Charlottesville has long had a population of people living on the streets and in parks, but this summer the situation was even more visible, with an encampment of as many as 70 tents along the Rivanna River. After reports of two alleged rapes, the death of one resident and a tent burning down, the city has stepped in, and there’s a flurry of activity.
Charlottesville had already purchased a vacant office building along the 250 bypass with plans to create an overnight shelter, but renovations were expected to cost $8.6 million and had not begun. Last night, assistant city manager Samuel Roman told city council it would quickly be converted into an emergency residence.
“We are actually shooting for September first. That is our goal," he said. "We are working feverishly to try to make that happen, and at this point we are optimistic.”
RadioIQ stopped by the site on Monday. Nothing was going on, but the city said it has an architect and would hire a third party to manage the place. Human Services Director Misty Graves says the city is staffing up.
“The Department of Human Services will be expanding to include one program manager and also two homelessness outreach specialists," she explained.
It’s also hiring a contractor to run the new shelter. Meanwhile, Graves says, volunteers are helping to connect 58 people living by the rvier to existing services – following-up each day to ensure they get help.
“Because folks that are out there have been disappointed and discouraged by what things have been offered them before. This is something different, and we’re here so that folks don’t fall thru the cracks.”:
Council member Michael Payne said he’d been getting e-mails from businesses nearby – concerned about how the shelter would be run.
“I know anything we might do at Holiday Drive will be very structured and intentional, with case management, 24/7 staffing. Some people maybe are not seeing that yet," he said. "They have the impression of, ‘Oh the city will just tell people to go into the structure, and then there will be no staffing or planning. Obviously, that’s something we would never do.”
Officials from the city, religious leaders and volunteers from UVA’s medical and nursing schools have visited the encampment and are talking with residents about where they can go next and helping them find services. An unknown number have already left, and the city has hired a contractor to clean up when the tent city is cleared on or around September first.
