SACRAMENTO REGION, CA (MPG) - The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced recently that the Sacramento Continuum of Care has been awarded $20,180,083 this year to fund 31 programs that serve people experiencing homelessness.
This is an increase of $668,245 over last year’s award and a $5.2 million increase since Sacramento Steps Forward took over as the Continuum of Care lead agency in 2011.
The award renews funding for 22 Permanent Supportive Housing programs and in doing so, retains housing and supportive services for people who were previously homeless. Without this funding, these individuals would likely return to a state of homelessness. It also renews funding for four Rapid Re-housing programs.
HUD funded four new projects this year including two Permanent Supportive Housing programs operated by Sacramento Self Help Housing, one Permanent Supportive Housing program run by TLCS and a new Transitional Housing/Rapid Re-Housing project operated by TLCS and Wind Youth Services. Two awards were granted to Sacramento Steps Forward to administer the Homeless Management Information System and a planning grant, which covers the cost of the Point-in-Time count, among other programs.
“This funding continues our response to a homeless crisis that has overwhelmed the west coast in recent years,” said Sacramento Steps Forward CEO Ryan Loofbourrow. “We’re relieved that so many formerly homeless individuals will stay housed and thankful that new funding will house people who are currently homeless.”
The grant application was submitted to HUD last September following a six month competitive process to select and prioritize local projects for funding. Great care is taken to ensure that the process is fair and maximizes federal resources for programs dedicated to ending homelessness.
“Prioritizing one program over another, when they are all doing amazing work, is incredibly difficult, but that is our charge and we do what we think is best for the community,” said Loaves and Fishes Advocacy Director Joan Burke, who also Chairs the Continuum of Care Advisory Board. “Thankfully, we have chosen wisely and have been rewarded with additional resources that will help people end their cycle of homelessness.”
The Continuum of Care (CoC) Program is designed by HUD to promote community-wide commitment to the goal of ending homelessness. As a part of the program, HUD awards grants annually to nonprofit providers, State and local governments to rehouse individuals and families experiencing homelessness.
In Sacramento, the Continuum of Care is led by 25 community stakeholders who make up the Continuum of Care Advisory Board. Stakeholders include representatives of homeless service providers, advocates, local government, business groups, law enforcement, and individuals who are formerly homeless. Sacramento Steps forward is a nonprofit organization and has been the lead agency for Sacramento’s Continuum of Care since 2011.
Help Find This Missing Teen
SACRAMENTO REGION, CA (MPG) - LEANDRA OLITO, Age Now: 15, Missing: 01/17/2018. Missing from SACRAMENTO, CA. ANYONE HAVING INFORMATION SHOULD CONTACT: Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office (California) 1-916-874-5115.
SacRT First to Bring Microtransit to the Sac Valley
SACRAMENTO REGION, CA (MPG) – Sacramento Regional Transit District (SacRT) announced today the imminent launch of its microtransit pilot project, SmaRT Ride. The pilot will bring on-demand transit to the City of Citrus Heights, enabling residents to hail rides on smaller, neighborhood friendly-sized public transit buses, similar to services like Uber or Lyft. SacRT’s new service will leverage innovative app-based technology created by TransLoc, a leader in agency-owned flexible microtransit, for a seamless transit experience.
“SacRT is excited to be among a select few transit agencies across the nation leading the way in this new on-demand, microtransit frontier for the transit industry,” said General Manager/CEO Henry Li. “We believe TransLoc’s demand-response technology has the potential to influence a broader audience to use public transit by conveniently connecting more people and places to our existing system.” SacRT is the first transit agency to bring a microtransit service to the Sacramento Valley.
The new on-demand service will be piloted for six months enhancing the existing City Ride service, a dial-a-ride service that currently provides 8,000 annual trips in Citrus Heights. The service will also see a name change to “SmaRT Ride” with its debut on Monday, February 12.
The innovative program allows customers to request rides in the Microtransit app using a smartphone or via an online form. Similar to ride-hailing services, a shuttle bus will pick riders up wherever they are and take them where they want to go.
Following a ride request, SmaRT Ride will provide passengers with an estimated pick-up time and when the rider is the next passenger in the queue. Passengers will also be alerted when their ride is about to reach their desired destination. Notifications will be sent via the Microtransit app.
Available from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m., Monday through Friday, the on-demand service will cost the same as SacRT’s current fixed route service at just $2.75 per trip, or $1.35 for those eligible for discount fare. The low-cost makes SacRT’s new on-demand service much more affordable than a traditional ride-hailing service, which could cost upwards of $10 for a similar trip during peak surge times.
The Microtransit app used to schedule rides and track trips is tied to a software scheduling program that builds flexible and efficient transit routes to manage incoming trip requests. Customers may continue to request rides by calling 916-556-0258; however, reservations must be made on the same day.
“We are confident that SmaRT Ride will be met with much enthusiasm from our residents by bringing public transit to their front door,” said Citrus Heights Mayor Steve Miller. “Our hope is to see this service succeed and expand, so that our citizens, and ultimately everyone in the Sacramento region, will be able to reach local destinations and neighboring communities more easily.”
SacRT partnered with TransLoc to perform the six-month pilot using their propriety technology, beginning with a detailed simulation report from TransLoc’s MicroTransit Simulator.
“In addition to convenience, providing a safe and secure ride for our customers is a top priority for SacRT,” said Li. “All of our drivers have undergone background checks and random drug testing. Plus, all of our buses have onboard surveillance cameras that are monitored 24 hours a day, seven days a week.”
Phase 2 of the pilot will possibly explore expanding SmaRT Ride to Orangevale and the City of Folsom in the months to come.
SACRAMENTO REGION, CA (MPG) - The leading cause of death for Americans 15-20 years old is motor vehicle collisions. In an effort inform and to reduce motor vehicle collisions in California, California Highway Patrol (CHP) North Sacramento area will offer a free Start Smart class. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), mile for mile, teenagers are involved in three times as many fatal crashes as all other drivers.
Recent collisions involving teenagers in our area demonstrate the importance of these types of classes. The classes are used to promote traffic safety to both parents and teens. We encourage both parent/caregivers and teens to attend the class.
The CHP's Start Smart program is a driver safety education class which targets new and future licensed teenage drivers between the age of 15 -19 and their parents/guardians.
The Start Smart class will cover collision avoidance techniques, driver responsibility, collision trends, distracted driving laws, alcohol related driving laws and the provisional license process. The program also offers an opportunity for new drivers and parents/guardians to ask CHP Officers clarifying questions. The class incorporates videos and classroom discussion.
Persons interested in signing up for the class will need to register for the class by following the link to our Eventbrite page on our Facebook account at Facebook.com/chpnorthsac or Twitter account at @chpnsac. It is highly encouraged that at least one parent/guardian attend the class with their teen driver. Funding for CHP’s Start Smart programs is provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety through NHTSA.
Kids Kindness Really Rocks
CARMICHAEL, CA (MPG) - Does a rock have the power to generate peace, love and kindness?
Absolutely, say the second grade class at St. Michael’s Episcopal Day School, who, after months of collaboration on how to generate more kindness and love at their school and the world at large, have put their intentions for doing so down in stone, literally.
Under a canopy of thick gray sky with pending rain rolling out on the horizon, St. Michael’s second-graders and their teacher, Julie Buck, unveiled their new Kindness Rock Garden, the culmination of three-months of work around the concept of paying it forward.
The garden is filled with brightly painted rocks carrying messages of encouragement, such as “Remember to give Hugs,” “Bloom Where You Were Planted,” “Be Brave,” and “Kindness Rocks.”
The second-graders oversaw every step of the project, collaborating on each detail, from researching and crafting the garden’s initial concept to its design and logistics, even crating the final list of rules for the garden’s purpose and its caretaking.
“This is all 100% the kids’ show of hard work and dedication,” said Julie Bugatto, St. Michael’s second grade garden parent.
The concept, says Bugatto, is pretty straightforward. Take a rock and give it to a friend in need of support or encouragement. Or, if you need love and encouragement or kindness, take one for yourself. Keep it as long as you need to, but when you’re ready, bring it or a different Kindness Rock back to the garden to make sure the river keeps flowing.
“When someone needs love or inspiration, the kids can take a rock and give it to that person,” said Bugatto. “Or, if they need it for themselves, they can take one for themselves. But they do have to put a rock back in when they are ready to so that the river of kindness is always alive and there for anyone who needs it.”
Isabella Aslie, 8, one of the second-graders who helped create the Kindness Rock Garden, said she was happy to have had the opportunity to help bring it to life.
“All of us created this together,” Aslie said, cradling a purple rock with one red rose and the word “Love” painted neatly in pink letters.
Prior to the unveiling of the Kindness Rock Garden, the students gave a detailed presentation on its history and their process for creating the project. Using a power point presentation they each took turns reading through the steps they took to bring their idea to fruition, beginning with their singular mission to spread more kindness around the school and into the universe.
They sketched out their own idea. They designed it like a river, as a nod to Sacramento’s waterways and the idea that peace flows like a river. They brainstormed on its final location and, finally, began the work of bringing it to life. Their overarching message: “Kindness is contagious.” And they have proof.
The students’ garden was directly inspired by the Kindness Rocks Project founded by Megan Murphy in Massachusetts in 2015. What began as a soul-searching walk along Sandy Neck Beach on Cape Cod for Murphy turned into a movement for love.
Murphy’s successfully career as a jewelry business owner was no longer serving her emotionally. She felt depressed and began searching for an anecdote and found it by painting words of inspiration on rocks and leaving them on the beaches of Cape Code for others to find and benefit from.
Murphy sold her businesses and works as a life coach today. Her Kindness Rocks Project movement has spread like wild fire across the world. It has a social media following of some 19,000 people on Instagram and Facebook and is growing daily, as evident at St. Michael’s. Across the country, hand-painted rocks of kindness and inspiration are being left on beaches and pathways from Boston to Bakersfield. They are finding their way into baskets for customers to grab from the counter at a Starbucks in Canada, being left in parking lots, and yes, they are forming a river of hope in a small garden in Carmichael, California.
St. Michael’s second graders have spent a good portion of the year reading about kindness, learning that it comes in many forms. They have also learned that, the best way to have and hold on to it is to give it to someone who needs it just as much.
The randomness and compassion-filled outcome of one woman’s walk on the beach in 2015 as she searched her soul looking for a way out of confusion and despair is permeating here in a garden, in a river of stone, sharing space with winter crops of sugar snaps, collards and kale, radiating vibrant words of hope and encouragement.
Perhaps it is best left to the student’s own presentation to best describe the purpose and goal of their rock garden project. They put it simply as this: “You Matter. You are Loved. You Rock.”
“They’re Still Our Boys”
Heroes, and Now Movie Stars
SACRAMENTO REGION, CA (MPG) - In August 2015, the lives of three young Sacramento men changed forever. Travelling from Amsterdam to Paris by train, Spencer Stone, Alek Skarlatos and Anthony Sadler foiled a terrorist attack and saved countless lives. International fame, a book -- and now a movie -- followed the adventure.
Life will never be the same for their moms, either. Joyce Eskel and Heidi Hansen have a hard time believing their sons -- together with their Rosemont friend Anthony -- are the stars of “15:17 to Paris.”
Directed by film legend Clint Eastwood, the movie opens nationally on February 9. Stone, Skarlatos, Sadler and their families enjoyed a private screening last weekend in Sacramento. “The boys had seen the movie once before,” explained Joyce Eskel. “They were extra nervous this time because we were all there. We were anxious too: we were seeing our lives exposed for all the world to see.”
“The boys are still in awe that they’ve made a movie with Clint Eastwood,” says Heidi Hansen. “He’s their hero.” The screen legend befriended the boys after he presented them with a “Guy’s Choice” award in 2015. The irrepressible 22-year-olds suggested he should make a movie from their book. Eastwood read “15:17 to Paris” and struck a deal. His casting people considered many actors to portray the heroes but Eastwood liked Stone, Skarlatos and Sadler as is. “He loved the connection between them and felt it might translate well to screen,” explains Hansen.
Gobsmacked, the boys asked if they should get acting lessons. “Clint said no,” says Eskel. “He wanted them to be themselves. He took a risk but he was right; the boys did a great job. The way they interact on screen is exactly how they are together. They hardly had to act at all.”
The 90-minute drama leaps from their childhood to August of 2015. Then Sadler was at college in Sacramento; Skarlatos was in the Oregon Army National Guard; Stone served the US Air Force at Travis. Spencer and Alek had been inseparable since grade school. They battled war games in Schweitzer Grove and played in the Del Campo High football team. “The script explains how they grew to trust each other; how they always had each other’s back,” explains Eskel. “Though Anthony Sadler and his family lived further away, the three boys had been friends most of their lives.”
Carmichael scenes were restaged in an Atlanta neighborhood. Actors played the two moms and Anthony’s dad, Pastor Anthony Sadler. “They never met us or got a chance to get to know us,” says Eskel. “Heidi and I are always laughing. The two screen moms are so serious. But the movie’s a drama and actors have to play the script they’re given.”
The reenacted train attack was painful for all the parents. “It brought back how August 21 could have been the worst day of my life,” explains Hansen. Watching the same scene, Pastor Sadler reached for his son’s arm.
“I was aware of the violence from what the guys had shared with me,” he said. “It was challenging to watch. I really felt how close we came to losing Anthony. Our pride in him is secondary to our gratitude to God for saving his life.”
“The moment when the attacker lifted his gun to Spencer’s face and pulled the trigger was overwhelming,” says Eskel. “Even though I knew the gun malfunctioned. It was awful watching all the other weapons come out and seeing my son being slashed. It was a miracle everyone survived. I was worried when the boys told me they were taking that train to Paris. I was uneasy; I asked God to watch over them.”
The morning after the film screening – as often before -- the young men attended Pastor Sadler’s Shilo Baptist Church in Sacramento. All three were raised in Christian homes and have good reason to believe providence shaped their lives. Before Alek served his 10-month National Guard tour in Afghanistan, his mom invoked divine protection. “I prayed and felt God telling me Alek would be all right in Afghanistan,” says Hansen. “But He also told me that something very exciting was in store for him. I told Alek this.
“After the train attack, Joyce and I flew to Paris and met the boys at the American Embassy. I remember running up the embassy stairs, holding my son and saying: ‘this is what God was talking about.’ Alek just smiled.”
Both now 25, Alek and Spencer are honorably discharged from military service. Alek placed third in Dancing with the Stars and Spencer bounced back after a stabbing incident outside a Sacramento restaurant; he now lives in Southern California. Alek has returned to Oregon and Anthony (also 25) has graduated from CSUS with a degree in sports medicine. All three are interested in acting careers and for now, are committed to weeks of promotional touring for their movie.
“They’re living exciting lives and it’s thrilling we get to share it,” says Joyce. “But our sons are still the boys they always were. When they visit, they sleep in their own beds. I still tell Spencer to pick up his room.”
“Alek leaves candy wrappers around,” reports mom Heidi. “America may see them as heroes and movie stars but to us, they’re just our boys.”
Carmichael Chamber Announces New Board
CARMICHAEL, CA (MPG) - The Carmichael Chamber’s 2018 Board of Directors will celebrate the Chamber’s 70th anniversary this year. Pictured (front row) Virginia Stone of Oakmont of Carmichael (Secretary); Gabrielle Rasi DDS (President); Joe Green of ICA Custom and Handmade (Vice President); Jim Alves of SMUD (Treasurer); (back row) Linda Melody, Carmichael Chamber Executive Director; Artie Van Winkle, representing residential members; Barbara Safford of Friends of the Carmichael Library; John Foderaro of Guild Mortgage; Katie Pexa of Farmers Insurance; Julie Hubbs of Woodworker Life Coaching; Rick Oster of Oster Consulting Group, and Kelli Foley of Trillium Real Estate, the 2018 Honorary Mayor of Carmichael. Not pictured is Heidi Standard of Aflac.