In response to growing concern about unsheltered community members being exposed to severe weather events, Sacramento County created a weather specific response program that has weather-related triggers for activations. The response first activated in January 2021 and has since activated several times over the last year in both severe cold and extreme heat conditions.
This approach offers several advantages to pop-up weather respite centers (Which the County also uses):
- It relies on outreach partners to identify unsheltered people who would not otherwise be reached.
- It offers several days of continuous stay – at a minimum of three days (compared to a short 6-12 hour stay at a weather respite center).
- It allows people to shelter with pets and partners and in privacy, which is critical during COVID-19.
- It coordinates transportation for unsheltered people to the motels.
The following criteria will trigger a weather-related response:
Cold weather response:
- Nighttime lows of 37 degrees or lower for two or more days within a five-day span; or
- Rain for two or more consecutive days (forecast 60% or more); or
- One day or night of rain combined with nighttime lows of 32 degrees or lower.
Warm weather response:
- The National Weather Service escalates the heat risk to “high” for two or more consecutive days.
The program has capacity for about 100 motel rooms on any given night of the weather activation. In the most recent activation (December 9 – January 4), the program served more than 400 people and nearly 270 households.
In addition to the motel vouchering weather respite program, the County has also used pop-up warming/cooling locations to increase capacity for any given weather event. While these pop-up centers have their own challenges, such as staffing and security, the County was able to secure an ongoing partnership with Regional Transit to help get people from where they camp to the weather respite centers when needed.
The County continues to work in conjunction with our incorporated cities, advocates and non-profit partners to assess how to maximize limited resources to create the most effective programs for our unhoused community members.
