The Gathering Inn surprises Lincoln with purchase of property for medical respite center

The Gathering Inn is officially coming to Lincoln, catching the community, city and elected officials off guard. The Gathering Inn (TGI), a nonprofit that provides shelter and accommodations for those experiencing homelessness in Placer County and Elk Grove, purchased land in Lincoln using grant funding from the Community Care Expansion (CCE) program from the California Department of Social Services. The CCE program is part of a statewide effort to prevent the cycle of homelessness in California. The $6,440,670 grant was awarded to TGI in May 2023. The grant was to create a medical respite project in Lincoln. according to FOX 40. The city of Lincoln was never notified an application was submitted, or that the grant had been awarded, according to its press release. The nonprofit bought the building at 1660 3rd Street. This building was originally Gladding Ridge, an assisted living and memory care business which closed in March 2024. TGI plans to use the building for a 60-bed medical respite center for individuals with a direct referral from a hospital. According to the National Institute for Medical Respite Care, a medical respite program is acute and post-acute care for people experiencing homelessness who are too ill or frail to recover from an illness or injury on the streets or in a shelter, but who do not require hospital care. On Aug. 22, the City of Lincoln put out a press release saying it was unaware of the Gathering Inn's medical respite center until the recent acquisition of the property on Aug. 14. TGI officials declined to speak to the Lincoln News Messenger on Aug. 23 and said they would communicate next week. City rumblings In late July, there were rumblings on a private Facebook group of TGI buying private property without city involvement. Due to these rumblings, community members have reached out to the city, confused on how they didn't see this coming. Vice Mayor Holly Andreatta said the city doesn't see everything online, as they do not have resources to monitor Facebook for community rumors. "We don't have an overabundance of employees that can just sit online and watch," Andreatta said. "People are busy running the city. They all have jobs to do, and our employees are already working hard and heavy to run the city. We don't have a multitude of employees that can just sit and monitor those things." Due to state funding, the business does not follow traditional rules when it comes to the city of Lincoln's permits. Erin Frye, the city of Lincoln's economic development & communications specialist, said not having this information disclosed to city officials was frustrating for them. "To not have this information disclosed on any level is so frustrating, because our community deserves a chance to share their opinion, to be a part of that conversation," she said. "As their city representatives, it is our jobs to advocate on their behalf of what is the best fit and provides the best value and aligns with our values as a community." Frye said she sees the concerns of the citizens. They have expressed concerns about the location of the project being close to schools like Glen Edwards Middle, First Street Elementary and Creekside Oaks Elementary. Citizens have also expressed concerns of what this will do for public safety officers and the overall quality of life for residents. "The potential of increase of the number of unhoused individuals released from a post-acute or acute center, such as a medical respite center, causes concern that will put a strain on local resources, and that's something we need to better understand," Frye said. The biggest concern, according to Frye, is the lack of public outreach and engagement with the community. Andreatta shared this is not the first time the city has run into issues with TGI hiding information from them. TGI's history with Lincoln "We had prior issues with them a couple years ago when they purchased a permanent supportive housing here in Lincoln with funding from the county and they didn't tell us about it," she shared. The city ran into some issues with people from that house engaging in illegal activities that cornered local neighbors. TGI employees told them the county instructed the nonprofit to not disclose the details of their residential project to the city of Lincoln. "We all found out about it. I personally had a conversation with staff from the The Gathering Inn and the CEO letting them know they broke our trust. If you ever want to work with us in the region, do not lie to us. Don't ever do that to us again," Andreatta said. She said the nonprofit promised that would never happen again. "And so here we are. They actively colluded with the building owner to keep it from us," she said. Withholding information Placer County Supervisor Shanti Landon also withheld information about the project from the city. Landon shared in a public statement that in the spring, she met with officials from TGI to learn about their plans. Landon said she learned of their plans in confidence, citing the seller's concerns about employee safety and potential controversy. As part of verbal disclosure, she was told the nonprofit was operating in good faith and had an outreach plan to notify city leadership and the public. She was under the impression this would be communicated before advancing the project. "I was deeply disappointed and troubled when I learned that this communication plan was not initiated until after the property purchase was finalized," Landon said in her public statement. In an interview with the Lincoln News Messenger, Landon said she is regretful for not reaching out or following up with the nonprofit about its community outreach. "It is a failure that I am really deeply regretful for because it is something that I should have and could have done," she said. "I didn't because I was too trusting and that was a failure on my part." Landon believes moving forward it is vital that everyone works together to ensure the community feels heard and is safe. Pilot program The City of Lincoln currently has a unique homeless pilot program that works with local agencies in the area to address issues with unhoused individuals. "We understand there is a homelessness issue. It's an issue in Lincoln, issue in our region, it's an issue in our state. We want to be part of the solution," Frye stated. Frye said city officials feel frustrated because they feel left out of conversation they have been taking care of for years in their community. "We need to be a part of the conversation at the start so that we can all effectively manage the outcome of programs to be successful," she shared. "Each community is different. Each community value is different, and we're trying to make the best decision for every individual in the city of Lincoln, yeah, housed or unhoused, to ensure that there is good quality of life here." Andreatta shared Lincoln's homeless task force and pilot program is unique, as Lincoln uses its own money to help rehabilitate people without homes. "We've reduced our number of homeless people. We've gotten people out of the creek into housing, into jobs, and we're the only city in the region that spent our own money on homelessness," she said. "We're the only ones spending our own dollars, not tax, not residents' tax dollars, but dollars that we had that we could allocate for these type of things, and we put it towards our homeless initiative." Andreatta shared it is important to the success of programs to have community buy-in, just as the city has done with its pilot program. "We were able to involve volunteers, local agencies, our faith community, city leadership, elected officials, and that's why we're seeing success in the city of Lincoln," she said. "So this is where our frustration is rooted. We want to be a part of the conversation and collaborate to make the best decision for the best outcome." What's next? City officials said they plan to have open, honest communication with the community as they figure out what is next in regard to the medical respite center. The city plans to work closely with the school district, county leadership, state lawmakers, federal lawmakers as they learn what parameters are around this grant funding, what options they have as a city, and what can be done to make the best decision for the residents and businesses that are already here.