Shelter, treatment and counseling. How Sacramento's strategy to help the unhoused is working

Sacramento (June 20, 2022) This Father’s Day was a little more secure and comfortable for Clinton Lee and his daughter Serena thanks to his own effort and the efforts of the City of Sacramento.

Lee, who said lost his house in the Natomas area a couple of years ago due to unpaid taxes, an unscrupulous real estate deal and his battle with addiction, had been couch surfing, living in his car and in and out motels when he could afford it. Complicating matters is that Clinton is the sole caregiver to his daughter, who suffered a traumatic brain injury in an auto accident many years ago and cannot support herself.

Clinton Lee with Melody Harp, Housing Coordinator at Sacramento Self Help Housing

“She’s really why I’m taking the steps I’m taking,” Clinton said recently. “I’m new to recovery, and I can’t say if it’s going to last. It’s a battle every day. But I want to be here as long as I can.”

The daily struggle of living on the streets made it hard to consider treatment programs, he said.

In a recent interview with the City’s Department of Community Response Clinton said he knew that he had to find a way forward for both himself and his daughter and that is why he called 311, and self-referred to DCR.

Hezekiah Allen, a program specialist with DCR, offered him an open space at the City’s Miller Park Safe Ground.

“We don’t always have the right place available for the right person when they are ready to take it,” Allen said. “But in Mr. Lee’s case, we had an opening, and he recognized that he needed to take it.”

Clinton said Allen made sure he took advantage of the opportunity to get off the street.

“Hezekiah … I can’t say enough about how he accommodated me,” Clinton said. “He made it happen; he called me back, and he made it easy for me.”

Staying at Safe Ground gave Clinton a chance to regroup after constantly feeling afraid living on the streets. In just six weeks, with help from First Step Communities, which operates Safe Ground, Clinton was ready for the next step on his journey: moving into that ordinary house in a typical neighborhood, which is run by Sacramento Self Help Housing.

“This is a perfect example of why it is so important to have a multi-tiered approach to helping unsheltered residents get back on their feet,” said Mayor Darrell Steinberg. “No two situations are the same, and should you need treatment, counseling or simply just safe place to sleep, you ought to have a right to that.”

With a stable living situation, and a lot of support, Clinton was able to have Serena come live with him again. He is in intensive treatment and counseling. He said he is determined to make it work — for himself and for his daughter.

“She’s the real reason I am taking these steps,” he said. “I had to have some place safe for my daughter to go.”