The Winter Shelter Program provides emergency overnight shelter for Sacramento County's homeless men, women and children when other local shelters are full during the cold weather months. The goal of the program is to provide nightly dry shelter and two meals. Volunteers of America (VOA) operates the housing and meal components under contract with the Sacramento County Department of Human Assistance.

The 2003/2004 Winter Shelter Program operated from November 24 through March 31.

133 shelter beds per night were available at Cal Expo. One of the modular trailers was dedicated to sheltering former foster youth between the ages of 18 to 24. The maximum shelter stay was 14 nights with extensions granted on a case-by-case basis. Participants were provided breakfast and dinner daily, transportation to and from the Cal Expo site. Shelter facilities consisted of seven doublewide sleeping trailers, two restroom trailers, and a dining trailer. Public health nurses are available to provide triage, TB screening, and referrals to medical clinics. The Winter Shelter Program is part of Sacramento County’s Homeless Continuum of Care system that provides approximately 3,125 emergency, transitional housing, and permanent supportive housing beds.

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2003-2004 Winter Shelter Program Statistics:

• A total of 958 men were sheltered by the program.
• Approximately 67% of the participant’s were between the ages of 33 and 52 years old.
• Approximately 86% of the participants were unemployed.
• Approximately 37% participants reported having a disability.

2002-2003 Winter Shelter Program Statistics:

• A total of 2,216 individuals (1,149 men, 738 women, and 329 children) were sheltered by the program.
• The average shelter stay was 12 days per person.
• None of the participants were denied an extension of services at the end of their 14-day initial program eligibility period, if they were working on their case plan and there were no other options or housing resources available.
• Approximately 78% of the adult program participants were unemployed.
• Approximately 66% of the adult participants assessed had mental health issues.

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