The United Way of Greater Williamsburg is searching for an innovative approach to fighting area homelessness, and has pledged up to $500,000 to the purpose.
In the spring, the United Way will accept proposals for a new grant, looking to fund a collaborative strategy to combat the problem of homelessness over the course of three years.
“And we do have a homeless issue, contrary to popular belief,” said Sharon Gibson-Ellis, executive director of United Way of Greater Williamsburg.
The problem came up multiple times in United Way’s last granting process, when it heard about homelessness from agencies that do not tend to deal directly with housing. Meals on Wheels said it was having trouble delivering food to seniors who were living in their cars, while Child Development Resources had difficulty providing in-home services to clients who lacked a stable living situation.
A theme developed, prompting the United Way to explore a project on homelessness.
Gibson-Ellis realized the problem when she moved here three years ago. Considering the vast number of jobs fueled by tourism, most in hotels and retail, Gibson-Ellis determined the majority of the population works in those positions.
Combine typically low pay with a high cost of living, and a housing problem emerges, she said.
“The two don’t meet,” Gibson-Ellis said.
Liz Vestal, United Way’s initiatives manager, pointed to statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey on a lack of affordable housing in the area. The ACS is sent to a small percentage of the population every year to collect detailed information on population and housing.
Estimates from 2008 through 2012 show about 40 percent of renters in all three Historic Triangle localities paying 35 percent or more of household income for housing. According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, families who pay more than 30 percent of their income for housing are deemed “cost burdened.”
To contend with high costs, Gibson-Ellis said many workers either commute from out of town or make sacrifices to reside here, such as not owning a car or moving around to keep rent low.
Many turn to the United Way — which considers un/under-employment and unaffordable housing, along with substance abuse, domestic violence, mental illness and previous incarceration as frequent contributors for homelessness — for help.
“We know our clients have trouble finding affordable housing,” Vestal said.
In 2013, the United Way Community Resource Center issued help for housing to an average of 127 people per month, which includes referrals to shelters, as well as direct assistance for rent or mortgage payments.
But when trying to quantify homelessness in the area, Vestal and Gibson-Ellis agree numbers can be tricky.
Every year the Greater Virginia Peninsula Homelessness Consortium — a regional body working to fight homelessness across Newport News, Hampton, Poquoson, the City of Williamsburg, James City County and York County — conducts a Point-in-Time Count, surveying known and suspected areas for the homeless living outside along with emergency shelters.
The 2014 Point-in-Time Count found a total of 525 homeless people, 497 of them in shelters, with 28 of those in the City of Williamsburg, 73 in James City County and none in York County. Some people may have refused to be counted, or not sought services that night.
Survey documents also state there was particularly harsh winter weather when the 2014 count was taken in February. Conditions drove more of the homeless to indoor shelters, increasing that total, but also delayed the counting in the morning, meaning surveyors found encampments already abandoned for the day.
“Homeless don’t want to be found,” Gibson-Ellis said.
While numbers are relatively low in the Historic Triangle, Vestal said the homeless population is by definition transient, and it is not uncommon for people to move up and down the Peninsula, receiving service from various organizations.
The United Way can track who receives assistance and from where using the Homeless Management Information System, a database shared by local social service providers. This fall the database merged with the database on the Southside, allowing agencies to see whether individuals have recently requested help throughout the region.
It is a helpful tool for viewing a single person’s history, Vestal said, but challenging when trying to study aggregate data on the issue of homelessness.
The Point-in-Time Count also does not include individuals who are living in a temporary state with friends or family, or who are living in a hotel.
Gibson-Ellis said people residing in hotels and motels, similarly difficult to quantify, keeps the homeless off the streets and out of the public’s minds.
“We just look different than most places,” she said. “Our homeless are hidden in hotels.”
When the Family Inn in James City County was condemned for unsafe conditions in February 2013, it left 53 people looking for a new place to live. Of them, 13 were children.
The Greater Williamsburg Housing Collaborative estimates at least 500 families are living in hotels or motels at any given point. The Housing Collaborative is made up of organizations that provide housing and house-related services and support, and includes the United Way along with the Salvation Army, Housing Partnerships, Inc., Avalon: A Center for Women and Children, and each of the three localities’ departments that handle housing services.
The group is one of the ways the community has banded together to work toward a solution to homelessness.
Vestal said it is helpful to have representatives from a variety of services sitting around a table together, swapping ideas and comparing methods.
“Because we’re essentially serving the same population, if not very similar, so we can all help each other,” she said.
Gibson-Ellis added the relationships formed have led to better services for clients across the board.
Three years ago, local churches got together to form the Community of Faith Mission, setting up a rotating shelter during the winter months. Each member church hosts for one week, giving patrons a hot meal, warm place to sleep, breakfast and bagged lunch for the next day.
The first winter, the mission served 58 people over 12 weeks. It expanded to 18 weeks for the 2013-2014 season, starting in November and stretching to mid-March, and had 86 guests.
The United Way hopes that collaborative spirit will drive proposals for the grant, with more details about expectations for the grant proposals to be released March 1 for an April 15 deadline.
Rather than hearing the staff’s ideas recited back, Gibson-Ellis said they are looking for an innovative plan to address specific housing units and the system on the whole.
“We’ve intentionally left it somewhat vague, because we want people to think creatively and outside the box,” Gibson-Ellis said.
The grant is funded through United Way resources, with the board choosing the winning proposal. The money will be disbursed on an as-needed basis over the three-year period, and Gibson-Ellis said if the project is successful it is likely the grant would extend beyond that time.
For more information, contact the United Way’s administrative offices at 253-2264, or its Community Resource Center at 229-2222.
Related Coverage:
- Historic Triangle Homeless Shelter Serves 86 During Winter Season
- Winter Shelter Supports Area’s Working Poor, Homeless
- United Way Seeking Donated Items for Family Inn Residents Moving to Permanent Housing
- JCC Official Deems Family Inn Unsafe, Recommends Residents Vacate
- JCC Officials Consider Condemnation for Family Inn
