We called 148 affordable properties during a homeless crisis. Only 3 had units available
The staff of Project Roomkey – a pandemic-response homelessness initiative coming to a close – provided homeless residents in the Vagabond Inn with a list of 160 affordable rental properties across the county, which they were encouraged to contact themselves. The Sacramento Bee called all 148 phone numbers on that list.
Only three buildings had an immediately available unit.
The list and its 145 dead ends drive home the staggering hurdles faced by the county’s most vulnerable residents.
Two of the limited available options came with significant restrictions. A few rooms were available in an SRO, but only for people who had a referral from a social services agency. One unit in another building was available only for two seniors over 55. The third option was the least restrictive: A couple of apartments were open in a complex in Meadowview.
The Bee determined that at least 64 of the properties contacted had a waitlist, generally one that was months to years long. One staffer who answered the phone said that for units without age restrictions, “Our waiting list opened in January and closed in January, and it may be another three years before it opens again.”
At a complex in a run-down neighborhood in north Arden Arcade, a property manager said there were no vacancies and the waitlist had been closed for over a year: “Best I can say is just to check back periodically.”
Homelessness: Our urgent human crisis
Follow our ambitious, newsroom-wide series examining the growing problem of homelessness across Sacramento and California in 2023, examining government policy, money, addiction, mental health and more.
At a building near Fruitridge Manor, a woman explained that the waitlist was open but was extremely long. They were currently, she said, trying fill a vacancy with people who had applied for affordable housing there in 2015 — yes, she confirmed, eight years ago.
Dead-end calls
In making 148 phone calls, The Bee only spoke to staff at seven properties who said they were not working off a waitlist. Four of those, though they did not use a waitlist, also had no units to offer the people on their “interest lists.”
At least 33 phone numbers on the list maintained by the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency did not lead to an affordable property at all. Three people who answered the phone said they actually only had market-rate units in their buildings. Another staffer said he had no record of the building in question.
Two of the affordable properties were still under construction and won’t exist until 2024. Another property had burned to the ground.
The list contained 26 numbers that appeared to be disconnected or non-functional. Five of those numbers connected callers to scams, such as an offer to “win” a gift card or a $100 Walmart rebate.
The Bee also left voicemails when calls went unanswered and outgoing messages were uninformative. Almost none of those messages were returned.
The Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency has not responded to questions about the list of properties.
Benjamin Frazier, 26, said the list was all but useless and a prime example of the resources he had been provided as a resident of a Project Roomkey hotel.
“I feel like they’re just slapping us on the hand,” he said, “and saying, ‘You figure it out.’”
