Emergency family shelter for homeless in Sacramento to close in September
SACRAMENTO – An emergency family shelter for homeless people in Sacramento will be closing in September, the county said Wednesday.
The family shelter on Bannon Street, which currently is housing more than a dozen families, will be closing on Sept. 7.
Sacramento County funds the program that Volunteers of America (VOA) runs. The VOA has leased the building from the City of Sacramento since 2017.
But now the county says the building, which was built in the 1970s, has major plumbing and sewer issues that cannot be fixed. Due to this, the county says it can't safely shelter families at the location.
"We are going to lose about 68 beds with this program closing, which doesn't seem like a lot but it is a lot when you talk about families in need of shelter," said Janna Haynes, the public information manager for Sacramento County.
Intake of new families was paused in May. The county says 43 people from 16 families remain at the shelter and they will be relocated to housing or another shelter.
The program will also be closing on Sept. 7 due to a lack of an alternative site.
Haynes said the county hopes to get the program back up and running if they can find another site.
Sacramento County and the city of Sacramento have another emergency family shelter program for those in need.