COVID-19 Weekly Briefing: March 27, 2020 

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread in our region, all of us face new challenges and uncertainty. People experiencing homelessness are among our most vulnerable neighbors and need our assistance. Fortunately, Homeward and our extensive network of partners in the Greater Richmond Continuum of Care (GRCoC) have worked tirelessly in recent weeks to find support and shelter for over 100 people who had been sleeping outside in crowded conditions and supporting an additional 330 people experiencing homelessness in Central Virginia. Following guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Housing and Urban Development, we prioritized assistance for those experiencing homelessness who lived in close proximity to another and those not connected to the coordinated network of service and professional resources.
 
This herculean effort and impressive results are a testament to the power of collaboration in our region.
 
Four Crucial Updates You Need to Know
 

• Shelter Support: Our region’s shelters will need additional operational support and this is our first priority. They and our outreach team are on the front lines serving some of the most vulnerable members of our community.
• Additional Shelter and Program Capacity: The City of Richmond has provided short-term emergency shelter alternatives for high-risk unsheltered individuals. GRCoC is actively working to identify longer-term shelter and program support options for these individuals, many of whom are high need.
• Housing Needs: Given the economic turbulence and so many businesses closing or laying off employees, we anticipate that people will continue to lose their housing, so our region will need to work to identify additional beds and support.
• COVID-19 Shelter: Homeward is working with our partners to develop a COVID-19 isolation/recovery resource for people experiencing homelessness who are symptomatic but not in need of hospitalization.

• High Risk Shelter: We’re exploring the idea of a shelter for “high risk” individuals in our region, including those who are over 65 and have chronic health conditions but have not tested positive for COVID-19.
• Funding Support: GRCoC needs additional public and private funding to support the increased need for shelter, emergency financial assistance to deter evictions and new episodes of homelessness, additional program space, and job assistance training. We believe that three months of programmatic support should help our neighbors bridge the current crisis.
• Connections to Housing: How will our region fill the gaps and facilitate connections to housing as the pandemic continues? We anticipate that current connections will slow substantially as agencies, landlords, and employers encourage or require their staffs to self-isolate or work from home.

 
Developments with COVID-19 are changing rapidly and we believe it’s important to have a trusted source for credible and actionable information. That’s why this email is the first in a new set of weekly email briefings that Homeward will send to partners, funders, supporters, and community leaders in Central Virginia. Every Friday morning, we’ll provide updates on how GRCoC is addressing the COVID-19 pandemic, share lessons of success, and outline how we need to prepare for next steps.
 
We invite you to share this email briefing with others and encourage them to sign up by registering for our newsletter.
 
If you have questions about GRCoC response to the COVID-19 pandemic, please contact Kelly King Horne at kkhorne@homewardva.org.