Gospel Mission and the Sacramento Water Treatment plant. It is currently owned by the SHRA as an agent of Sacramento County. We will need approval from local government to lease the property at a reduced rate. This site has a minimum of neighbors or businesses that might be a cause for concern and is within walking distance to many social service providers familiar to the homeless population such as VOA, the Union Gospel Mission, Loaves & Fishes, Francis House and others.

The Financials

Home Aid, the foundation arm of the building Association is willing to match $50,000 to design and develop the site and the former director and current board member of the Mercy Foundation has been asked to consider matching the fund.

This would cover the development of the site and then we would approach local businesses, individuals, Churches and organizations to sponsor the purchase of the domiciles.

Unless local government required additional features of the plan there would be a minimal cost to the City and County of Sacramento.

Download the SafeGround – Eden, a Stepping Stone to Home information packet here.