The Volunteers of America-managed Winter Shelter at Cal
Expo was the host site for Sacramento’s first Homeless Connect event held May 31, 2008.

It was a bittersweet sight. While organizers were happily surprised by the number of homeless individuals who answered the call to attend Sacramento’s first Homeless Connect event May 31, it was unsettling to see so many people in obvious need.

“The turnout was about twice what we expected,” said Tim Brown of the Sacramento Ending Chronic Homelessness Initiative, which adopted the “one-stop shopping” format of the day-long homeless services fair in the wake of successful operations in more than 150 other communities nationwide.

“Our preliminary report is that we did 500 intakes of individuals or families, and we estimate over 600 homeless folks all together came to the event,” said Brown.

Many of the 600 arrived at the event site – the Volunteers of America-managed Winter Shelter at Cal Expo – hours before the scheduled 10 a.m. opening.

Some came pushing shopping carts laden with personal possessions, others riding bicycles that towed makeshift trailers, and there were those heartbreaking few who walked up carefully cradling babies too young to talk. The majority, however, took advantage of a quartet of free shuttles that made continuous trips to the event from downtown-area shelters.

They hoped their lengthy wait in the registration line – which for most of the day stretched from Ethan Way to the front of the Winter Shelter gates – would be time well spent. By all accounts, it was.

“I didn’t know about half of the things they were offering here, it was great,” said 20-year-old Travis Navarro, a resident of Volunteers of America’s Comprehensive Alcohol Treatment Center. “I got my DMV I.D. card, my Social Security card, an AIDS test, a bag of food and a barbecue lunch.”

Navarro, an 11-year veteran of the foster care system, was perhaps most excited about the opportunity to learn about Volunteers of America's transitional housing program for former foster youth. “I hope to go to college, but my main goal right now is to get stable housing,” he said.

Volunteers of America was one of more than 40 public, private and government organizations that participated in the event.

Volunteers of America staff were present to offer information on its Comprehensive Alcohol Treatment Center, Independent Living Readiness, HIV/AIDS homeless shelter, Community Outreach Services and transitional housing for former foster youth programs, as well as provide mental health and detoxification needs assessment.

Among those that joined Volunteers of America in providing housing referrals, legal assistance, health screenings, counseling, childcare and youth services were the California Department of Motor Vehicles, Clean and Sober, Loaves and Fishes, Francis House, Quinn Cottages, Sacramento Children’s Home, Sacramento County Department of Human Assistance, St. John’s Shelter for Women and Children, Lutheran Social Services of Northern California, The Salvation Army, Serna Village, The Effort Inc. and the Social Security Administration.

“This was truly a community effort,” said Brown, “and everyone’s response has been overwhelmingly positive. We went through food for 750, 140 folks got their free California I.D.s, we housed over 30 people and hundreds received medical and behavioral health services.”

Sacramento Mayor Heather Fargo and Sacramento County Supervisor Roger Dickinson were co-chairs for the event and joined Brown for the pre-event press conference. Also onhand to address the issue of homelessness were: emcee Bruce Wagstaff, director of the Sacramento County Department of Human Assistance; Assemblyman Dave Jones (District 9); and Senator Darrell Steinberg (District 6). Providing the opening prayer was Capt. John Brackenbury, divisional secretary for The Salvation Army.

Brown noted the event would not have happened without the support of the community at large.

“We had about 200 volunteers,” Brown said, noting that the unexpectedly large crowd that came forced him to double the number of volunteers conducting one-on-one registration duties. “We struggled to keep up with the numbers of people, but the event was everything we hoped it would be. We plan to do it again next May.”