About Homelessness

On any given day, there are approximately 609 sheltered and unsheltered men, women and children living, working and learning in our community.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development defines an individual who is homeless as lacking a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence and includes those who are living in a shelter or a place not fit for human habitation (for example, a bench, the sidewalk, or under a bridge), as well as people fleeing domestic violence and/or human trafficking when no subsequent residence has been indentified:

not those staying with family or friends

not those living in motel

not those living in crowded or substandard conditions

Homelessness affects:

Our veterans who have proudly served our country

Men and women suffering severe mental or physical illness or chronic substance abuse

Those fleeing domestic violence and human trafficking

Our citizens returning from jail or prison

Youth who are LGBT or pregnant, or experiencing abuse

Factors leading to homelessness:

Unemployment and underemployment

High housing costs

Unexpected event (i.e. loss of a job, injury, illness or the loss of a spouse)

Weak support systems

Chronic physical/mental health problems

Adverse Childhood Experiences

Struggles people experiencing homelessness in Greater Richmond face:

Lack of affordable housing: Fair Market Rent of 2-bdrm apt is $982, need full-time work at $18.92/hour to be affordable.

Foreclosure: 11.6% experienced foreclosure (2012 data). Of those, 31% of foreclosures occurred in the past two years.

Poverty: Tend to have incomes between 0-30% of AMI.

Unemployment: 27.5% are employed. Of those, 37.4% work full-time, 40.2% part-time, & 22.4% do day labor/temp work.

Other barriers: 69.2% served time in jail and/or prison.