Homeward’s 2024 Gaps Analysis for the Greater Richmond Continuum of Care Highlights Challenges and Strategies in Addressing Homelessness
October 15, 2024
As more and more people in our region face housing instability and are pushed into homelessness, the demand for homeless services is higher than ever before.
Homeward’s 2024 Gaps Analysis for the Greater Richmond Continuum of Care (GRCoC) highlights critical challenges and strategies in addressing homelessness. The rising cost of housing, exacerbated by the long-term affects of the pandemic, has intensified the crisis, pushing more people into homelessness.
Key recommendations include:
- Focus on deeply affordable housing for individuals earning less than 30% of the Area Median Income (AMI), the most vulnerable population.
- Align funding with GRCoC strategies, prioritizing emergency shelters and case management to improve transitions out of homelessness.
- Increase support for rapid rehousing programs, which have successfully housed 80% of participants.
- Expand Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) units to meet growing demand.
- Encourage flexible funding and targeted prevention efforts to help individuals stay housed and avoid the trauma of homelessness.
Addressing these gaps is vital to ending homelessness and ensuring stability for Richmond’s most vulnerable.
Read the full Gaps Analysis here.
For more data on homelessness, see here.
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Last week, Homeward hosted a Virginia Landlord-Tenant Law Training led by emeritus pro bono attorney Martin Wegbreit, who has worked with the Central Virginia Legal Aid Society for over 40 years. This event brought together case managers, housing navigators, and other frontline professionals from across the Greater Richmond region.
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Rayne is a MSW student at VCU's School of Social Work and this year's Coalition Support Intern at Homeward. We asked for her perspective on the connections between social work and homeless services now that she's been with us for a few months.
Iain De Jong of Org Code Consulting shared a video today “Want to help with homelessness? Do this. Not that.” This is one of the best summaries of how all of us can be a part of addressing the homelessness crisis in our community. The video is only 7 minutes, and Iain is always worth listening to but here is my summary of what touched me.
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