Mission & Vision

Mission

The mission of Sacramento Steps Forward, a private public partnership, is to assist individuals and families experiencing homelessness and at risk of homelessness to obtain housing, economic stability, and an enhanced quality of life through comprehensive services.

Vision

The vision of Sacramento Steps Forward is that within the next ten years, all persons and families experiencing the possibility of homelessness in Sacramento County will have a permanent, safe, decent and affordable place to call home with access to appropriate support services when necessary.

Sacramento Steps Forward is now incorporated in the State of California and has received 501(C)3 tax exempt status from the IRS as a non-profit organization. Over the next year Sacramento Steps Forward is building its capacity to take over the $15 million in federal Homeless Continuum of Care grants and other homeless contracts from Sacramento County. The Continuum of Care is responsible for housing over 3,200 men, women and children each night in shelters, transitional housing and permanent housing. We will continue to update the community as needed. Please sign up for our newsletter or follow us on Facebook to receive even more information.

The goal of ending homelessness is an important and profound mission that requires the ideas, insights and efforts of all individuals, organizations, businesses and agencies. We are pleased to launch Sacramento Steps Forward, an initiative to rally the community towards a shared and collective effort to end homelessness.

Sacramento Steps Forward has five principles:

• Empowerment: We have learned that homeless residents want a hand up, not a handout. Contrary to many myths, homeless residents want to be taxpayers; they want jobs; they want to be integrated back into mainstream society.
• Regional: We must build a regional solution—issues of homelessness are region wide. All communities will benefit from reducing the region’s number of homeless people.
• Sustainability: We need to develop long-term sustainable funding streams that draw resources from all sectors—federal, state, county, local, private, faith and philanthropic.
• Business Principles: We know that many people are skeptical of government and social service programs. We are working to apply business principles to the social sector. We are committed to measuring outcomes, evaluating programs, and being held accountable for results.
• National Model: We believe in the Housing First model. Housing assistance is the first priority, followed by services—from case management to job training—that develop stability and self-sufficiency. We will learn from the best practices from around the country and develop a set of policies and actions that can serve as a national model.

We hope you’ll join us.

If you'd like to see a list of our Community Partners, please click here.