RICHMOND, Va. -- The City of Richmond is getting help from at least one of its neighbors to address the homelessness crisis in Central Virginia.
Henrico County has committed to help fund the city's year-round homeless shelter services, but it's still unclear whether Chesterfield County will do the same.
According to Homeward's winter 2024 point-in-time count, 681 people were homeless across the region. And that number does not include those in hotels or bouncing from home to home.
While most homeless people were in emergency shelters, 206 of them truly had no roof over their heads, which is the highest recorded number of unsheltered people.
“It’s getting worse," said Richmond homeless advocate Bridgette Whitaker, an organizer with the nonprofit Blessing Warriors RVA. “It is a crisis. We are having a homeless and family crisis here.”
Whitaker, who used to be homeless herself, spends about every day on the streets connecting people with food, clothes and other necessities.
She also helps get people into emergency shelters but has noticed capacity issues appear to be intensifying.
“It’s not just a Richmond problem. It is a regional problem. People are everywhere and mobile and moving to whatever areas they can survive in," Whitaker said.
Historically, Richmond has fully footed the bill for its inclement weather shelters, which will soon also serve as year-round shelters, despite people coming into the city from other localities to utilize services.
2023 statistics from the region's leading homeless nonprofit Homeward found that 49% of the region's homeless were last housed in Richmond. 14% were from Henrico, 8% were from Chesterfield, and 16% were from other parts of Virginia. The remaining were not from the state.
“I call on all regions, localities. We all have to come together," Whitaker said. “Chesterfield, Hanover, we have your people here in our streets suffering.”
It's a sentiment Henrico County leaders said they understand.
"We know, from Henrico’s standpoint, we have residents in the city’s shelters," said Henrico County manager John Vithoulkas.
In a significant announcement Wednesday as Mayor Levar Stoney presented his proposed budget, he shared the news of Henrico's decision to help fund the city's efforts, which prompted a standing ovation from one city councilmember.
“Our partners in Henrico County have recently committed to cover a quarter of the total costs of operating these new emergency shelters," Mayor Stoney said.
Richmond's shelters, which will expand the region's year-round bed capacity, cost about $4 million annually to run.
Henrico will contribute $1 million to that.
“When you got multiple people coming to the table, you can get more done, and this is an issue that all of us have," said Henrico County Board of Supervisors Chairman Tyrone Nelson. “It would be easy to stay siloed in your own little space and talk about your own stuff, but the greatest levels of impact come when we all work together.”
“I mean this is the right thing to do," Vithoulkas said. "Prior to this, what we were doing was literally funding 501(c)(3)s. In the past five years, we've allocated over $18 million to 501(c)(3) organizations, and some of that will continue, but this is the most effective direct approach and the mechanism is there."
As for Chesterfield, Mayor Stoney and Richmond Council President Kristen Nye sent the county a letter on Wednesday requesting that it does the same as Henrico and cover 25% of the city's costs to host regional services.
"Homelessness and housing insecurity know no bounds," the letter stated. "[W]e know your locality is also experiencing the same challenges we are, with rising rents and significant pressure on our available housing stock. We are all working to prevent families from experiencing homelessness – but we know that for the foreseeable future, unsheltered families and individuals will require our collective support to get on path to stability."
A city spokesperson said Richmond was previously in talks with Chesterfield County before sending the letter, asking for its support. However, the city said Chesterfield County declined to commit to giving funding for the effort.
But in a statement Chesterfield County sent CBS 6 on Thursday, it is now "reviewing" the city's request and "will respond accordingly."
A spokesperson for Hanover County told CBS 6 that Hanover also discussed the initiative with Richmond but declined to get involved because "we believe we’re able to meet the needs of our community using the resources available within the County."
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