A campaign to provide permanent housing for Virginians who are most likely to die while homeless is kicking off this week in Richmond.
The 1,000 Homes for 1,000 Virginians initiative calls for the creation of a registry of homeless individuals in Richmond and other communities throughout the state.
The registry will highlight people with chronic medical conditions and include their photograph and health information. The idea is to help service providers identify individuals who may have the greatest need to be placed in permanent housing, according to organizers with Homeward and Virginia Supportive Housing.
Homeward, a nonprofit coordinating agency of homeless services for the Richmond area, conducts counts of the region's homeless population twice per year, but it has avoided asking for names and taking photographs, and it has limited its health-related questions.
The registry project is "more personal and really, for the first time, articulating the urgency," said Kelly King Horne, executive director of Homeward.
The registry project will be coordinated with Homeward's count this summer and is "really putting a face on homelessness," said Heather Orrock, development director of the nonprofit Virginia Supportive Housing.
Last year, 17 people in the Richmond area died while experiencing homelessness or soon afterward, Horne said.
The region has 1,102 homeless residents, including 159 children, according to Homeward's count in late January. Of the total, 48 percent reported a long-term disability. Advocates cite research that concludes that a homeless person is three to four times more likely to die prematurely than an average American.
Local organizers of the 1,000 Homes campaign are meeting with community leaders Friday to start planning this summer's data-collection effort. A total of 100 to 200 volunteers are expected to be needed.
"Homeward and Virginia Supportive Housing are partners on this, but it's going to take a community to make this happen," Orrock said.
Horne said she believes the area's homeless residents will participate in the registry if its purpose is articulated and the interviews are handled with sensitivity. For its surveys, Homeward regularly gets response rates of about 70 percent, she said.
The 1,000 Homes for 1,000 Virginians is being led by the Virginia Coalition to End Homelessness and is part of the national 100,000 Homes Campaign. The national effort aims to find homes for 100,000 homeless Americans by July 2013.
(804) 649-6911
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement