The Sacramento City Council took three housing-related actions at its September 29 meeting, with the most consequential being its decision to accept state funding for new senior housing in Rio Linda. The council authorized the city to receive Homekey+ Program money — a California grant program that pays to build or convert buildings into permanent affordable housing, with a focus on people who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless — for the Rio Linda Senior Housing Project. For residents, this means state dollars will help add dedicated affordable homes for older adults in a part of the region that has seen little new senior housing. Seniors on fixed incomes are among the most vulnerable to rising rents, so securing outside funding lets the city expand options without drawing down its own limited housing budget.
The council also approved two contracts aimed at keeping people housed and helping those already on the street. The first is a new Professional Services Agreement with the International Rescue Committee — a nonprofit best known for refugee resettlement — to run housing stabilization programming along Stockton Boulevard. “Housing stabilization” means hands-on help so that renters facing eviction, missed payments, or unsafe conditions can stay in their homes rather than ending up homeless. For families in that corridor, which includes many immigrant and lower-income households, this provides a local point of contact for help before a crisis turns into displacement.
The second contract is an amendment — a change to an existing agreement — with Community HealthWorks for its work on the Street to Housing Pilot Program, a trial effort to move people living outside into stable housing. The amendment covers landlord engagement, meaning staff who recruit and reassure private landlords willing to rent to formerly homeless tenants, plus case management, the one-on-one support that helps a new tenant keep their housing once they have it. For residents, the practical upshot is that the city is paying not just to place people indoors but to keep them there — addressing a common reason such placements fail, which is that landlords and tenants lose support after move-in.
Together, the two service contracts reflect the city’s dual approach: preventing homelessness for people still housed along Stockton Boulevard, and ending it for those already on the street through the Street to Housing pilot. Neither action builds new units on its own, but both fund the staff work that determines whether housing programs actually succeed.
What’s coming up: The Rio Linda Senior Housing Project will need to clear the usual construction and financing milestones before any units open, and residents can expect future council items tied to the project’s budget and timeline. The service contracts will also return for renewal or further amendment as the pilot programs report results, giving the public upcoming chances to weigh in on whether the approaches are working.