A homeless man died of hypothermia last month. Will Sacramento open 24/7 warming centers?

A 74-year-old man last month froze to death along Sacramento’s American River Parkway on a night when the city and county did not open walk-up warming centers.

Morris John Jobe’s death was the first homeless death in Sacramento caused by hypothermia this winter, according to the Sacramento County Coroner’s office. Activists say his death should encourage local officials to get more people indoors.

Jobe was found unresponsive along the American River Parkway at an encampment near Camp Pollock on Nov. 17, a week before Thanksgiving, according to the coroner’s office. He died at a hospital the following day.

The primary cause of death was hypothermia, with methamphetamine use as the secondary cause, the coroner’s office determined. He had two adult sons.

Temperatures in Sacramento dipped to 39 degrees on Nov. 17, and to 37 degrees on Nov. 16, according to the National Weather Service — cold enough to cause hypothermia, but not cold enough for city and county officials to to open public buildings as walk-up warming centers.

The city and county have faced scrutiny over their decisions on opening extreme weather shelters as Sacramento’s homeless population grew over the past several years. The city in January 2021 did not open a warming center during a major storm. Six homeless people died during three days of heavy rain and wind, though none were caused by hypothermia, the coroner later determined.

Last year, roughly 230 homeless people died in Sacramento including eight of hypothermia. Sacramento’s homeless population has grown to 9,300, who all compete for roughly 2,400 city and county shelter beds. That increases the demand for other public buildings to open overnight.

During the current cold and rainy stretch, the city has started allowing overnight walk-ups to its homeless outreach center on Auburn Boulevard and in the lobby of its North Firth Street shelter through Thursday. The city and county also opened the lobby of a River District shelter to serve as a referral-only warming center.

Despite those efforts, there are no warming centers in many parts of the city, including where Morris died, and downtown.

Councilwoman Katie Valenzuela during Tuesday’s council meeting, with dozens camped outside the window, asked City Manager Howard Chan to open the City Hall lobby overnight.

“I’d like to request that we consider opening the City Hall lobby just for the next few days because I’m very worried about the rain and cold,” said Valenzuela, who represents downtown, where thousands of homeless people live on the streets. “When it’s wet and it’s that cold, it’s going to feel like freezing physically, and I’m a little worried about folks in the central city having trouble getting to the other locations.”

Chan has not since opened the City Hall lobby. The day after Valenzuela’s comments, the county opened a welfare office near 28th and R streets to serve as an overnight walk-up warming center for at least 100 people. That building is two miles from City Hall.

New Sacramento center eight miles from downtown

The city may open additional warming centers in the future, city spokesman Tim Swanson said Friday.

Also during the meeting, Valenzuela asked the city and Regional Transit to provide direct shuttles from camps to the warming centers and back. The building at 3615 Auburn Blvd. is eight miles from City Hall, and hard for people to get to, she said.

While the city has not launched shuttles, the city and Regional Transit are providing free bus fare to the center. The bus drops people off near the center every 15 minutes or every half hour, depending on the date and time.

After the January 2021 storm, city leaders pledged to open year-round 24/7 walk-up centers throughout the city, but none have opened.

Activists say that homeless deaths from weather-related causes, hypothermia and heat stroke, are particularly disgraceful because they are attributable to a lack of action by government officials to get people indoors.

Calls for more warming centers

Bob Erlenbusch, of the Sacramento Coalition to End Homelessness, said Morris’ death, which happened when it was not raining, should prompt the city and county to finally open 24/7 walk-up centers this week.

“Sadly another tragedy that will not move some callous elected officials,” said Erlenbusch of Morris’ death. “The (new city-county) partnership needs to include abandoning the weather-driven criteria and open up all available buildings to keep people safe, and abandon the criteria of referral. People should not need a referral to stay alive.”

Crystal Sanchez, president of the Sacramento Homeless Union, said she was “appalled.”

“Year after year we mourn the deaths of those who have frozen to death yet there is still no affirmative policy to require respites to be open,” Sanchez said. “Let us waste no more time and let us have no more loss due to being held up on opening warming centers this year.”

City and county leaders Thursday announced an agreement to provide increased mental health care, and 600 new shelter beds, but none will open in time for the winter, which officially starts Dec. 21. The City Council and Board of Supervisors will approve the agreement at their meetings Tuesday, but no items about emergency warming centers are on either agenda.

This story was updated at 5 p.m. on Dec. 5, 2022 to correct the total number of shelter beds offered the city of Sacramento and Sacramento County, and to clarify that the city opened an additional walk-up emergency shelter on Fifth Street.