Mayor Steinberg thanks Solomon's Deli, Sacramento Covered for feeding hundreds of homeless
The kitchen at Solomon’s Deli didn’t stay idle long when the Covid-19 pandemic forced it to close on March 17. The very next day, it reopened as a kitchen preparing meals for homeless people.
Solomon’s is working in partnership with Sacramento Covered, which runs the City’s Whole Person Care Program. Whole Person Care enrolls the most medically fragile and vulnerable members of Sacramento’s homeless population and connects them with health care, housing and other resources to help them stabilize their lives.
Sacramento Covered started by delivering 300 meals a day and will reach 400 meals a day by next week. The effort has been funded by $75,000 from Dignity Health, Kaiser, Sutter Health, UC Davis, The California Endowment, Union Pacific and Sacramento Covered. The money goes to cover the cost of food and to pay four part-time Solomon’s employees to cook.
“The meals have been really great; it makes us all hungry when we’re picking them up,” said Sacramento Covered CEO Kelly Bennett. Sacramento Covered community health workers, navigators and administrative staff deliver the bagged meals. Most of the recipients live outdoors, though some are staying in board and care homes.
Mayor Darrell Steinberg visited the K Street restaurant on Thursday to thank Sacramento Covered employees and the Solomon’s staff making and delivering the meals, which have included tuna noodle casserole, chicken burritos, pasta bolognese and pizza.
“This partnership is amazing. It’s another one of those great examples of Sacramento teamwork in action,” he said.
