Author: chiara-canzi

 The latest results of the annual “Point-in-Time” census of the local homeless population show a decrease in both the total number of homeless individuals and the number of unsheltered individuals.

On January 27, volunteers for the Thomas Jefferson Area Coalition for the Homeless (TJACH) visited local shelters and counted beds that were in use. They also went to places where homeless men and women congregate and conducted a 28-question survey about the circumstances that led them to their current state. Ultimately, volunteers counted 253 homeless, down from 274 last year.

The census also found 201 adults and 34 children in emergency shelters or transitional housing. According to TJACH’s count, the most pronounced decrease came in the number of unsheltered homeless folks: 18, compared to 27 last year.

Seventy percent of those individuals surveyed were males, and 35 percent of respondents had been homeless for less than six months.

“A bias people have about homelessness is that it’s permanent,” says Kaki Dimock, executive director of TJACH. Dimock is also executive director of The Haven, the Downtown day shelter that opened in January 2010.

“Nationally, 80 percent of people are homeless less than two years, so they transition out,” says Dimock, who says that Charlottesville data reflects the same dynamic. “Forty percent [are homeless] less than six months. It’s transitional for most people.”

The results, however, may indicate only a portion of the local homeless population.

“We are not capturing a 30,000-foot view of homelessness in our community,” she says. “Because it happens in January, [the census] counts a group of people as sheltered in our community that, six months out of the year, are not sheltered,” she says. PACEM, the area’s major emergency shelter, is seasonal and only operates from October to April.

“The data that we report to the federal government has a tendency to skew towards a more chronically homeless population,” says Dimock. “It appears as though we have a group that is homeless longer with a greater need than we may actually have, if we counted everybody who is truly homeless,” says Dimock. She adds that TJACH’s census also doesn’t account for homeless Latinos who may not access traditional shelters and care systems.

“We don’t know where they are, so we can’t go gather the data, so the data doesn’t reflect their needs,” says Dimock.

TJACH will submit census data to the federally funded Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) as part of a grant request that could bring $350,000 for three consecutive years. The SAMHSA grant, called Cooperative Agreements to Benefit Homeless Individuals, supports the creation of programs to address mental health issues and substance abuse, problems among the chronic homeless population.

The grant request is a collaboration between TJACH, the City of Charlottesville and Region Ten, a local mental health service provider. Grant money would fund a benefits worker staff position with the City of Charlottesville, two clinicians with Region Ten (one for outreach and one for assessment and programming) and a case manager at The Haven.

While Dimock says the likelihood of receiving the grant is slim, the application has helped clarify the needs for the area homeless population. “We might be in a position to take this sort of programming and try to market it to another funder,” she says.

When empty, the local mosque on 10 1/2 Street is a cozy two-story, 1,550-square-foot home on the edge of the UVA campus. Come time for Friday prayer, however, fitting 150 people comfortably in a 600-square-foot prayer space is a challenge. Many area Muslims are forced to pray outside the building.

Soon, space will cease to be a problem. Just a short drive away, on Pine Street, the Islamic Society of Central Virginia’s (ISCV) new, 10,000-square-foot masjid—the Arabic word for mosque—is under construction. The new, three-story building will feature a main prayer space on the second floor, with space upstairs for Sunday school classes and social purposes. According to Khan Hassan, a member of ISCV’s Board of Trustees, the society serves about 2,000 families from Charlottesville and surrounding counties. While many members are UVA students and faculty, a large number of the members are refugees from Afghanistan, Bosnia, Burma, Ghana and Iraq.

“There are so many ‘ifs’ in question [in construction], but we are very optimistic now and are looking at the next 10 to 12 weeks,” says Hassan.

The history of the new mosque has a few “ifs”—from multiple requests for zoning exemptions to a national political climate that has occasionally turned fears about politically radical Islam into vague anxiety about a religious tradition. Hassan says local interest in a larger prayer space and study center dates back 20 years. UVA architecture students drew the first blueprints for the building and found the lot on Pine Street, which ISCV bought for $44,000 in 1999.

Originally, the mosque was designed with a wall that faces Mecca, called the qiblah wall. However, the wall violated zoning rules, which require a 50′ setback from the side of the property for non-residential buildings. The city’s Board of Zoning Appeals denied ISCV’s application for an exemption in 2006.

“We made the request three times,” says Hassan, a former faculty member at Piedmont Virginia Community College. Each time, ISCV was denied. “We presented other cases from Richmond and other cities where [permits] were routinely granted.” Although disappointed, Hassan says ISCV and the city have “worked so well” together on every other aspect of the project.

Hassan says that raising funds—$1.5 million, to be exact—took a long time and seemed a nearly impossible task. The ISCV organized fundraisers in Northern Virginia and created a website to gather donations, which eventually arrived from Australia, South Africa, China, and beyond. ISCV plans to hold a separate fundraiser to cover the cost of a dome and minaret for the building.

“Our experience has been that, once you commit yourself to the Almighty Allah, the resources came from all over the place,” says Hassan. “Every penny has counted to get us to where we are.”

Despite ISCV’s long interest in the Pine Street location, its presence in the neighborhood remains relatively new. However, Hassan says the society’s relationship with its new neighbors has been nothing but positive. Society members also went door-to-door to explain their project.

“They had to consent for us to be here, put up with the noise, put up with dust,” he says. “Everyone was exceptionally wonderful.”

Many of the adjacent homes are owned by Community Services Housing, Inc., a local nonprofit group that houses mentally handicapped individuals, as well as some with alcohol and drug problems. When it comes to the mosque, Robert Smith, the group’s president, says, “We have never been concerned.” He adds that CSH residents have not reported any negative responses to the ISCV.

Hassan attributes positive local responses to UVA’s presence. “This is a very educated community,” he says. “People are involved in international culture.”

Still, Hassan knows that there are some people who associate the religion solely with its politically radical practitioners, and hopes that the local community and others will learn to understand and cooperate with each other.

“Our beliefs are different, where we come from is different, but we are here with a common purpose,” says Hassan. “To serve…and live in freedom of religion [and] freedom of speech.”

 In both Charlottesville and Albemarle County, the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program last opened three years ago during an intense stretch of the economic recession, then swiftly shut. The city accepted applicants for a mere week, from September 10 to 16, then the waiting list closed, and has remained shut since. Prior to that, Charlottesville last accepted voucher applicants in 2004.

Section 8 is a federal rent subsidy program created to help low-income residents secure safe housing. Residents enrolled in the program—households whose incomes do not exceed 50 percent of the median income, about $32,000 for a family of four—pay 30 percent of their income in rent and utilities. The vouchers pick up the balance.

However, making progress on the list can be slow.

“In the past 12 to 15 months, probably less than 20 people have been assisted, because there has been little turnover in the program,” says Ron White, director of the Albemarle County Department of Housing.

The total number of local units that support Section 8 vouchers is unclear. Many prominent area landlords, such as Woodard Properties and Mallside Forest Apartments, participate in the program and may require voucher recipients to meet an additional layer of eligibility requirements, including credit and background checks.

Randy Bickers, executive director of the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority, says that the majority of the people on the waiting list are not homeless, contrary to popular belief. “Some are with us in public housing and are looking for an alternative,” he says. “Some are probably living with relatives or friends.” In contrast, Bickers said that more homeless individuals apply for public housing, whose waiting list is always open.

Section 8 rental voucher program, by the numbers

Last time waiting list was open:
Charlottesville – 2008
Albemarle – 2008

Number of applicants on the 2008 waiting list:
Charlottesville – about 600
Albemarle – about 700

Number of applicants on the current waiting list:
Charlottesville – 207
Albemarle – about 300

Number of vouchers currently available:
Charlottesville – 371
Albemarle – 429

Number of vouchers currently funded:
Charlottesville – 300
Albemarle – 375

Annual funding for vouchers:
Charlottesville – $2.09 million
Albemarle – about $2.5 million

Isabel Castillo is undocumented and unafraid. When she was 6, she left Mexico for the United States and has been living in Harrisonburg ever since. She graduated magna cum laude from Eastern Mennonite University (EMU) with a degree in social work, but she currently waits tables.

Now 26, Castillo also works tirelessly to lobby Congress to pass the DREAM Act, a piece of legislation that would give immigrants who were brought to the United States at a young age legal status and clear the path for citizenship if they pursue a college degree or enlist in the armed forces. Although it failed to gain enough support to pass last fall, the DREAM Act was reintroduced in Congress for a vote after President Obama’s recent immigration proclamation.

Nationally, about 65,000 undocumented students graduate high schools around the country every year. However, even those who can attend college are often unable to find employment after graduation.

Unlike many undocumented immigrants, Castillo chose to be visible. She founded DREAM Activist Virginia and co-founded the National Immigrant Youth Alliance. She was profiled by the New York Times and is about to receive an honorary doctorate from the University of San Francisco.

“It was really after I graduated from EMU that I decided to share my story and be more open about it,” Castillo told an audience at a workshop hosted by Creciendo Juntos, a local network of agencies that serves the Latino population in both the city and county.

According to the most recent census numbers, the Latino population in Virginia increased 92 percent in just 10 years. Locally, the increase was even greater. In Charlottesville, the Latino population increased 100 percent, while the population in Albemarle rose a hefty 260 percent. The Latino population represents 5.1 percent of the city population and 5.4 percent of the county population.

Currently, undocumented students can apply to colleges throughout the country, but pay out-of-state tuition. In Virginia, some state colleges require proof of citizenship at the time of admission and won’t admit those without. During the past General Assembly session, a number of anti-immigrant bills were introduced, including efforts to ban undocumented students from attending state colleges and universities.

Fortunately, says Castillo, “we were able to stop many of these bills.” Castillo also addressed Governor Bob McDonnell during a town hall meeting last year. She asked if he would support the DREAM Act. “We are talking about people who are already here, who have been here all their lives and are good citizens, but he said no,” she says.

Andrew Modlin, executive director of enrollment management for Mary Baldwin College, said that the only time the legal status of a student is a factor is in the financial aid office. “What we are trying to do is work with students the best we can,” he told the Creciendo Juntos audience. “Our communities are dependent upon a wide variety of different students, [and] are very dependent upon the personalities that are coming through our door. We want to make it possible for them to be there.”

At its most recent meeting, City Council voted to authorize condemnation proceedings to secure a section of the $30 million Hillsdale Drive Extended project between Kmart and what will soon be a new Whole Foods grocery store. The southernmost portion of the road, which intersects Hydraulic Road, is part of a larger extension meant to alleviate congestion on Route 29N.

Eminent domain—the seizure of private property for public use—has been used sparingly by City Council to acquire properties. However, City Attorney Craig Brown told Council that eminent domain was justifiable in this instance because the Hillsdale extension has already been built, and is a “high transportation priority for the city.”

Councilor Satyendra Huja, who supported the resolution, said that Hillsdale is an “important artery that benefits the city” and noted that “it’s important that we do this.” Vice Mayor Holly Edwards, however, said she didn’t “feel comfortable with condemnation proceedings.”

Hillsdale Drive was built by Meadowbrook Creek, LLC—also the developer of the Whole Foods store—with $2 million provided through the Charlottesville Economic Development Authority. In exchange for the city funding, Meadowbrook Creek was slated to dedicate Hillsdale Drive Extended to the city as a right-of-way—which, said Brown, the developer was willing to do.

But last spring, Kmart Corporation filed a lawsuit against Meadowbrook Creek that claimed construction of the grocery store and Hillsdale Drive Extended occurred within the boundaries of Kmart’s property, and thus breached the lease agreement between the two companies. The 1991 lease states that the landlord, Meadowbrook Creek, “will not erect any buildings or other structures on the land.” Alan Taylor, a vice president at Meadowbrook parent company River Bend Management, previously told C-VILLE that Kmart’s claims were “unfounded,” and did not return a request for comment by press time. River Bend Management is the real estate company of developer and Dave Matthews Band manager Coran Capshaw.

Ultimately, Charlottesville Circuit Court Judge Edward Hogshire denied the injunction to stop construction. Kmart attorney Miles Dumville says a damages lawsuit against Meadowbrook is still pending. “Currently there is no trial date, and the parties are trying to work things out by agreed resolution, but that hasn’t happened yet,” he tells C-VILLE.

Brown says Meadowbrook Creek offered to purchase the portion of the land within Kmart’s lease, but was unsuccessful. According to Brown, while the portion was appraised at $19,991, Meadowbrook made an initial $20,000 offer. When Kmart didn’t respond, Meadowbrook offered $25,000. Due to litigation between the two businesses, the City of Charlottesville stepped in and made the same offer, a legal requirement for condemnation proceedings.

Brown says Kmart acknowledged receipt of the offer on April 26, but has yet to respond. The city will file a petition for condemnation in the next 10 days. To pay for condemnation proceedings, the city is planning to use some of the $2 million it agreed to give Meadowbrook Creek