Virginia Homeless Rates Continue to Drop

Virginia’s overall homeless rate fell 16 percent over the last three years, as did rates of homeless families and veterans.

Gov. Bob McDonnell announced the drop this week, noting that it exceeded goals set early in his administration to decrease the homeless rate by 15 percent.

“A focus on this important effort, and shifting some resources from shelters to rapid re-housing, has led to more Virginians living in safe, stable homes,” McDonnell said in a statement. “More Virginians today have a place to call home, and that is great news for them and for our entire Commonwealth.”

Along with the 16-percent drop in overall homelessness, the rate of homeless families in the Commonwealth fell by 17 percent over the same period from 2010 to 2013.

And the rate of homeless veterans dropped by 18 percent over that time.

Soon after taking office in 2010, McDonnell issued an executive order on housing strategies, establishing an advisory committee that set up the goal to reduce homelessness by 2013.

But there’s still much work to be done.

“Despite this tremendous progress, we still have much work to do, and that’s why our efforts to further reduce homelessness across Virginia will only increase moving forward,” McDonnell said. “Our work will not be done until all Virginians have a home.”

According to data reported to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the number of homeless people in the Commonwealth fell from about 9,000 in 2010 to about 7,600 in 2013.

In Fairfax County, homeless populations are also declining.

According to the annual point-in-time survey from the Fairfax-Falls Church Community Partnership to End Homelessness, the number of homeless people in the county has decreased by 184, from 1,534 in 2012 to 1,350 in 2013. The number of homeless has also decreased by 463 since 2007, down from 1,813.

Kerrie Wilson, CEO of Reston Interfaith says the overall decrease in Virginia and in Fairfax County is good news, but organizations that aid that population continue to face challenges.

"The decrease in overall homelessness in Virginia and Fairfax County from 2010-2013 is good news, but was achieved largely through the investment of federal stimulus funds to rapidly re-house homeless persons and prevent evictions during the worst of the economic downturn," she says 

 "That was one-time funding and now the loss of federal housing vouchers due to sequestration significantly impacts Virginia’s ability to sustain this reduction for individuals, veterans and families with children, putting them at risk once again.  Achieving the Governor’s vision of 'all Virginians having a home' will require a dedicated and sustained investment at the state and local levels to build and subsidize affordable housing for our most vulnerable neighbors."  

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