Homeward Statement on COVID-19
Homeward serves as the planning and support agency working to prevent, reduce, and end homelessness in the Greater Richmond region. One of our core functions is to facilitate collaborative service coordination among the providers and partners in the Greater Richmond Continuum of Care, the collaborative, community-wide planning body working to prevent, reduce, and end homelessness. For more information on the Greater Richmond Continuum of Care, please visit www.endhomelessnessrva.org.
To address the increased risks associated with COVID-19 for people experiencing homelessness, Homeward has been working with the Daily Planet Health Services, our shelter and housing program partners, and our local government partners to assess, develop, and deploy strategies to continue to meet the needs of people experiencing homelessness during this crisis and to expand the capacity of our homeless services system to meet the needs.
This situation is fast-moving and evolving, but our decades of coordinated service planning have enabled our partners to rapidly adapt to this new situation. While our shared community goal has always been to end a household’s experience of homelessness through housing and supportive services (including employment), our collective work is grounded in our commitment to the health, safety, and dignity of each person.
Homeward is supporting and connecting our service provider partners to implement safety protocols to continue to serve people experiencing homelessness during this crisis. We are also working with the City of Richmond and others to address the urgent needs of unsheltered individuals who may be at increased risk of disease transmission.
We are gathering information on donations needed so that our partners can continue to provide the care and support that our neighbors in crisis will require in the coming days and weeks.
As these resources and plans are developed, they will be posted here www.homewardva.org.
Thank you for your support of Homeward and our partners. To learn more about how you can help, visit http://www.homewardva.org/get-involved/what-you-can-do.
To learn more about Homeward's adapting response to COVID-19, check out these news articles:
During COVID, Richmond Moves Cold Weather Shelter To Hotel | VPM
With cold weather forecast, Richmond to open new safety net shelter this week | Richmond Local News
Please click on the link to view the job description and application process.
Homeward is incredibly grateful for the successful partnership between the Greater Richmond Continuum of Care, the City of Richmond, local faith communities, and concerned citizens in the collaborative efforts to get people out of large encampments and into safe shelter during the COVID-19 pandemic. Large encampments are at high-risk of a COVID-19 outbreak and many people living outdoors are older and/or have medically-compromised immune systems. As of Thursday, March 19, 64 people previously experiencing unsheltered homelessness in Richmond were successfully placed in hotels and emergency shelter beds to reduce these risks and to connect them with ongoing resources.
On Wednesday, March 18, the Blessing Warriors organization began removing their property from the site known as Camp Cathy and requested help disposing of vacant and unwanted tents, the residents of which had been moved into emergency shelters or alternatives. The City will continue to remove vacant and unwanted tents and items on Thursday, March 19 while continuing to coordinate with Blessing Warriors and residents as needed.
Moving forward, The Greater Richmond Continuum of Care will shift its focus to connect people to stable housing and services such as employment, education, and healthcare. We are confident that the strength of the partnerships formed during our community’s COVID-19 pandemic response will continue in the coming weeks and months to provide the services and resources to the people placed in safe shelter who were previously experiencing unsheltered homelessness.
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread in our region, all of us face new challenges and uncertainty. People experiencing homelessness are among our most vulnerable neighbors and need our assistance. Fortunately, Homeward and our extensive network of partners in the Greater Richmond Continuum of Care (GRCoC) have been working tirelessly in recent weeks to find support and shelter for people who have been sleeping outside in crowded conditions and supporting an additional 330 people experiencing homelessness in shelters in Central Virginia. Following guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Housing and Urban Development, we prioritized assistance for those experiencing homelessness who lived in close proximity to another and those not connected to the coordinated network of service and professional resources. Today’s announcement from the Governor offers additional support for this effort and will allow our community to continue to meet the needs of our most vulnerable neighbors during this time. See the announcement here: https://www.governor.virginia.gov/newsroom/all-releases/2020/april/headline-855925-en.html
This response is targeted to people who have been or are unsheltered and at great risk during the public health crisis. If someone is in within three days of losing housing, or if they are already without housing, they should contact the Homeless Crisis Line (804-972-0813) to talk with someone about connecting to homeless services and other community resources. Calls to the Homeless Crisis Line are being handled remotely and people may need to leave a message to receive a call back. We understand that the pandemic situation is causing economic and housing crises for many people, and the regional network of homeless service providers are doing all that we can to increase safe shelter and case management resources for our neighbors in crisis. We will continue to provide updates as new resources come online. We encourage all of you to share resources and opportunities at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Together, we are stronger.
On Jan. 22 and 23, Homeward conducted the Richmond region’s part of the statewide 2020 Point-in-Time (PIT) count. The PIT count is required during the last 10 days of January of every community that receives federal funding for homeless services. Regionally, we have measured a 10% increase from our January 2019 count but are still seeing a 17% decrease since 2017 and a 52% decrease in the single-day count since the peak of the homeless crisis in 2009.
The PIT count is the primary means to collect single day information on the housing and service needs of single adults and households with minor children staying in year-round, housing-focused emergency shelters or staying in cars. What is unique about PIT is that it has a methodology that has strengths and limitations that can be identified. This allows our community to use a consistent methodology over time. While not perfect, it is documented and comparable.
How the PIT count works
Individuals staying in shelters are counted by participating shelters in the Richmond metropolitan area. These results are reported to Homeward using a bed-count form or a database report that documents the number of people who stayed in the shelter on the evening of the PIT count.
Over a 36-hour period, people experiencing unsheltered homelessness are counted and surveyed through street outreach, a resource fair, and area meals programs conducted in the community. Volunteers offer digital questionnaires to people staying outdoors, and individuals who choose to take the survey are counted. In some cases (e.g., outreach in the counties and reports from the outlying counties), a person may be counted without being surveyed; this is a professional judgment call based on whether it is likely that the person(s) would connect to other PIT sites and resources during the 36 hours of PIT activities.
After data from the surveys is entered, it is checked for duplication based on a combination of factors including the first two letters of the person’s first name, first two letters of the person’s last name, and birth date.
A response rate for the questionnaire is calculated based on the number of adults surveyed divided by the number of adults counted. Note that while the true number of sheltered individuals is known, the true number of unsheltered individuals is not completely known. By partnering with street outreach workers, local law enforcement, and receiving input on locations of people sleeping outdoors from homeless service providers and the general public, we are confident that the count does connect with the majority of people experiencing unsheltered homelessness.
Limitations and Strengths of PIT
Limitations of the PIT count include that survey data is self-report from clients. Another limitation is that the representativeness of the sample, particularly of the unsheltered population, is not complete; however, as mentioned, using the same methodology, in the same geographic area, during the same time of year, over time allows us to evaluate whether the overall number is going up or down. Other strengths include the ability to collect timely data and participation rates in the community of service providers.
We know that the need remains high. We have developed a graphic that puts the single-day count into context showing both the entries into our coordinated homeless services system on the day of the count and the almost 1,000 people in targeted housing programs on the day of the count.
Homeward is asking for your help in strengthening the PIT count! On Thursday, April 2nd, 6 p.m.-7 p.m., at the Richmond Main Branch Library (101 East Franklin St.) Homeward will host a PIT information and input session. The purpose of the event is to provide the public with an opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of and offer input on PIT count planning and activities. Stay tuned for the release of a PIT stakeholder survey and updates on other community feedback sessions.