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CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – Now that the city has acquired property for a low-barrier homeless shelter, it must determine a model for what that facility will provide and how it will operate. That’s the next step in the process that will ultimately lead to reconciling arguably the greatest obstacle for the project – staffing.
“The biggest challenge is first determining what is the operational model,” City Manager Sam Sanders told Cville Right Now. “There’s so many different aspects of attacking the problem of homelessness. How many different ways are we going to try to address homelessness in this one space?”
Low-barrier shelters don’t require people to show identification to enter and they don’t turn away people dealing with drug or alcohol or mental health issues.
When the city purchased the 27,000-square foot building and the 3.8-acre property at 2000 Holiday Drive for $6.2 million in November, he envisioned a space with mental health and detox beds and other services, including space for pets and storage options for possessions.
“We’re trying to reach everyone. In an attempt to reach everyone, then you’ve got to make sure that you have a lane that’s available for all that are out there,” Sanders said. “Because some folks are going to be easy to work with and others might be a little challenging to work with and their situations are even harder to work with. So you want to be able to say that there’s a place for you.”
He tasked the Low Barrier Shelter Work Group with coming up with a plan for the space. That group, which includes representatives from the Blue Ridge Area Coalition for the Homeless, the Haven, People And Congregations Engaged in Ministry, the Salvation Army, Charlottesville City, Albemarle County and an architect from Mitchell Matthews, presented Sanders with a plan in November that included major renovations to the existing office building on the site.
He has asked them for another, lower cost option so City Council can be presented with options. The group began meeting again in December and hopes to have a second possible plan ready for presentation by the end of February.
“It’s not an easy issue to deal with,” Shayla Washington, BRACH’s executive director, told Cville Right Now. “So there’s a lot of different, I think, angles we can tackle, but it’s a complicated one. It’s an expensive one. I’m really excited about this new barrier shelter we’re building, but I keep emphasizing to people, it’s not going to solve homelessness. It’s going to solve it for some people and not all.”
Sanders said once the council settles on a model for the shelter, the working group will begin tackling the question of staffing, a solution that likely involves a mix of volunteers and professionals.
Sanders said UVA Health and Sentara Martha Jefferson could be involved. Organizations like BRACH bring experience in working with the area’s unhoused populations and Region 10 could be tapped to help with mental health services.
Mental health, first aid and de-escalation training will be necessary for staff, Sanders said.
The shelter is a part of the city’s Homeless Intervention Plan, launched in 2023. City Council had considered a camping ordinance aimed at preventing people from sleeping and storing possessions on the city’s Downtown Mall.
In September, Council tabled consideration of that ordinance, in large part, because the city didn’t have anywhere for homeless people who would have been removed from the mall to go.
Sanders said that the shelter will always be voluntary, for people in need, but it could also be an option for a place for police to take people in crisis instead of taking them to jail.
“I don’t know that an ordinance will ever be a thing,” Sanders said. “That’s council’s discretion and I’m not sure where they’re willing to go on that. It won’t be something that they will consider until this is up and running and we see how it’s working. If folks are in a state of crisis, there is a law enforcement role, and if we can take them to a place like this versus jail, I think we have done a better job.”
Charlottesville Police Chief Michael Kochis agreed.
“It’s not just going to be a place where people go to sleep,” Kochis told Cville Right Now. “There’s going to be wraparound services and a lot of other things that go into it. You tell me where it’s going to be and we’re going to make sure it’s safe.”
Once the shelter is open, Washington said BRACH knows getting the unhoused community to take advantage of the facility will present its own challenges.
“I totally understand why people don’t want to present to a shelter,” Washington said. “There’s a number of reasons. Some people might not do well with crowds or large groups of people. Some people might have some hearing sensitivities or other issues that they don’t want to be around certain people for certain reasons.”
But Washington said the low barrier shelter is a “last resort” for people in need.
“We’re just trying to keep people safe and warm and sheltered so that they’re not dying on the streets,” Washington said. “And so that’s really what we try to emphasize when we’re doing outreach and talking to folks like, ‘Hey. I know this isn’t that ideal situation, but it could save your life for the temporary time that you’re potentially sleeping outside. We just want to help you stay out of the cold.’”
