As homeless rate rises, volunteers work to beautify shelter

Woodbridge, Va. –– J.D. nearly died last year after two decades of living in the woods.

His health failing after years of alcohol abuse and doctors telling him he had only weeks to live, volunteers with the AfterShare program in Woodbridge convinced him to come to the Volunteers of America Chesapeake Hilda Barg Homeless Shelter on U.S. 1.

It changed his life, and he has since moved out of the woods, is now recovering from alcoholism and rents a room nearby.

On Sunday he came back to the shelter, donating his time to clean up what was someone else’s campsite in the woods, which brought back memories of his own.

“May of last year I was 36 hours away from being dead, everyone gave up on me. But the people here nurse me back to health, so I’ll do anything I can to help,” said the 55-year-old.

He as one of about 30 others donated their time Sunday to the AfterShare Help the Homeless Mini Walk and Route 1 Cleanup.

Volunteers, many who have left the shelter and some who still live here, donned orange vests and gloves, and then fanned out along U.S. 1 and into the woods to cut back shrubbery and pick up trash along the roadside.

“It’s important to them that area around the homeless shelter not look littered and trashy, it was their home once, and for some of them it is their  home now, just because they’re homeless doesn’t mean they don’t have the same values as others,” said Gayle Sanders, who administers the AfterShare program.

The clean up was part of World Homeless Day, and the money raised from the walk goes to fund the AfterShare program. The mini walk prepares participants for a larger homeless walk to be held next month in Washington.

The event comes the same week a new Brookings institution report found that the number of impoverished residents in the nation’s suburbs – especially outside Chicago, Los Angeles and Washington – have outpaced those in cities by more than 1.5 million in the past 10 years.

Suburbs in Maryland and Northern Virginia have experienced a 40 percent growth in the homeless population, the report states.

And not only do those in the suburbs have to wait longer for federal assistance – as much of it has gone to the cities first – they have to get it from suburban agencies that are in some cases providing aide to multiple counties and jurisdictions.

The recession has also brought a new milestone – many who are now requesting assistance are doing so for the first time, according to the report.

Stephanie Taplin and her family also turned to the Woodbridge homeless shelter seven years ago, when her father walked out and left her mother to care for her and her brother.

She was a sophomore in high school at the time, and because her mother wasn’t able to pay for the apartment on her own, Stephanie’s, her brother and mother were kicked out on the streets.

Out of the shelter now and living in an apartment with mother and mother, the 22-year-old also volunteered Sunday to help beautify the area outside the shelter. When asked why it was important for her to be here, she fought back tears remembering how homelessness affected her family.

“It’s important because…homelessness can happen to anyone,” said Taplin.