Sacramento County seeks to end homelessness for seniors by 2030. Is it possible?

Emma Hall, The Sacramento Bee on Jun 20, 2025

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SACRAMENTO — By 2030, Sacramento County wants to eliminate homelessness for all adults 60 and older and for people living with a disability.

Sacramento County’s Age and Disability Plan outlines strategies to provide affordable and accessible housing for both older residents and for residents with a disability, the plan stated. To accomplish this, Sacramento County seeks to provide equitable housing opportunities, said county spokesperson Macy Obernuefemann.

“We’re trying to prioritize and expand strategies for helping older adults and people with disabilities get safe, affordable and accessible spaces,” Obernuefemann said. “When we talk about older adults, they have different needs than someone who is maybe in their 20s or 30s.”

The plan’s focus is to eliminate homelessness for these populations, except for “rare and brief” episodes. But an expert called the goal ambitious.

Margot Kushel, a professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, said Sacramento County’s goal will be “very hard” to accomplish. Because it deals in absolutes, it may be uncertain whether Sacramento County can solve it in the next five years.

However, the goal is overall positive, Kushel said. She added that by setting an “ambitious goal” like the county’s plan, it will focus on helping a specific population.

“I think it’s a really important thing for community building and a really important thing for a housing crunch in general,” Kushel said. “I don’t think of it really as a homelessness solution for the most part, when you look at who actually becomes homeless.”

Through community outreach, the county identified access as the primary barrier to housing, with transportation and equitable healthcare also contributing to housing issues. Currently, 200,000 residents with a disability live in Sacramento County, the report stated.

Obernuefemann said the county has increased rates of homelessness for its aging population. She said there are affordability issues in Sacramento, especially for those on a fixed income and those not financially prepared to retire.

The county stated it will explore different residential models that meet the needs of its “aging population.” These efforts include a co-living housing matching program, future eviction prevention services, and mortgage and maintenance assistance services for homeowners. Additionally, the county’s plan will create apartments dedicated to residents with sensory or mobility disabilities, Obernuefemann said.

Kushel expressed concern over this goal, saying this population who become homeless due to mortgage and maintenance obstacles is “really tiny.” She added though, that co-living projects are often positive for older residents.

Homelessness for older residents

According to Kushel’s research, among people who are 50 and older, 41% have never experienced homelessness before 50.

The current older homeless population are comprised of two different groups, Kushel said. Some have been homeless since their 30s and 40s, and the other group has difficulty getting out of poverty, she said. To avoid homelessness, these individuals have worked two jobs. But after 50, they end up homeless when things fall apart, Kushel explained.

There are new barriers for older homeless residents, Kushel added. Those who have avoided homelessness through picking up a second job are unable to know as the job market becomes more difficult to compete in, she said. Additionally, older homeless residents could be 52, but because of the strenuous work they’ve been through, their body performs much older. Kushel said, for example, their body in actuality at 75 instead, she said.

“One of the reasons we think they still get stuck is that they tend to have been living really hard lives of poverty, poor access to food, health care,” Kushel said.

“It’s horrendous to be older and homeless,” Kushel said. “This is a group that is particularly unable to withstand the incredible physical and emotional terribleness and rigor of being outside or even in shelters that aren’t built for them.”

The county’s plan is in its early stages, Obernuefemann said. Initiatives will roll out in the next five years to achieve the county’s 2030 goal. Beyond trying to eliminate homelessness for an aged and disabled population by 2030, the county will implement 25 “multilingual, multicultural and multi-ability” cultural brokers, who will work with clients in English, Spanish, Russian and American Sign Language.

“The sooner that we can start thinking about this, not just at a county level, but individual level, the more we can accomplish to help people as they age, find affordable housing,” Obernuefemann said.

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