May 7

May 7 Take a peek inside Sacramento's new manufactured home communities for unsheltered women and children

Supporting Sacramento's health, Getting people off the street, Keeping people housed

WEAVE CEO Beth Hassett (left) with Mayor Steinberg and Tom Ford, a partner with Market One Builders

Sacramento (May 7, 2021) This week Mayor Darrell Steinberg toured two pioneering projects opening in Sacramento over the next few weeks that will house formerly homeless women and children in manufactured homes.

Councilmember Sean Loloee also toured Creekside Village on Friday

Funded by the City and the state’s Project Homekey program, the two projects represent the type of efficiency housing that Mayor Steinberg has sought as a less expensive solution than traditional construction. Such housing, which also includes tiny homes, will be a key component of the City’s upcoming master plan to provide beds, roofs and safe spaces for thousands of unsheltered Sacramentans.

Each Council member has been taking turns presenting the siting plans for their districts. The overall plan is expected to come to the City Council for a vote in June.

“This is our master plan in action,” Mayor Steinberg said Friday, as he toured a 1-acre parcel shaded by large oaks alongside Arcade Creek where Women Escaping a Violent Environment (WEAVE) is nearing completion on nine manufactured homes that will provide permanent supportive housing to a minimum of 27 women and children at a time. Councilmember Sean Loloee, recently elected to represent the northern Sacramento neighborhoods of District 2, also toured the project.

The hallway looking out onto the front porch of one of the units in Creekside Village

Funding for WEAVE’s Creekside Village project included $1.35 million from the state’s Project Homekey and $1.372 million from stimulus funds received by the City. Tenants will have caseworkers and counselors available to them for free while they live in the units.

“They will have a permanent place to live until they can take the next step,” said WEAVE CEO Beth Hassett. She noted that many women who have come through WEAVE’s program and lived in its safe house have been the victims not only of physical abuse but also financial abuse that has harmed their credit and ability to secure housing. Unlike the safe house, Hassett said, Creekside Village’s location will not be kept secret, as the women generally have jobs and are transitioning to independent living.

The mayor’s WEAVE tour followed a visit Thursday to St. John’s Square, a community of 11 manufactured homes alongside the St. John’s Program for Real Change. Women and children will start moving into the units within the next week, said St. John’s CEO Julie Hirota.

Mayor Steinberg and St. John’s CEO Julie Hirota inside one of the two-bedroom units in St. John’s Square

The furnished, two-bedroom homes are expected to house up to 55 women and children. Tenants will pay $500 a month and can stay up to two years in the project, which is considered interim housing. They can continue to access the programs and services in the adjacent St. John’s campus.

St. John’s Square received $2.8 million from Project Homekey and $1.1 million from the City of Sacramento in the form of stimulus funds. It was championed by Councilmember Eric Guerra, who represents the eastern Sacramento communities of District 6.