For homeless people such as David Burnett, a heavy snowfall is something to be endured, not cherished. “You pretty much just try to get ready for it,“ Burnett said. “Get your little clothes ready, all your gear.“ But the Freedom House Conrad Center, a feeding center for the homeless and working poor, made life a little easier for Burnett and others.

Attorney General-elect Ken Cuccinelli yesterday pledged $100,000 from his inauguration fundraising effort to the Daily Planet, a Richmond-based nonprofit organization that provides medical and mental-health services to the homeless. Cuccinelli announced the pledge at Daily Planet headquarters on Grace Street in Richmond to raise awareness of mental-health issues and promote efforts to revamp some mental-health laws that he says make the system more costly, more difficult to navigate and less effective at treating the mentally disabled.

The cold snap is getting worse. A blast of arctic air was expected to bring light snow last night, and hundreds of people, mostly homeless, slept in shelters as the temperature dipped toward the upper 20s. Today through Sunday should feature highs in the mid-30s and lows in the upper teens before a slight warming trend begins Monday, the National Weather Service said.

WAYNESBORO—After a Staunton mission helped them in their time of need, two men are giving the facility a boost by working at its new thrift store in Waynesboro. The Valley Mission Thrift Store sells donated clothing to support the Valley Mission, where Marshall Powell and Jeffrey Brooks recently spent time while unemployed. Powell, who now lives in Staunton, said the Valley Mission was there for him from October to December.

It was the kind of night—with those heavy, fat raindrops on the edge of freezing—when it is good to be inside, in a warm church hall, with a cot and blankets waiting. It was the kind of ordinary night in Richmond when volunteers organized through the CARITAS network—last night, a group from the Virginia Muslim Coalition—were bustling around in a church kitchen preparing a hot supper for 40 fellow Richmond-area residents down on their luck and without a place of their own to fix a meal.

Joey Monroe calls himself a survivor. The U.S. Marine Corps veteran has survived since August without a permanent roof over his head, and he understands the consequences of living on the streets. “Anything could have happened to me in the street,“ he said. “I could have ended up dead in the street.“

Hundreds of the Richmond area’s homeless population turned out today for Homeward’s third annual Project Homeless Connect at the Greater Richmond Convention Center.

The economy may be improving, but many people continue to seek help through the Central Virginia Foodbank. Hot-line calls increased 50 percent over the previous year—from 2,834 to 4,281 people—in the quarter that ended Sept. 30.

Homelessness in the Richmond area increased 11 percent from last summer, according to a count conducted last month. According to figures released yesterday by the Richmond-based advocacy group Homeward, there were 1,061 homeless people living in metropolitan Richmond on July 23, compared with 958 on July 24, 2008. Meanwhile, the number of homeless children increased slightly and the area’s unsheltered population decreased. The homeless figures include Richmond and the counties of Chesterfield, Henrico, Hanover, New Kent, Powhatan, Charles City and Goochland.

A homeless Richmond soccer player is among those being considered for a chance to represent the U.S. in the Homeless World Cup next month in Italy. Paul Bigstaff transformed an appearance at the Street Soccer USA Cup in Washington into a chance of playing on the international stage. Bigstaff was chosen Sunday to be included in the pool of players available to represent the United States in the Homeless World Cup in Milan, Sept. 6-13.

It wasn’t all about winning during a four-day escape from a life of homelessness. The fourth annual Street Soccer USA Cup, a weekend-long soccer tournament in Washington, offered eight Richmond homeless men an opportunity to leave their makeshift homes—under a bridge, in a car or in a shelter—to find camaraderie in competition. For the Richmond Rebels, the national tournament in the nation’s capital was their Super Bowl and NCAA basketball championship rolled into one event, said Sheron Teal, 33, a lifelong Richmonder who lives in his car.

Twice a week they come from shelters, beneath bridges and the cars in which they sleep to forget their troubles, if only for an hour. Ranging in age from 19 to 58, they run drills, scrimmage, talk a little trash and generally have a good time. They include chefs, electricians and philosophers. They are the Rebels, Richmond’s homeless soccer team.

Virginia awarded more than $1.1 million in grants yesterday to 12 nonprofit organizations that provide shelter and child services to the homeless in the Richmond and Petersburg areas. The grants were among about $9 million made to 120 homeless shelters around the state. The money includes state funds for shelter programs and federal funds for emergency shelter grants, as well as money for coordinating services for children in shelters or transitional housing.

Virginia awarded more than $1.1 million in grants today to 12 non-profit organizations that provide shelter and child services to the homeless in the Richmond and Petersburg areas. The grants were among about $9 million made to 120 homeless shelters around the state. The money includes state funds for shelter programs and federal funds for emergency shelter grants, as well as money for coordinating services for children in shelters or transitional housing.

A man was beaten in the head with a hammer and gravely wounded in an attack at a homeless camp in South Richmond. Richmond police Capt. Paul Kiniry said the 49-year-old victim was taken to VCU Medical Center after Tuesday’s 11:37 p.m. attack, and he underwent a surgery that lasted well into yesterday morning. “He’s got really severe head injuries,“ Kiniry said.