Virginia housing groups look to 2025 for legislative, funding solutions

The number of Virginians who are unhoused has been on the rise, according to various data sources. A report from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development showed that in 2023, roughly 7.8 per 10,000 people in Virginia were experiencing homelessness. Recent point-in-time counts in the greater Richmond area showed an increase in unhoused citizens over the past year.

While localized data can point to particular spikes in unhoused populations it doesn’t encompass all types of housing crises people can face, or truly capture how many people experience homelessness over time.

Laura Dobbs, a policy analyst with Housing Opportunities Made Equal, noted that someone might technically be homeless for only a few months, as opposed to someone more permanently unhoused who lives on streets, in parks or in shelters. But their temporary status is “still traumatic,” she stressed, and can still take time to financially and emotionally recover from.

“There’s a lot of people that whether they live in a hotel or they’re couch surfing or splitting their kids between different family members — they may only be homeless for three months, but it’s still an unstable three months,” Dobbs said. “Those people might not get captured in a point-in-time count, but they still need services to help them regain stability.”

It’s why her organization and others support state legislation aimed at helping to reduce or prevent evictions as well as broader efforts to increase housing stock and affordability. And of course, continued funding for organizations that work directly with those who are experiencing homelessness is a continuing need, she said.

“Solving the housing crisis is primarily local through things like zoning and planning, but the state can incentivize things,” said Homeward executive director Kelly King Horne. Her organization is part of the Greater Richmond Continuum of Care — a consortium of groups working to prevent and reduce homelessness. Various organizations around Virginia coordinate on this work as well.

A report published last month found that Greater Richmond Continuum of Care agencies encountered over 7,500 people seeking assistance within fiscal year 2024, ranging from emergency shelter requests to needing assistance to stay in their homes.

Other Richmond-area efforts have been underway over the last year as well. This past June, people were able to move into Cool Lane Commons, an 86-unit supportive housing apartment in Henrico County. The project stemmed from collaboration of local governments and organizations.

“With a new (Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority) policy approved by HUD, the GRCoC Coordinated Entry System can make referrals directly to projects like this,” the continuum’s latest report stated.

This past October the City of Richmond also opened its Office of Homeless Services on Chamberlayne Avenue. For people who lack a phone or computer, the center is a face-to-face option for connections to various regional housing resources.

For those in need of shelter, however, a mens’ and veterans’ shelter on Grace St. plans to close by the end of the year due to funding challenges. This knowledge, paired with a recent Richmond city council vote to allocate $2 million to a new animal shelter, inspired Virginia’s NAACP housing chair Tracey Hardney-Scott to voice concern.

“We can’t be saying that animals would take precedence over people,” she said.

Hardney-Scott hopes to see a boost in funding that can be earmarked specifically for shelters.

Legislative proposals

Isabel McLain with the Virginia Housing Alliance said that her organization will press lawmakers on funding for housing efforts in their next revision of the state budget. Examples include funding that can go towards rapid rehousing efforts and operational funding for organizations that work with unhoused or vulnerable residents. It will also support efforts to assist people before they experience homelessness.

Virginia Housing Alliance will also be supportive of programs that can help prevent displacement, such as a proposal called “5,000 Families.”

Carried last year by Del. Carrie Coyner, R-Chesterfield and Sen. Ghazala Hashmi, D-Chesterfield, the initiative failed to make it into the most recent state budget. If implemented, the program would provide rental relief to certain families with school-age children to prevent displacement during academic years.

Something Dobbs said she’ll be watching for is anti-rent gouging legislation. Earlier this year, Sen. Jennifer Boysko, D-Fairfax carried a bill that would allow localities to set their own provisions that would require landlords to give two months’ written notice ahead of rent increases. It would also set certain parameters of what the increases could be.

Hardney-Scott said that her organization is in conversation with legislators about which specific bills may be introduced or reintroduced next year. Like McLain, a revival of Boysko’s bill is something she plans to keep watch for.

A bill that could get another shot at becoming law may be one the legislature already approved: Senate Bill 597 from Sen. Jeremy McPike, D-Prince William, would have allowed more Virginia localities to craft zoning ordinances to encourage affordable housing by using special federal tax credits. Despite Democrat House and Democrat Senate approval, Gov. Glenn Youngkin vetoed the bill.

While Hardney-Scott engages with legal and nonprofit organizations and lawmakers, she hopes to see more widespread discussion of the role housing plays in peoples’ lives and communities.

“We’re not having enough conversations about how (housing struggles) affect health and education or contribute to crime,” Hardney-Scott said. “Housing is the one thing that everybody needs.”