City Announces Plan To Operate Warming Shelters While Minimizing Spread Of COVID
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) - Mayor Darrell Steinberg announced Tuesday plans the city would undertake to ensure that those experiencing homelessness could spend cold nights indoors.
Although temperatures haven't reached freezing, regular nighttime temperatures have dipped into the 30s, prompting the city and county to come up with solutions that give people indoor shelter while also allowing for social distancing, according to a statement from the city of Sacramento.
The city says it will expand its hotel voucher program by spending $35,000 of remaining CARES Act stimulus funds to reserve up to 50 rooms per night through the end of December, giving priority to families and those who are most vulnerable to the elements.
The city says it will also open the Main Library Galleria downtown as a warming center under strict Covid-19 protocols when the forecasted temperature falls below 33 degrees during a 24-hour period.
More from CBS Sacramento:
- Old Sacramento Restaurant Says Customers Are Ordering Take Out Then Eating Outside
- California Releases New Guidelines For Youth Recreational Sports
- Stockton Police Shoot Armed Man During Confrontation
Lastly, it will use its 62 camper trailers being used as COVID-19 medical isolation units at Cal Expo as a cold-weather option for women and children. This option will be available once the trailers are no longer needed for COVID-19 isolation.
"Every life matters," Mayor Steinberg said in a press release. "We will do all we can even with all of the Covid restrictions to provide our homeless neighbors with a warm, safe place to come inside. I urge the rest of the region to do the same."