Outreach to Homeless

Sacramento Self Help Housing reaches out to homeless men and women living in makeshift camps in local communities. Working with police departments less interested in citing the homeless than in offering them suitable alternatives, SSHH is visiting camps in Citrus Heights and Rancho Cordova to meet with the campers, assess their needs and appropriateness for possible programs and services, and whenever possible, refer them to available mental health services, medical care, financial aid, and shelter and housing options.

Serial Inebriate Program

Sacramento Self Help Housing provides permanent supportive housing to individuals in Sacramento's Serial Inebriate Program (SIP). Clients pursue medical treatment, mental health recovery and improved nutrition. Recovery is also offered, but the model of care is “harm reduction” in which sobriety is not required prior to beneficial services being offered. SIP received national recognition for its “excellent impact in the community” at the 2013 Charitable Services Conference and Awards Banquet in Atlanta.

Read More

Housing for Veterans

Sacramento Self Help Housing provides housing location assistance to homeless veterans.  We are part of the "HUD-VASH" program, which uses the "housing first" approach--i.e., providing selected veterans with housing vouchers and then immediately working with them to locate suitable permanent housing.  We also collaborate with Mather VA offering one-on-one housing counseling at a weekly workshop called "Movin' On Up." SSHH is dedicated to housing our veterans.

RIGHT: Tahirih Kraft with a formerly homeless veteran at his new apartment.

Learn more about our work

Supportive Housing

SSHH provides permanent supportive housing to 64 chronically homeless individuals in houses throughout the county, as many as six individuals living in a house. They are able to live with dignity and security for the first in a long time. We provide case management and assistance, and in time, some move on to their own homes, or reunite with their familes.

Residents at one of SSHH's permanent supportive houses work on their backyard vegetable garden.

Read More About Supportive Housing

A Bridge to Housing

The model for our new Elk Grove project, Grace House, is the Cathedral House, operated in partnership with the St. Vincent de Paul Chapter of the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament,. Opening in April 2013, Grace House is a partnership between SSHH, the City of Elk Grove,  P.A.T.H., and the Elk Grove Food Bank.  Both sites house homeless individuals for about three months, assisting them in a number of case management services, and offering them a safe place to be.  Both houses offer great opportunities for volunteers to help turn lives around.

RIGHT: A volunteer carries furniture into Grace House          Read the full story

Homeless Prevention

In the cities of Citrus Heights, Rancho Cordova, and Elk Grove, SSHH housing counselors meet with individuals and families who are either homeless or in danger of losing their housing.  After an initial intake is completed, potential barriers to safe housing are examined.  Combing SSHH's data base of rental listings throughout Sacramento County, the client is provided with referrals that realistically satisfy their needs, often with landlords and managers that staff has worked with in the past.  On occasion, SSHH staff will assist the client in meeting with the prospective landlord, assist with paperwork and other advocacy requests.  In addition to locating new housing, SSHH housing counselors also work to mediate disputes between tenants and landlords to prevent evictions and homelessness.