SACRAMENTO — Jeffrey McElroy is homeless in Sacramento but he wants to get off the streets and move out of his truck.
He makes some money, just not enough.
“I get $1,700 a month,” McElroy told FOX40.
The City of Sacramento has moved to address a seemingly intractable homelessness crisis. The Winter Triage Shelter, which houses 200 people, has remained open beyond expectations into summer. There’s an attempt to build additional facilities.
“Maybe some things have moved, particularly since we had a right to rest occupation outside of city hall,” said Niki Jones with the Sacramento Homeless Organizing Committee. “They’ve picked up on doing some activities around trying to mitigate the harms. But this new shelter is a drop in the bucket.”
Advocates for Sacramento’s homeless people have set up a tent city at the corner of C and 12th streets in downtown. It’s on private property, but they’ll have to take it down Friday due to the city’s camping ordinance.
On Thursday, the group was out protesting.
“So this is private property, and even for those of you at home with your backyard campouts that you might like to have, the anti-camping ordinance applies to you as well,” Jones said.
The law is designed to protect business and property owners in Sacramento. But people, like McElroy, say it leaves them with few options and gives police too many chances to try to search their belongings.
