Mission & Vision

Mission

The goal of ending homelessness is an important and profound mission that requires the ideas, insights and efforts of all individuals, organizations, businesses and agencies. We are pleased to launch Sacramento Steps Forward, an initiative to rally the community towards a shared and collective effort to end homelessness.

Sacramento Steps Forward has five principles:

• Empowerment: We have learned that homeless residents want a hand up, not a handout. Contrary to many myths, homeless residents want to be taxpayers; they want jobs; they want to be integrated back into mainstream society.
• Regional: We must build a regional solution—issues of homelessness are region wide. All communities will benefit from reducing the region’s number of homeless people.
• Sustainability: We need to develop long-term sustainable funding streams that draw resources from all sectors—federal, state, county, local, private, faith and philanthropic.
• Business Principles: We know that many people are skeptical of government and social service programs. We are working to apply business principles to the social sector. We are committed to measuring outcomes, evaluating programs, and being held accountable for results.
• National Model: We believe in the Housing First model. Housing assistance is the first priority, followed by services—from case management to job training—that develop stability and self-sufficiency. We will learn from the best practices from around the country and develop a set of policies and actions that can serve as a national model.

Vision

This initiative does not mean that people will not become homeless—the hard realities of life will not disappear. It does mean that when an individual or a 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.

We hope you’ll join us.