City votes to open 24-hour homeless respite and service center on Auburn Boulevard

Sacramento (July 26, 2022) The City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to operate the former Powerhouse Science Center and Museum on Auburn Boulevard as a full-time Outreach and Engagement Center for people experiencing homelessness.

The center is already staffed under a $3.3-million contract with Hope Cooperative approved by the Council in January, but its operation has been restricted to days when the National Weather Service issues a heat advisory – something that has happened just six times this summer. Now the Outreach and Engagement Center will be open every day as a place for up to 50 people to come inside, regardless of the weather, and to receive additional help from case workers, clinicians and housing coordinators.

Guests will be admitted by referral only. There will not be walk-up admissions except during extreme weather events.

“In good conscience, we cannot allow a city asset to lay fallow when we have thousands of unsheltered people on our streets and our businesses and neighborhoods are pleading with us to do more,” said Mayor Darrell Steinberg.

The decision to expand the use of the Auburn Boulevard Outreach and Engagement Center was not without controversy. A group of nearby residents led a protest claiming that the facility would endanger residents of the Children’s Receiving Home nearby.

Mayor Darrell Steinberg and staff members from the City’s Department of Community Response have worked extensively over the past month with representatives of the receiving home. Included in Tuesday’s Council action was a good neighbor policy that includes such items as round-the-clock security, monitoring of crime data, a no-camping zone around the center and the exclusion of registered sex offenders.

In a statement, the CRH says it is “neutral” on the expanded operation.

With the Hope Cooperative contract in place, some of the anticipated expanded use can begin almost immediately, though the center may take a few weeks to scale up.

“We are ready, willing, and able to operate this center as a good neighbor,” said Erin Johansen, CEO of Hope Cooperative. “Folks need a connection, and they need someone to walk beside them as they make the journey (from homelessness), and that’s what we can provide them.”

First priority will go to people experiencing homelessness in the immediate vicinity of the center. Department of Community Response staff said they expect City Council District 2 and the nearby unincorporated area around the science center to get substantial relief as more people are brought indoors and connected with services such as housing assistance and help to obtain health care through Cal-AIM.

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