SacRT Social Equity Program

May 24, 2022 SacRT in Community

Over the last few years, SacRT has forged partnerships in the community and during the COVID-19 pandemic, we continued to innovatively pivot to serve the public in new ways. SacRT has become much more than a transit agency, we have thrived as a health and social service partner for the Sacramento region.

SacRT Social Worker Program

SacRT is a committed community partner that believes we are built on serving others through the delivery of safe, clean, and convenient public transit to all members of the community. Homelessness nationwide, statewide and in Sacramento County has been increasing in recent years, with visible signs of its impact on individuals and families, in neighborhoods and on the public transit system. The limited capacity of housing and other social service programs in Sacramento County has forced many individuals experiencing homelessness to look for shelter in various public spaces, including in and around train track rights-of-way, which is very unsafe. SacRT has taken an active and innovative approach to help address the unhoused crisis impacting the community and our system. We have partnered with the City of Sacramento and Sacramento County to develop programming and solutions that not only treat people with dignity, remove barriers to stability, and provide access to city and county resources, they help create a pathway out of homelessness.

SacRT created an in-house Social Service Practitioner position and program to connect individuals living along SacRT’s right-of-way and transit facilities with regional services. Working in partnership with local and regional mental health stakeholders and agencies, the Social Services Practitioner is responsible for ensuring that the rights of potentially underserved mental health consumers are upheld; ensuring they are appropriately served when they enter the SacRT system, and are in contact with law enforcement or may potentially come into contact with law enforcement and other SacRT personnel.

SacRT’s Social Services Practitioner assists with the following programing:

- Mental health system of care

- Alcohol and other substance disorder system of care

- Primary care services

- Medi-Cal

- CalFresh

- Housing linkages

- Other vital resources

Connect with SacRT’s Social Worker:

Rose Arteaga
rarteaga@sacrt.com

News Coverage

Sac News & Review - SacRT Steps Up for the Community, September 2, 2020

Sac News & Review - Safety First, August 6, 2020

Sac News & Review - Wearing is Caring, August 6, 2020

Sac News & Review - Keeping Passengers Safe & Healthy, July 1, 2020

Sac News & Review - More Buses & More Trains, July 1, 2020

Good Day Sacramento - Seniors Shuttled from Apartment Complex After Fire - December 16, 2021

ABC 10 - Warming centers open across Sacramento, Stockton and Tracy as cold front sweeps in, December 28, 2021

SacRT Community Partners

During the COVID-19 crisis, SacRT worked with community partners on the following projects:

- Delivery of fresh food from local farmers markets directly to residents impacted by the pandemic using our shuttles buses.

- Partnering with the City of Sacramento and Sacramento Steps Forward on the coordination of transport of persons experiencing homelessness to dedicated shelters and specified trailers in coordination with county medical personnel and police services (who do not exhibit signs of COVID-19).

- Partnering with the Sacramento Republic, JIBE, Raley’s and Councilwoman Angelique Ashby’s Officer for the Indomitable Hands project, which delivers freshly cooked ready to heat and eat meals to seniors in self isolation and quarantine.

- Partnering with CalSTA and City of Sacramento to provide 10 WiFi Buses to turn them into free wireless super hotspots to address the digital divide in communities with limited high-speed internet access to support California Governor Newsom’s telehealth, telework and distance learning efforts. You can find an updated schedule at: www.thewifibus.com.

- As our vulnerable community members shelter in place during COVID-19 health crisis, SacRT has teamed up with the City of Sacramento to deliver meals to seniors and other high risk adults using SmaRT Ride microtransit shuttles through Governor Newsom’s Great Plates.

Community Support

A huge thank you to all our community partners for providing our front-line essential employees masks and other supporting items to ensure their safety and well being during the COVID-19 pandemic.