After a violent summer that culminated with another deadly shooting in Meadowview, the Sacramento City Council voted unanimously last Tuesday (August 29) to fund a new program aimed at the most violent offenders.
Advance Peace uses mentoring and intervention to reduce gun violence and Sacramento will invest $1.5 million in the program during the next three years.
SACRAMENTO -- A group of church leaders held a panel Wednesday night with members of the Sacramento City Council and Sacramento County Board of Supervisors to address the growing number of homeless. Hundreds attended the community action meeting.
Starting with stories from former homeless pulling their lives together, hundreds gathered from several different churches, for an update on the growing number of homeless in Sacramento County.
"We're tired of continuing to put bandaids on a problem, we have the resources to fix this," said Dean Brian Baker with Trinity Episcopal Cathedral.
Hundreds of people filled the pews at a Sacramento church Wednesday night in a “call to action” for elected leaders to work together to solve Sacramento County’s growing homeless crisis.
“This is a critical moment, we believe,” said Alan Jones, pastor at St. Mark’s United Methodist Church, which hosted the gathering. “We believe we can do much better than we have thus far,” he said, in “helping our sisters and brothers who are being dehumanized” by living on the streets and in temporary shelters.
The event, organized by Sacramento Area Congregations Together, attracted more than 300 people, including Mayor Darrell Steinberg, who has made reducing homelessness a priority, and several other city and county political leaders.
There are over 5,600 people experiencing homelessness in Sacramento County and the affordability crisis in the region will worsen that problem.
Sacramento Area Congregations Together is one of many non-profits combatting homelessness in our area with a variety proposed solutions. They are meeting with Mayor Darrell Steinberg and the county board of supervisors Wednesday night in a public meeting to develop a cohesive strategy.
Sacramento’s spiritual community, citing an alarming increase in homelessness, has issued a “call to action” for a comprehensive, collaborative plan to get thousands of people off the streets in the capital city and beyond.
St. Mark’s and Sacramento Area Congregations Together are organizing a community meeting Wednesday evening at the church near Watt and El Camino avenues to urge political and community leaders to work together to begin drafting such a plan. Mayor Darrell Steinberg, who has made tackling homelessness a priority, is scheduled to attend, along with other city and county elected officials. The gathering is open to the public.
To Edwin Valdez, turning 21 this month meant a lot more than just meeting the legal drinking age.
It meant he could finally sponsor his undocumented immigrant Mexican parents for legal residency. The Sierra College student and North Highlands resident, a U.S.-born citizen, said he prayed as he drove to school on his birthday, asking God to “make it happen” when he petitioned for his parents’ green cards.
So Valdez was dismayed when that same day, on Aug. 2, President Donald Trump announced his support for a bill that would overhaul an immigration process that has long favored family members of legal residents and citizens. The Reforming American Immigration for Strong Employment (RAISE) Act, introduced this February by Republican senators Tom Cotton and David Perdue, would halve the flow of legal immigrants into the country and prioritize more skilled visa seekers with a merit-based point system.
Those who support bringing Advance Peace to Sacramento argue the current approach isn’t working. Les Simmons, a pastor and activist in south Sacramento, said many of those who work in the city’s most violent neighborhoods think it’s smart to go after triggermen in new ways.
“You can’t arrest your way out of this problem,” said Simmons, who attended the community meeting with Boggan.
