SHRA is a Jewel in Sacramento’s Crown

The agency is celebrating its 80th year of providing affordable housing opportunities to all of Sacramento’s residents.

By Michael P Coleman

I hopped out of bed early this morning, a handful of days into a summer heatwave that’s promising triple digit high temperatures for well over another week. I just couldn’t sleep. But it wasn’t the heat that kept me from dozing. I had tomatoes on my mind.

Not just any tomatoes, mind you, but the potted plants on my patio. They’d taken a beating with yesterday’s near record-breaking high. Today, the temperature at 7am was already well into the 80s, so I had to check on those tomatoes, after yet another warm night.

Then, it hit me: what about my neighbors who seek shelter beneath the bridge that allows Watt Avenue to span the American River? I see them almost every day during my early morning walk. Who provides a respite, a virtual cool drink, for them?

Organizations like the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency (SHRA) are committed to providing affordable housing opportunities for all of Sacramento’s residents. Led by Executive Director La Shelle Dozier, SHRA has revitalized entire communities and serves as the housing authority for the city and county of Sacramento, California.

As SHRA is observing its 80th anniversary, look to the Sac Cultural Hub over the coming weeks for a series of features on the agency’s vital work.

And do me an honor: the next time you see a tomato ripening on the vine, possibly in your own back yard, count your blessings and think about what you can do for our homeless neighbors.

Photo courtesy of Coleman Communications. They’re doing pretty well, aren’t they?

Learn about SHRA’s work at SHRA.org.