City Chooses Location for Homeless Housing

The City of Elk Grove has made an offer on a home in Old Town Elk Grove, with plans to transform it into transitional housing for the homeless.

The five-bedroom, 2,200-square-foot house at 9112 Jonell Court would take in homeless adults for three- to six-month stays while they look for permanent housing, according to a city staff report.

Sacramento Self-Help Housing, a non-profit that runs similar homes in the area and counsels clients at Elk Grove Food Bank Services, would manage the building. Executive director John Foley said the home's central location, close to shopping and public transportation, makes it ideal for long-term Elk Grove residents who have fallen on hard times but want to stay local.

"Keeping them in town where they can have access to their normal community of friends and potential employment is pretty important," he said.

Advocates say the number of homeless people in Elk Grove is on the rise—Foley's group has met with more than 60 homeless Elk Grovians since last July—but the city currently lacks any shelters or other temporary housing within its boundaries.

.

Last fall, the City Council to buy a house, renovate it and turn it over to a non-profit to run. The city has offered $156,000 on the Jonell Court property, a short sale that is waiting for approval from Wells Fargo Bank.

Council members will decide at their Wednesday meeting whether to give final approval to the plan and allow staff to move forward with negotiations.

Foley said his group wrote a letter to neighbors advising them of the city's plans and received a handful of questions from residents concerned that the home would house recent parolees or sex offenders.

He said none of the Elk Grove clients his group has worked with this year fall into those categories.