Meeting Time: November 30, 2023 at 5:30pm PST
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Agenda Item

3. Providing Water to People Experiencing Homelessness File ID: 2023-01386

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    Andrea Ure 11 months ago

    Hello, my name is Andrea Ure and I am a second-year medical student at UC Davis who has worked regularly with unhoused populations for several years. Access to clean water is a human right and folks experiencing homelessness should not be criminalized for utilizing life sustaining resources. The City of Sacramento should be focusing its efforts on addressing the systemic issues which force people into homelessness.

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    M D 11 months ago

    Everyone deserves water! People will be able to stay clean and healthy.

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    Sally Day 11 months ago

    My name is Sally Day. I am a member of SacACT (Area Congregations Together). I support any and all efforts to provide potable water to our unhoused neighbors. Safe drinking water is an essential service our City should make available to everyone.

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    Kathy Chance 11 months ago

    Water is a physiological necessity for all humans regardless of housing conditions. Water is crucial to insure physical health through adequate hydration of bodily systems. Water is necessary for cleanliness and preventing skin infections. Water is used for preparing food.
    As fellow citizens it is our duty to ensure that unsheltered populations receive adequate water for all these reasons.

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    Andrew Cramer 11 months ago

    My name is Andrew Cramer and I am a resident of the city of Sacramento. Professionally, I am a licensed civil engineer with environmental engineering as a specialty. Most of my work is cleanup of contamination and sometimes provision of safe water supplies. Personally I am a member of Sac ACT through my religious congregation. I support the provision of safe water supplies to the unhoused by options 1 through 4 listed in the staff report. Safe potable water is a basic human need and right. Let’s remove this one obstacle for our unhoused citizens.

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    Chase Clark 11 months ago

    Hello, My name is Chase Clark and I am a second-year medical student who regularly works with unhoused populations. Access to clean water is a human right and folks experiencing homelessness should not be criminalized for utilizing life sustaining resources. The City of Sacramento should be focusing its efforts on addressing the systemic issues which force people into homelessness.

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    Diane Wolfe 11 months ago

    Please consider the option of providing drinking fountains with the ability to fill water bottles in public parks. This will benefit not only people experiencing homelessness, but insure the public using the park has a source for water and hopefully encourage the public in general to fill their own water bottles rather than increasing plastics in the land fill.

    Diane Wolfe

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    Paula Rangel 11 months ago

    My name is Pau Rangel. I’m a second year medical student in Sacramento who works with unhoused populations on a regular basis. Access to clean water is a basic right and it’s, quite frankly, deplorable that our community members face charges for accessing such an essential resource. Rather than wasting time and resources criminalizing homelessness, we ought to address the systemic issues that have created this problem to begin with. Water for all, without question.

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    Sarah Boyles Muehleck 11 months ago

    Hello, My name is Sarah Boyles-Muehleck and I am a second-year medical student and formally worked in homelessness services. Access to clean water is necessary for human health and is a fundamental human right. Our unhoused neighbors should not face Utility Larceny or any other legal charges, fines, or consequences for accessing a resource necessary for life. If the city does not want people experiencing homelessness using city water, the city must take action to address the underlying causes of homelessness, rather than criminalizing the homeless.

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    Katelynn Zentner 11 months ago

    Access to clean water is a human right. I am disappointed the city of Sacramento even needs to have a meeting to discuss this. Definitely provide water (and housing and food) to unhoused people.

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    Alondra Salazar 11 months ago

    Hello, my name is Alondra Salazar I am a 2nd year medical student and am writing to express my support for the proposals to increase water access to people experiencing homelessness. As you may already know freeze warnings are in full effect in Sacramento as temperatures have dropped to 30 degrees on most nights. These freezing temperatures are life threatening to people living outside, but instead of introducing measures that would protect people our local government and city officials have invested time and energy into performing city sweeps that are only meant to destroy our community members' homes and further destabilize their living conditions. In addition to that, now there is a question about whether people living outside should have access to water sources, when in fact this should not be up for debate at all. People should unquestionably always have access to water. People not be criminalized for trying to access such a vital and life saving resource. Water is the source of all life and should be made widely accessible to our entire community Sacramento, especially the most vulnerable. To do anything less or against this would clearly demonstrate the city's lack of compassion and humanization of our community members who live outside. I urge you to support these life affirming proposals that increase water access. 

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    Paul Andrews 11 months ago

    This is an absolute necessity. It is literally the least we can do. Our unhoused neighbors barely get assistance in many ways. Especially given the precarity of their situations. Given the amount of times their belongings have been taken or destroyed by others trying to survive or state actors. Given the amount they are victims of predators whether they be drug dealers, assault, sexual assault, and more; this is the least we can do to ensure they are able to survive while suffering through our inability to fundamentally help them up and off the streets with the services at the levels necessary to ensure success.

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    Moiz Mir 11 months ago

    I ask the commission to meet the urgency of this moment and move forward a proposal that would establish additional safeguards to ensure water is available and safe for consumption, and take measures towards establishing long-term publicly accessible sources of potable water - while in the short term building on the model of the program that allows contractors and developers access for utilizing fire hydrants.

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    Sadaf Sadjadi 11 months ago

    Sadaf Sadjadi

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    Bri Bratsman 11 months ago

    Water is a human right.

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    Sandra Olkowski 11 months ago

    As a public health scientist at UC Davis and a resident of Sacramento, I strongly support this proposal. Protecting the basic human rights of our most vulnerable citizens must be a priority. My hope is that we as a city can not only act responsibly here at home by taking novel actions to provide water to unhoused citizens, but also have a wider impact in the world by being an example of social justice in action.

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    Irene Echavarria 11 months ago

    Water is life. Having access to clean water is a human right. Our unhoused neighbors deserve access to clean water, without being criminalized. I fully support this effort to provide clean water to our unhouse neighbors.

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    Holly KirklandKyhn 11 months ago

    I am a Nurse Practitioner providing care for the underserved and unhoused in Sacramento, in Haiti after the earthquake, and in 3rd world countries for over 20 years. Water is life. Everyone needs access to clean water and while people line up early in Africa to wait in line to fill their buckets for the days use, we have denied access to clean water to our most vulnerable and aging population. Yes, I said aging; 30% of the people experiencing homelessness are over the age of 65, many have chronic illnesses and are in and out of local hospitals and emergency departments.
    My specialty is wound care and people are often discharged from hospital to their camps. With no place to recover or have respite from the elements and harsh environment of living unhoused, they will bounce back to the hospitals and emergency departments for the simplest of medical issues.
    I support parks in around Sacramento having access to all who live, play, and work outside.

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    Shanna Niroumandzadeh 11 months ago

    We must ensure all people have access to clean water. It is our responsibility to ensure all citizens in our community regardless of housing status have the right to LIFE. Water is life, and the least the city can do is make sure there are multiple avenues for people to have permanent and consistent access to water. Thank you.

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    Catrina Grimaldi 11 months ago

    Water is a basic human right and it’s a public health disgrace to not allow certain residents consistent and reliable access to clean water