This article has been edited since it first appeared in print.
Michael Rogers, Greater Richmond Continuum of Care director (Photo by Ash Daniel)
The number of people who are homeless in Richmond increased in the last year, and a local effort before the holiday season aimed to drive that number down.
In July, the region conducted its annual summer survey of families and individuals without a home on a given night. The count found 486 people experiencing homelessness, an 8.7% increase over last year’s count, and higher still than pre-pandemic numbers. Among the people counted, 37% were living in a car, on the street or elsewhere not meant for habitation.
To address the problem, the Greater Richmond Continuum of Care — a network of local homelessness resource providers that receive federal funding and that conducted the count — launched a “housing surge” in September with a goal of putting 50 households (the term includes individuals and families) into homes by Dec. 1. The city of Richmond directed $1 million of its budget surplus to homelessness services; those funds fueled the program. The network reached its goal in October, with another 20 matched to resources that can move them closer to permanent housing. Continuum of Care director Michael Rogers said 70 to 80 households would be settled by Dec. 1.
The surge prioritized people living on the street over those already housed in a shelter. The goal was to get people into a place to live with their name on the lease or help them negotiate a long-term stay with family or friends. “Unsheltered homelessness has increased so much in recent years in our region that even if we freed up shelter space, there still wouldn’t be enough,” Rogers says. “We wanted to target moving people directly off the street into housing.”
Homeward, a nonprofit in the care continuum, estimates that surges result in a 10% increase in people housed. In general, housing surges work, Rogers says, and few people return to the streets after being placed, with a two-year retention rate of 80%. So why aren’t they done all the time?
First, surges are often fueled by one-time cash infusions. Also, the policies enacted during surges typically aren’t sustainable. The 2023 surge prioritized people who have no place to go ahead of those who are already in a shelter, a policy that, over time, would lead to longer-than-necessary shelter stays. But as winter approaches, the care continuum has shifted focus.
There are other projects in the works to help people without homes in an emergency. The city announced in October that it will increase emergency shelter capacity and is hoping to open another shelter in spring 2024.
But shelters and housing surges are not long-term solutions. Placing people in permanent homes of their own is the goal.
There is no one reason that someone finds themself without a home. The web of social support in the U.S. is tenuous and complicated. Lack of health care for substance abuse and severe mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or schizoaffective disorder leaves people unable to manage their symptoms and therefore unable to hold onto a job. Discrimination against people who have a criminal record makes it hard to find employment or a lease. Families and relationships break down or become abusive. People lose their jobs or are hit with devastating medical bills.
But homelessness often comes down to this: There is not an affordable place to live. The average American had 2.8% less purchasing power in September than they did in January and 16% less than they did in 2019. Inflation has surpassed wage growth. The costs of necessities, including child care and health care, are overwhelming and continue to rise.
This strain is reflected in Richmond’s point-in-time survey. Economic hardship made up 43% of the reasons for homelessness by those who were counted by the Continuum of Care in July; 32% percent of people who are homeless in Richmond are employed.
Over 300,000 people in Virginia spend more than 30% of their income on housing, meaning they are considered “cost burdened” by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. In the Richmond metro area, that population was more than 87,000 people in the 2022 American Community Survey, which was more than half of the total occupied units paying rent. According to the National Low-Income Housing Coalition, a renter in Virginia needs to earn at least $26.84 per hour in order to afford a two-bedroom rental. If you earn the state minimum wage, which is $12 per hour, you’d have to work an 89-hour week to make up the difference.
On top of that, there just aren’t enough places for people to live. “The COVID pandemic created even more barriers to the production of housing in general, and it has also set off a huge, rapid rise in just rent cost,” says Isabel McLain, director of policy and advocacy at the Virginia Housing Alliance.
The effects of the pandemic brought residential construction to a standstill, and now housing demand exceeds supply. Corporate landlords have taken advantage of the housing shortage and not only raised rents but also tacked on massive startup costs such as application fees, nonrefundable “holding fees” and two to three months’ rent up front. Just to get an apartment, it takes thousands of dollars in reserves. “None of that was in our community before 2021,” Rogers says. “That all happened during the pandemic.”
Focusing only on access to housing means that the primary causes of homelessness — lack of mental health care, sluggish wages and unemployment — will be neglected. Organizations in the care continuum are aware. For now, they work within their sphere of influence, but local advocates are urging for political and social reform. “There just aren’t enough resources,” says Kelly King Horne, executive director of Homeward. “Being in your own place is really the best solution.”
