As the cold and rain roll in this winter, Ken Diggs at César Chávez Plaza in downtown Sacramento makes a few changes to his menu. Recently, he’s gone with warmer options, a steaming tomato-basil soup and grilled turkey sandwiches he cooked at home.
Diggs comes out most Tuesdays to hand out free food, something he’s done for the past couple of years, to people sleeping near and around the park.
“These people still got to eat,” Diggs said. “Something to keep some of these souls warmed up.”
For people sleeping under awnings, in tents, or along the river, the City and County’s rain and cold-weather respite centers can be lifesaving. They open up and provide shelter to many unhoused people every year when it gets cold. The centers typically open when forecasts meet thresholds such as prolonged rain, overnight freezing temperatures, and severe winds.
But many of Sacramento’s unhoused residents and advocates feel the programs can be challenging to reach — or feel unsafe — even when they are activated for days or weeks at a time.
When the City and County activate weather-respite operations, only a few sites actually open throughout Sacramento. Alternative weather shelters not offered by the county or city can also be found through 211.
The City operates two winter weather-respite sites: the Outreach and Engagement Center on Auburn Boulevard and, when needed, the North 5th Street Navigation Center near downtown. The County operates the Warren E. Thornton Youth Center gym, and, if more capacity is needed, the County will open the North A. Shelter.
In them, people can come rest indoors, bring their pets, sleep on cots, store their belongings, and use the bathrooms.
Sacramento Regional Transit provides free transportation during these activations, and both governments say outreach teams spread the word daily when the centers open. But advocates and residents living outside say the reality of reaching and using these facilities can be far more complicated.
People don’t know about them
Gary Kelly, who sleeps beneath the Tower Bridge when it rains, said he uses city-operated respite centers “sometimes” when the rain becomes unbearable. But distance is a major barrier. So typically, he just avoids it.
“Where I’m at, it’s a long way,” he said. “And by the time I get there, I’m still getting wet. So I just stay underneath the bridge.”
Kelly said most people around him have heard of the centers at some point, but that doesn’t mean they know where to go or want to.
“Most people don’t,” he said. “I don’t just go up and tell people about them; it’s not my job to do.”
He said he relies on packing light and being mobile. When it rains, he bundles what he can carry and endures until the weather improves.
How do people stay warm when they don’t go?
Some build makeshift insulation to survive cold nights. Enrique Espinoza described how he prepares for a chilly night, what to wear, and how to avoid hypothermia. He says it involves a combination of coats, blankets, and sweaters.
“What you do … is you put [a layer of] cardboard down,” he said. “The cardboard will keep you warm on your shoulders, and your lungs from catching walking pneumonia.”
He layers tarps over the cardboard, then a bedspread comforter on top.
“You have to actually build a bed,” he said. “Cardboard, plastic and then a nice comforter on top.”
When asked whether he uses weather shelters, Enrique said he avoids them because being packed into a room with dozens of people can trigger conflict. He described the weather respite centers as having too many people packed all into one room, which he says can get complicated.
The weather respite centers are usually large, open spaces filled with cots. Espinoza says he can feel unsafe in them.
“You have to basically be walking on eggshells sometimes… being around a lot of people that are in the same situation,” he said. “It’s too tight in there.”
What the City and County provide
In a written response, the City of Sacramento said its Department of Community Response is notifying people before and during an activation.
The city and county posts center availability online and shares information through local partner organizations.
The City of Sacramento says it opened weather respite centers more than 130 times last winter.
The city, through a written response, said these centers are intended to provide immediate safety during storms, not long-term shelter, and that while they are open, they work to connect people to behavioral health, shelter, and housing resources.
Sacramento County public information officer Janna Haynes said respite centers are often residents’ first point of contact with the county’s homelessness resource system. Which she says can be a jumping-off point to get someone connected with support and resources.
“One of the great things about weather respite is that a lot of the people that come in… we have not previously had a relationship with,” Haynes said.
During last winter’s storms, the county said it successfully connected 11 people to longer-term shelter through weather respite, Haynes said.
Some activations last much longer than the typical one- or two-night openings.
“There was a time last winter … we were activated for two straight weeks,” Haynes said.
Many choose not to go
Despite the expanded resources, people in César Chávez Plaza said they often choose to remain outside. Diggs says he talks to the people he serves food to at the park about the weather and shelters, and he hears the same concerns from many of them.
“Most of the time, what I hear on the news in the mornings is that they’re shutting shelters down,” he said. “A lot of people have been turned down… because they don’t want to deal with the rules and regulations.”
He said large rooms full of strangers can feel dangerous.
“Mostly politics and a lot to do with just airborne diseases… nobody wants to be around that.”
‘It’s a patchwork’
Nikki Jones, executive director of the Sacramento Regional Coalition to End Homelessness, said the centers work for some but are still too unpredictable for most of Sacramento’s unhoused residents.
“The thing about the weather respite centers is they are so inconsistent,” she said. “If people don’t know it’s there, they can’t utilize it.”
The City’s and County’s partnership with SacRT provides no-cost transportation to and from weather-respite centers while they’re open. To ride for free, people are asked to screenshot or print the SacRT flyer and show it to the bus driver.
Jones said asking unhoused people to show a flyer or a screenshot for Sac RT’s free rides creates an unnecessary barrier for the group the service is designed to serve.
“You have to have the flyer… which is obviously just the most insane barrier,” she said.
She described the weather respite centers as helpful but not enough and inefficient. Jones said she does not discount the value of being in a warm building, but the reality of homelessness is more complex.
“It’s a Band-Aid intervention,” she said. “It’s a public health crisis, and we should be doing everything we can.”
City and county officials say they are expanding outreach to make the centers more efficient. Still, the distance, timing, crowded rooms, and fear of leaving belongings behind keep them from going until conditions become dangerous.
To check the availability of weather respite centers, both the city and county suggest calling 211 or visiting the 211 Sacramento website.
Tony Rodriguez covers Sacramento’s communities for CapRadio, with a focus on neighborhoods often left out of traditional coverage. CapRadio is a partner of The Intersection and CVJC.
Additional reporting by ASI Public Radio Experience Intern Kai Arellano.
You must be logged in to post a comment.