Kaiser Permanente announces $32-million contribution to address homelessness, housing insecurity in Sacramento

Sacramento’s effort to get people off the streets and prevent more people from winding up there got a big boost this week when Kaiser Permanente announced it would contribute $32 million for shelters and affordable housing.

“When you think about housing and health, they are so interconnected,” said Bechara Choucair, Kaiser’s senior vice president and chief health officer. “We can’t expect people to live healthy lives if they don’t have a stable roof over their heads.”

The health care giant will spend $5 million to operate the city’s homeless Navigation Center shelters that will open by this summer in Meadowview and under the W/X Freeway near Alhambra and Broadway. The Meadowview shelter will serve women, while the W/X Navigation Center will employ a whatever-it-takes approach to serving adults of all genders. Both shelters will feature wrap-around services to help people stabilize their lives and move into permanent housing within three to six months.

Kaiser will spend another $25 million to preserve and create affordable housing. This money can help bolster the impact of the $100-million housing trust fund that the city plans to create by issuing bonds backed by Measure U dollars.

Finally, Kaiser has committed $2 million to work with cities, counties and other key stakeholders to improve the regional system for addressing homelessness.

“Kaiser Permanente has stepped up big time for our community, and I thank them,” said Mayor Darrell Steinberg. “The biggest challenge threatening Sacramento’s ongoing renaissance is the growing number of people living outside in unsafe conditions combined with our severe shortage of affordable housing.”