Connect passion and solutions

The number of homeless children in the Richmond region is up and no one is really surprised. It's the economy, of course.

While there are some significant differences in our regional data on homelessness released last week, our 2011 numbers are pretty similar to our 2010 numbers. In fact, since 2007, the total number of people experiencing homelessness on any given day hasn't changed all that much.

The similarity in annual data over time camouflages a radical and powerful transformation of our community's response to homelessness since 2007.

In January 2008, our community launched a regional strategic plan to prevent and end homelessness. We know that people will always lose their housing because of a job loss, mental health crisis, foreclosure, bad breakup, death of a family member or other hardship. What do we mean when we talk about ending homelessness?

For people in crisis, ending homelessness means that families with no support network have a place to go when crisis hits. These families now get the assistance they need to move out of shelters and into housing as quickly as possible.

Ending homelessness means that single adults with disabilities are connected to mental health services or join a recovery group. These individuals can now tackle the underlying issues that led to homelessness in the first place.

Ending homelessness means that those re-entering our community after incarceration have the opportunity to become productive citizens again.

Ending homelessness means that we prevent the loss of housing through targeted financial assistance, job training, or budgeting classes before tough times lead to evictions, foreclosures or homelessness.

As a community, ending homelessness means that our region has a coordinated network of services that can help people return to stable housing as quickly as possible.

Concretely, this means that there are more affordable rental units for people with disabilities who are trying to exit homelessness. There are more case managers working with landlords to give people a second chance. There are more families moving into affordable housing properties throughout the region. There are more men being set up for success after a lifetime of addiction and long periods of homelessness. There are stronger community partnerships with more agencies involved in the effort to prevent and end homelessness.

Homelessness still matters because, despite recent successes, more of our neighbors lack a very basic necessity. In 2010, 17 people died in the Richmond region while homeless or soon after exiting homelessness. Dozens of homeless veterans still live outdoors. Hundreds more single adults are struggling with addiction or chronic medical issues. In addition to the 160 children in shelters tonight, thousands more children have been identified by local school systems as unstably housed and face an increased risk for falling behind and dropping out.

What's different now is that we understand that homelessness is a matter of life, death and a promising future — and that homelessness is solvable.

Thousands of individuals and families in our community are formerly homeless. Our community has collaborated to design the programs and services that make these successes possible.

More and more public and private agencies are coming to the table to understand what contributes to the crisis of homelessness and to do something about it. We are building the political will and the practical know-how to end homelessness in our community.

Yes, we have more work to do. You can be a part of this exciting community transformation to restore hope and dignity to our most vulnerable neighbors:

• Fund programs working to prevent and end homelessness. For a list of partners included in the twice-yearly homeless surveys, please visit www.homewardva.org. For comprehensive information on local nonprofits, please visit www.giverichmond.org.

• Volunteer. Call 2-1-1 or visit www.handsongr.org for upcoming volunteer opportunities and ongoing needs.

• If you have a rental property that could help a family or an individual exit homelessness, list it for free at www.virginiahousingsearch.com.

• Learn more. Invite a speaker to your congregation, civic group or other gathering.

The numbers of people experiencing homelessness in our community may not surprise us. This doesn't mean we should stop trying to change the story for the men, women and children who don't have a place to call home.

Homeward's mission is to identify and fill gaps in the community's network of services, to transform how services are provided and to engage new partners in this work. Join us in connecting compassion to solutions.