Tag: Thomas Jefferson Area Coalition for the Homeless

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Thanks to a $4.25 million grant from the Charlottesville Area Community Foundation, the Piedmont Housing Alliance was able to renovate dozens of rooms (shown before and after, above) at the former Red Carpet Inn, which is now home to 68 people. Photo: Eze Amos

After months of paying for hotel rooms for people experiencing homelessness during the COVID-19 pandemic, PACEM and the Thomas Jefferson Area Coalition for the Homeless were in desperate search of a long-term housing solution. When the Red Carpet Inn off Route 29 in Albemarle County was put up for sale last summer, the nonprofits believed they could transform the 40-year-old rundown motel into the permanent emergency shelter they needed.

Thanks to a $4.25 million grant from the Charlottesville Area Community Foundation, the Piedmont Housing Alliance purchased the property in March, and got to work renovating the rooms, which were in varying stages of disrepair. In May, the low-barrier shelter finally opened its doors to all people experiencing homelessness, prioritizing those who are at high risk of becoming severely ill and dying if they contract coronavirus. Since then, it has provided shelter to around 100 people.

Now, the shelter is at capacity, according to PACEM and TJACH, who manage the property together. Sixty-eight people—including a few couples—are currently living in 63 of the former motel’s renovated rooms. Though there are 10 additional renovated rooms, they are not being used right now, due to maintenance issues.

The nonprofits plan to upgrade the remaining 36 unrenovated rooms, so the shelter will have over 100 rooms available for guests. But first, they need to raise about $300,000 for the project. 

“There was extensive mold growth in particular in all of the rooms, so we had to strip the wallpaper and professionally clean the walls to make sure the growth was stopped,” says TJACH Executive Director Anthony Haro of the renovations. “And we did basically the same thing for the carpets—they were all removed and replaced.”

The renovation team also had to replace many of the motel’s HVAC units, and fix some electrical and plumbing issues.

Over the past six months, “there have needed to be regular fixes,” adds PACEM Executive Director Jayson Whitehead. “I don’t think we foresaw just how big the property management piece was going to be.”

Despite these challenges, guests have been “really enjoying” the shelter, says Whitehead. In addition to having their own room, all guests receive intensive case management services, along with food, clothing, and other necessities. They are also connected to a variety of community resources, including employment assistance, mental health services, substance abuse treatment, and medical care.  

“It’s pretty neat to always see the sense of community that’s developed over here,” says Whitehead. “Everybody has neighbors, and they’ve formed friendships and bonds. That’s the case even with staff and guests.”

“We have regular offerings from Project ID…and there’s a regular UVA health clinic on site weekly,” he adds. “There’s a lot of really directly addressing either health issues or housing barriers.”

Since the Supreme Court ruled against the Biden administration’s federal eviction moratorium extension in August, concern over evictions has heightened across the country. However, TJACH has not seen a local increase in homelessness due to evictions recently, largely thanks to the Virginia Rent Relief Program, says Haro.

Still, to ensure no one has to sleep on the streets during the cold winter months, PACEM will set up its annual temporary congregate shelters at local churches, starting November 6. Meanwhile, TJACH will pay for hotel rooms for high-risk individuals, if they are unable to stay at the shelter at the former Red Carpet Inn.

“To date, there have been no [COVID] outbreaks in our shelter system…which is very much tied to our ability to have private rooms for people,” adds Haro.

The housing advocates have even bigger plans for the former motel in the future: tackling Charlottesville’s affordable housing crisis. Virginia Supportive Housing recently received low-income tax credit awards to build 80 permanent housing units at the site, which will be available to disabled individuals who chronically struggle with homelessness. The project is expected to be completed in 2024.

The Piedmont Housing Alliance will also build 60 affordable housing units—to be rented for no more than 30 percent of the gross income of future residents—on the property. 

In addition to financial support from the community, PACEM and TJACH need additional volunteers to help with various tasks at the new shelter, like landscaping and laundry. 

And as Charlottesville’s Future Land Use Map and Comprehensive Plan wait for approval from City Council, Haro and Whitehead hope the community will not only advocate for affordable housing development, but also assist in bringing it to fruition.

“It’s how people get out of shelter,” says Haro. “They need a safe and affordable place to move into, and that’s really hard to come by today.”

“We need more than the 80 units of permanent supportive housing and 60 affordable ones—we need 10 times that probably for our community,” he adds.

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Pandemic pivot: How local nonprofits have adjusted to strange times

The Front Porch’s Emily Morrison says a lot more adults have taken online music lessons during the pandemic. PC: Amy Jackson

“When the pandemic set in, it rendered our model impossible,” says Jayson Whitehead, executive director of PACEM, a local nonprofit that partners with area houses of worship to offer overnight shelter and meals for the homeless during the winter. Close contact in church buildings became unsafe. So did the buffet dinners served by congregation volunteers. “That interaction was a big part of our service,” Whitehead says. “It’s a big deal [for our clients], to be greeted and served by a smiling face.”

Big shake-ups have been the story for nonprofits all over town. And every organization serves a different community with unique needs, meaning each one has been forced to adapt in its own way.

For PACEM, that meant using the city’s Key Recreation Center as a temporary men’s shelter. Then, federal COVID support enabled the organization to tap local hotels to shelter women and the medically vulnerable, overseen by the Thomas Jefferson Area Coalition for the Homeless. Still, Whitehead notes, “the pandemic cut our capacity to offer shelter in half.” As restrictions eased, PACEM has resumed working with eight of its former 30 church partners, incorporating professional cleaning and prepackaged meals instead of buffet dinners. While the organization’s annual fundraising event had to be canceled, Whitehead has seen increased support from long-standing donors and faith-based partners. “We live in a pretty amazing community,” he says.

Elsewhere, the Sexual Assault Resource Agency quickly pivoted to offer teletherapy for its clients, as well as redesigning its sexual violence prevention programs for schools to use online, says interim executive director Renee Branson. Normally, SARA’s on-call emergency room advocates would support survivors in person, but since that’s not possible now, they work remotely and in close coordination with ER nurses to connect survivors with support. Branson knows many clients “may have less reliable [internet] access, so we also offer support by phone or drop off materials at their homes.” With both its annual fundraisers—Walk A Mile for SARA in April and its November Community Breakfast awards banquet—canceled, SARA launched an online auction during Giving Tuesday on December 1.

Renee Branson, interim executive director of the Sexual Assault Resource Agency, says the center has taken a number of steps to adapt to life with the virus. PC: Zack Wajsgras

Pre-COVID, the Charlottesville staff of Project ID visited the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail weekly to help inmates due for release get the identification (birth certificate, driver’s license, or DMV-issued ID) needed to apply for housing, social services, and jobs. “We’d see four to 12 people a week, and a DMV representative came in once a month,” says co-chapter lead DeAun Sanders. “Now we have to do all that by phone, even walking them through online applications. But many of them don’t have computers, or smartphones.” The group used to have office hours at the Jefferson School and public libraries, which made assistance and online access available for the city’s underserved and homeless, but that’s been curtailed by pandemic restrictions. Luckily, though, since Project ID also facilitates voter registration as part of national organization Spread the Vote, money hasn’t been an issue in this hyperactive election year.

Many Sentara women’s health and breast cancer programs receive funding from the Martha Jefferson Hospital Foundation’s Women’s Committee, best known for running Martha’s Market. But a three-day event with 40 vendors and hundreds of shoppers was impossible this year, so the committee went virtual—with an added twist of incorporating local businesses. “We didn’t expect to make as much money,” notes chair Amy Nolasco, “but we wanted to continue the event and support our health community.” The committee’s squash tournament fundraiser had to be scrapped, but the annual In the Pink tennis tournament went ahead—with COVID adaptations. “Usually we ask local small businesses to provide the prizes, as a promotion,” says Nolasco, “but we knew they couldn’t this year, so we bought their gift cards as prizes instead.”

Like other educational organizations, Literacy Volunteers of Charlottesville/Albemarle had to take its tutoring activities and citizenship classes online. Executive Director Ellen Osborne says there’s been some upside: tutor training—formerly a full day and in person—is now several shorter online sessions, making it easier for some people to participate. (They’ve even had a few trainees from outside Virginia—which works, since tutors and students now meet virtually.) And, since online sessions mean no commute and no need for a sitter, LVCA’s citizenship classes are booming. Literary Volunteers had to cancel this year’s Wordplay, its big game-show fundraising event, which usually nets about $20,000. “It’s hard to make up that kind of money,” says Osborne, “but all our sponsors are carrying over their fees until next time.”

The Front Porch, a nonprofit community music school, has gone all virtual until fall 2021. “We’ve lost many of our children—they are spending so much time online now,” says Executive Director Emily Morrison, “but we have seen a lot more adults, and a lot more private students over group lessons—one of our teachers has students from New York, Illinois, Florida, even Alaska.” Building community is part of The Front Porch’s mission, “and the pandemic has cramped that,” says Morrison; on the other hand, its Save the Music livestreamed performances have supported local musicians and generated donations for area nonprofits. Its spring block party and fall square dance are on hold, but Morrison says, “We’ve had a banner fundraising year, largely on gifts from $10 to $100—in this scary and divisive time, people have really stepped up to support our local nonprofits.”

Price Thomas, director of marketing for United Way of Greater Charlottesville, agrees: “People see the effects on their neighbors, and have been very generous, especially toward pandemic effects and recovery,” he says. United Way has been able to hold many of its donor and community events online, but while virtual accommodates more people, Thomas notes, it lacks that all-important personal contact. “Our focus is staying connected with people and with our community.”

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Coronavirus News

Unsettled: The Haven, PACEM face challenges housing guests during the pandemic

PACEM’s Women’s Case Manager Heather Kellams asks for donations of arts and crafts supplies, games, books, and other “enriching activities” for those who are currently being housed in a hotel. PC: Eze Amos

As the number of coronavirus cases continue to rise in our area, life has become increasingly dangerous for those who do not have a place to call home. To protect these vulnerable community members, local shelters have pivoted from their usual operations and redoubled their efforts over the past several months—but not without challenges.

For months, these organizations have been scrambling to find housing for people who need it.

In March, People and Congregations Engaged in Ministry, or PACEM, which works with local community groups to provide shelter for the homeless, began housing women at The Haven and men at Key Recreation Center.

In late April, the Thomas Jefferson Area Coalition for the Homeless was able to secure funding for 30 rooms at a local hotel. All six of the women housed at The Haven, and about a dozen men from Key Rec, were transferred there.

The rest of the men, however, had to remain in a group setting, because the hotel rooms were reserved only for high-risk individuals, according to Jayson Whitehead, executive director of PACEM.

PACEM then managed to set up another women’s shelter at Thomas Jefferson Memorial Church in May. And once TJACH reserved 20 more rooms at the hotel the following month, these women were also transferred there, along with the men who were staying at Key Rec, regardless of their risk status.

But PACEM is no longer able to take in guests who aren’t high-risk, due to the limited number of hotel rooms available.

“Everyone who was in the congregate setting, whether they were women or men, did have a place in the hotel,” says Stephen Hitchcock, The Haven’s executive director. “That’s not the case now. If someone is experiencing homelessness, but is not [high risk], given their age or medical vulnerability, they do not have an emergency option [with us].”

Those who are not high risk can go to The Salvation Army shelter, he says. It’s often at capacity, though, and is currently unable to accept new guests, thanks to recent state restrictions.

In the spring, as a response to the economic fallout caused by the pandemic, Governor Ralph Northam and the Supreme Court of Virginia ordered a moratorium on evictions. On June 29, that moratorium was lifted, causing concern among advocates for the unhoused. Northam and the state supreme court reinstated the eviction ban on August 7, but in July, over 15,000 eviction hearings were heard in court, and more than 3,000 families were evicted across Virginia, according to the Legal Aid Justice Center.

From July 1 to August 7, landlords brought 73 unique eviction cases against Albemarle County renters and 57 cases against Charlottesville renters. Of those 130 cases, 28 have already been decided against the tenants, and dozens more remain on the docket in coming weeks.

However, Anthony Haro, executive director of TJACH, says it is “too early to say” if there’s been an increase in homelessness due to lifting the moratorium.

“I don’t think we’ve really seen it yet…we are anticipating it,” says Haro. “[But] there are programs that are stepping up to keep people in housing.”

The state is currently running a rent and mortgage relief program, which has about “$2 million available locally to help families facing eviction,” says Haro. “It’s been very, very busy. There’s lots of people reaching out right now…It’s not going to meet all of the need, but we’re hoping that it’s going to prevent a lot of those evictions that we are anticipating.”

The Community Resource Helpline, Charlottesville Housing RELIEF Fund, Alliance for Interfaith Ministries, and Charlottesville Housing Assistance Program are also providing relief to residents in Charlottesville, and surrounding counties.

For the guests it is able to house at the hotel, PACEM provides a variety of services, including daily meals, group therapy, and weekly checkups (performed by UVA medical students). Staff also sets up and brings guests to doctor’s appointments, which are covered by TJACH.

Due to the extensive health and safety measures both staff and guests have taken, there have been no COVID-19 cases among those at the hotel, according to PACEM’s Women’s Case Manager Heather Kellams.

“The women have said that, being at the hotel, they feel much safer. They feel that their mental and physical health needs are being met in this setting,” she says. “They have a chance to be more grounded, so that they can really look at their goals…and work on becoming more stabilized.”

Kellams says that guests are “really bored,” though, and she’s asking for donations of arts and crafts supplies, games, books, and other “enriching activities” to keep them occupied.

“Somebody could come in and cut their hair while wearing masks,” she adds. “Those are the kind of things that would really be helpful.”

The Haven and PACEM ultimately hope to transition guests to permanent housing, using the thousands of dollars in donations they’ve received. But the pandemic has made this more challenging than ever.

“We have a lot of dollars to house people. There’s just not affordable housing available,” says Hitchcock. “A lot of landlords are very skittish right now…They’re waiting to see what UVA does, and what it means for students to come back. They’ve got students in leases generally from August to August, and that directly affects us—that’s the affordable housing.”

“It’s been ironic to be heavily resourced financially but with a dearth of affordable housing,” he adds. “We’ve always had this affordable housing issue, but it’s acutely the case right now.”

When the pandemic does finally come to an end, Hitchcock is hopeful there will be an even greater push for affordable housing in Charlottesville.

“It feels like the general public is beginning to understand that homelessness is at its root a housing crisis,” he says. “And what is being amplified is that housing is health care. Everyone being safe—including folks who are extremely poor or housing insecure—is public safety.”

Updated 8/12