Several families have secured shelter while advocates say others remain unhoused a week after the City of Sacramento transitioned from its Motel Shelter Program (MSP) to an Emergency Shelter Vouchers for Families program.
The new program, designed to save the city $3 million in the face of a $66 million structural deficit, provides motel staff more authority over whose vouchers they allow, particularly through the creation of the "Do Not Rent" list.
The transition to the voucher program took effect on June 1, when families participating in the MSP were prompted to either relocate with the emergency vouchers or seek housing through an alternative party.
Cherise Green, who now sleeps in the stairway of an apartment complex in Fruitridge, was living in a Motel 6 as part of the former motel program when she received a notice to relocate on June 1. Upon asking to remain in her motel, Green says she was told that her check-out time was 8 a.m. the next morning.
Green, who has an 11-year-old son, then attempted to secure shelter through the new voucher program, only to discover that her name had been placed on the "Do Not Rent" list.
"[Green] went to use their voucher and they were told you cannot rent a room here," said Caryn Spragg, Sacramento Homeless Union officer.
Her 11-year-old son is now living with a friend in an apartment, while she sleeps outside the building.
Green is one of many who were denied housing following the change to the voucher program and who failed to receive a reason for what caused their placement on the "Do Not Rent" list.
Amy Heckart — a mother with two children, ages 10 and 11 — was also left unhoused when her family found that after they moved out of the Motel 6 on Northgate Boulevard, they were also on the "Do Not Rent" list.
The Heckarts spent nearly a week living in their broken-down minivan before they secured housing through Sustainable Wellness Solutions (SWS), a third-party organization that serves individuals with chronic mental illness or physical disabilities. Heckart explained that her family qualified for assistance because her husband suffers from Alzheimer's disease and dementia.
Through SWS, the family was placed in a two-story apartment in North Sacramento.
"Every night was a new struggle, every day was a new struggle, not knowing how long we were going to be allowed to be in one spot, how hot is it going to be today, are the kids going to fall and scrape their knees and we don't have any more band-aids?" Heckart said.
Spragg added that the Heckarts are only a "success story" because the family managed to secure housing on their own.
The City of Sacramento states that nearly all displaced families have been relocated, as of June 9.
"According to our records, all but one family previously in the motel program are sheltered at this time, and that family has been offered a spot at the city's outreach and engagement center," the city said in a statement.
Spragg pushed back.
"We know of about 75 people right now that are still searching for shelter, and it could be even more than that," she said.
For both Heckart and Green, long-time residents of Sacramento, such recent experiences with homelessness underscore broader systemic challenges in the city. Heckart repeated that while she is now housed, her story is far from over.
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