Welcome

Today, would you please join hundreds of Sacramentans in launching a region-wide initiative to end homelessness? This campaign—Sacramento Steps Forward—is a community wide call to join together to ensure that all Sacramentans have a place to call home. The Sacramento Steps Forward Campaign stands for the united efforts in our community to find solutions to the complex and long-standing issues of homelessness. Other cities across the Country have tackled this problem. We have studied their lessons and know that Sacramento can become an example of how a region can end homelessness.

The tag line for the Sacramento Steps Forward Campaign is “Ending Homelessness. Starting Fresh.” We can end homelessness in Sacramento. That does not mean that no one will ever become homeless—the hard realities of life will not disappear. It does mean that when an individual or family becomes homeless, Sacramento will have a sustainable system in place to empower homeless citizens and guide them on the road back to permanent housing.

The five pillars of our plan to end homelessness are permanent housing, services, funding, advocacy, and accountability. These five pillars will only stand if the entire community is committed to the goal of ending homelessness in the Sacramento region.

We thank you in advance for supporting these efforts to end homelessness for all who call Sacramento home.

Mayor Kevin Johnson
Chair, the Policy Board to End Homelessness

Success Stories

Michelle struggled with drug and alcohol abuse off and on for over 17 years. Despite a six year period of success, she could not escape her past and relapsed into her old life. She lost her children to CPS. Michelle hit rock bottom in May of 2007. With St. John's help, Michelle found, and has maintained a great job, a home, and has long-since closed her CPS case. Still, Michelle believes that her greatest personal success at St. John's was learning to value herself and, in turn, sharing that self esteem with her children as a loving, supportive and trustworthy mom.

Tracy has tried to turn her life around many, many times before. She tried to kick her drug and alcohol addictions in order to keep her homes and to be a good mother to Ashley. She has been in and out of St. John's and other shelters multiple times, but has never managed to stay clean and sober for more than a week or two. On the day she took Ashley to register at Mustard Seed, she saw a St. John's case manager who looked her in the eye and told her to try one more time. Ashley begged to go back to St. John's, and Tracy agreed to give it another try. Tracy and Ashley now live at Serna Village They are enthusiastic participants in St. John's After-Care program. And Ashley, who gave her mother the strength and courage to change, was elected as the President of the Student Council last year.

Rebecca is a full-time honors college student. She lives in Serna Village with her son Christopher, who is enrolled in the Junior Leadership and GATE programs in his school. Rebecca went to prison after 29 years of drug and alcohol addiction. After serving her term, emerging clean and sober, and reunited with her 9 year old son Christopher, a "trusted" roommate took her money, and she found an eviction notice on her door. Terrified at the prospect of relapsing by being back on the street, Rebecca fled to St. John's. Sober and ready to put her life together, Rebecca learned what she calls an "attitude of gratitude". St. John's Program enabled her to deal with all of her tasks of life—from court dates, to classes and AA meetings, to helping her son with homework. In addition, she relies on St. John's After-Care Program for continued classes and support.