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Homeless in the California Storms: We are in a State of Emergency!

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Tents along the American River in Sacramento CA

SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA — We have the Sheriff sweeping unhoused people during an emergency cyclone weather bomb. They are doing sweeps on Roseville Rd., attacking camps in extreme weather, and taking people’s RVs. This is absolutely unacceptable. 

We need the community to reach out to the Board of Supervisors and City Council, write letters and let them know that we are in an emergency. This is our community and we are halfway underwater in a lot of places.

It’s already hard enough to be unhoused. Add a horrific storm. People are taking scraps of tents to make new shelters. I watched them build this tent from 4x4s, three pallets of wood, pieces of plastic, and leftover scraps from the last storm. A 70-year-old man and his developmentally disabled son live here.

Money is what it is – capitalism – but at the end of the day we need to support each other, our neighbors, and not allow law enforcement to harass our people, those who are trying to shelter themselves from this storm. 

We are in a state of emergency, and unhoused individuals should not be criminalized for acts of survival.

Update, January 7 and 8:

Last night around 6 p.m., an unhoused woman died as a tree came down on her tent. All night long we were receiving calls and just sitting on the phone with people as the storm passed to make sure that they were okay. We had 70-mile-an-hour winds and rain.

And today we just found out one of our senior veteran friends and plaintiff’s for a previous case at Roseville Road also was crushed last night along with his dog.

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Crystal Sanchez is with the Sacramento Homeless Union.

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1 COMMENT

  1. I pray I find someone to help me get my housing that sure that was taken from me without due process reinstated so that I here on Roseville Road as a single senior citizen lady stop my daily struggles that I have.
    We came to us 2 weeks ago that we were going to have to leave in the head we’re giving us 6 weeks which now has turned into 3 weeks so we’re down to one week left. They have been social workers out here talking to everybody but they have not talked to me could enforcement came out to talk to people but they didn’t talk to me so I’m very lost at what to do…
    I don’t understand why I can’t be put into a motel until my housing just reinstated so I can look for my new housing.
    The weather this year is extremely colder that’s ever been before it’s a bone chilling cold, it’s a cold you can’t shake. Plus up and down Roseville Road is extremely dangerous especially for a single senior citizen woman. If anybody has any ideas on what I could do please reply to this message or call me at 916-293-6639 or email me at Michele4Law2023@gmail.com

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