Plans call for the first residents to move into the Emergency Bridge Housing project on Grove Avenue by the end of March. St. Paul’s Church of God-Christ owns another 26 acres of land that could be used for eventual expansion to 50 cabins with 100 residents at a time.

The cabin plan was developed by the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency at the request of Mayor Darrell Steinberg. It responds to a 100-day challenge that Gov. Gavin Newsom made to California cities in December as a way to jump start action on the state’s crisis of homelessness.

“You have taken the charge very seriously, and you are doing exactly what I hoped and wanted, with a sense of urgency,” Mayor Steinberg told the SHRA staff. He also thanked City Manager Howard Chan, Councilmember Allen Warren and Mayor Pro Tem Angelique Ashby. The community will be in Warren’s district, and Ashby worked behind the scenes with SHRA to make the plan a reality.

Cabins are well suited for young people because they have often experienced trauma and have difficulty assimilating to a large shelter environment, said Sarah O’Daniel, director of homeless innovations at SHRA.

“This is a young population that if we help them stabilize now, they are less likely to become chronically homeless.,” O’Daniel said.

First Step Communities, which runs the county-funded shelter on North A Street, was selected Tuesday as the operator of the cabin community, which will feature wrap-around services with the goal of moving the residents into permanent housing within six to 12 months. Trailers will house portable bathrooms, services and administration. The cabins will have portable heating and air conditioning units.

“I believe the cabins provide privacy and dignity,” said Steve Watters, executive director of First Step Communities. “I think this will be an excellent opportunity to prove the model.”

It is expected to cost about $5.6 million to operate the community for two years. The city will lend SHRA $1.9 million from the general fund pending approval of funding by the state from funds already allocated to Sacramento in this year’s budget.

SHRA plans to partner with Wind Youth Services, Lutheran Social Services, Walking the Village and Cosumnes River Community College.

The cabins are part of a broader approach to reducing homelessness being pursued by the city. Later this year, 100-bed shelters are scheduled to open in Meadowview and along the W/X Freeway near Broadway and Alhambra.

“By this summer we will have 700 new or re-purposed beds up and running,” Mayor Steinberg said. “That means we can get 1,500 to 2,000 people off the street and into permanent housing ever year.”

Mayor Pro Tem Ashby has also been working with SHRA on a “Five Point Plan” that includes scattered site housing and a safe lot where people can park cars, along with cabin communities similar to the one approved Tuesday.

“This is an important step in implementing the full Five Point Plan, which is a diversified, citywide approach to serving as many homeless people as possible,” said Ashby, who missed Tuesday’s meeting due to illness.