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Memorial Day Reflections on Veterans Experiencing Homelessness
This Monday, on Memorial Day our nation will honor the memory of the men and women who died in active military service. While we prepare to do so, it is important to look at how our military veterans are represented among our neighbors experiencing homelessness and how they are getting connected to stable housing.
Twice a year, Homeward coordinates a Point-in-Time count, a one-day regional census of people experiencing homelessness in our community. In our January 2018 count, 19.4% of the people surveyed identified themselves as veterans. This number has held relatively steady in Greater Richmond for several years. In fact, in 2015 Virginia was the first state to functionally end veteran homelessness. To functionally end veteran homelessness means that veteran homelessness is rare, brief, and one time in our community. It does not mean that no veteran will ever experience a housing crisis again, or that there aren’t still homeless veterans today. It does mean that a process is in place to effectively respond to the crisis of homelessness as it arises, and that we continue to house more veterans each month than the number who enter the homeless services system.
Like Virginia, most states have seen remarkable reductions in veteran homelessness, however, the trend does not hold nationally. In the past year some major cities saw dramatic increases in veterans experiencing homelessness, driving the national average up 1.5%.
So what drives the success of service delivery to homeless vets in communities like ours? Earlier this week, Virginia Public Radio published a story that cited taking a “Housing First” approach to homelessness as being a key factor. Housing First is a principle that focuses on solving homelessness by offering low-barrier access to housing and then offering additional services as needed to help the families and individuals exiting homelessness maintain stable housing.
While adopting a Housing First approach has been a dynamic force in our community, it isn’t the only reason the number of veterans living on the streets has decreased. Public policy, increased targeted funding, strategic cross-sector partnerships, and collaborative client-focused programming have aligned to address the specific needs of each veteran who enters into our network of homeless services. It is this collaborative effort that has worked in our community and many others to make great strides in getting homeless vets into housing, and it is through this same effort that we can see homelessness for everyone who experiences it become rare, brief, and one time.
This weekend, as you remember those who died during active military service, remember those vets who are living on the street and support the network of organizations that are working to get them into stable housing.
Homeward’s 2018 Community Awards Winners
Today, Homeward hosted our 12th annual Best Practices to Prevent and End Homelessness conference at the Capital One-West Creek Town Center. Each year at the conference Homeward brings together over 200 public and private stakeholders working in the Richmond region to learn how to continue to reduce homelessness and increase housing stability for our neighbors with very low incomes. Homeward invites speakers from across the state and from other communities to provide resources and examples of ways to address specific issues identified during the GRCoC's year-round collective impact efforts.
At the conference, Homeward recognized members of the homeless service community for their outstanding achievements. Awards were given to organizations and individuals who have gone above and beyond to further the community’s goals articulated in The Road Home: Ten Year Plan to End Homelessness and Promote Housing Stability. Awards were presented at the Community Awards Lunch Reception.
To see the 2018 award categories and winners, follow this link.
Homeward Director Speaks at Mindful Mornings
On February 1, Homeward Director Kelly King Horne spoke at the monthly Mindful Mornings session. Mindful Mornings is “a monthly forum for do-gooders who want to create a more well-world.” Kelly was invited to offer insight into the challenges and successes of homeless services in Greater Richmond. Her first axiom to share with the audience was her unwavering belief that “homelessness sucks and is a stupid problem [for our community] to have.” She went on to acknowledge that our understanding of homelessness and adaptation of related services in Greater Richmond are driven by sophisticated data analysis and collaboration, but did not deter from the fact that there are enough resources to overcome an issue as complex as homelessness.
In closing, Kelly urged the crowd that in order to end homelessness in our community we must focus on identifying what works and who can do it best. A great place to start thinking about this process is the resource we shared with the Mindful Mornings audience, Creative Ways to Engage is Ending Homelessness in RVA.
We encourage you to take a look at Mindful Mornings RVA’s Facebook page and be a part of their next community conversation.
People Facing Eviction and Experiencing Homelessness in Richmond
In the last several weeks, eviction rates in Richmond have received both national and local
attention leading to calls for reform from many community members. At Homeward, we have tracked data on how eviction affects our neighbors experiencing homelessness in the Richmond region. In our July 2017 Point-in-Time count, Homeward asked people about their experiences with evictions.
We asked people whether they had:
- Ever gotten a notice from landlord that you needed to do something (like pay rent or fix a problem) or you would be evicted – 40.4% (provide notice to tenant; pay or quit or notice to quit)
- Ever gone to court over housing issues – 25.0% (summons for unlawful detainer and trial)
- Ever gotten a legal notice saying that you needed to leave the place you lived by a certain date and time – 32.4% (writ of possession for unlawful detainer)
Ever kicked out of a place you were living – 38.9%
We also found that the population experiencing homelessness in the Greater Richmond region is mobile – over half had lived in two or more places (not including shelter) in the past year. And of course, most were planning to move in the next year as they would be leaving shelter.
Because adequate income and affordable housing are limited resources for many people in our community, there are no easy solutions to the housing crisis faced by our poorest neighbors. Additionally, there is no one-size-fits-all for homeless prevention and solution plans. For these reasons, it is essential that we support the collective work of partnering agencies that staff Housing Navigators, a unique role designed to guide and support clients through the process of creating and implementing a housing plan. In providing this service, agencies are assisting both low-income tenants and landlords by helping to build stable tenants for stable housing.
Leadership Metro Richmond Guest Blog
Homeward's Executive Director, Kelly King Horne had the privilege of guest blogging for Leadership Metro Richmond (LMR), a community leadership development and engagement organization. Kelly is an alumni of the LMR's Leadership Quest Program (Class of 2011). Her blog discusses how Homeward uses data to support our work in homeless services and why other leaders should look to data to improve organizational capacity. Read the blog post here.
> Ending Homelessness: UTILIZING THE COLLECTIVE IMPACT MODEL FOR CHANGE
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