Is calling out the National Guard to help the homeless in Prince William County a good idea?

Over the past four days, our region felt some of the most coldest temperatures of the year.

More snow, up to an inch, is in the forecast today. The mercury is forecast to dip down again Thursday with an expected high temperature of 17 and a low of two degrees while wind chill factors will make it feel colder than that.

With that icy reality in mind, the more than 400 homeless people living in tents in wooded areas mostly in eastern Prince William County is now the talk of county officials and politicians. One man living in a tent off Minnieville Road suffered serious burns Tuesday while using a propane stove to keep warm in the freshly fallen snow. 

Prince William has temporary homeless shelters, including a 52-bed facility that’s available for those who a brief respite from living in the woods. But for many, the woods are home and leaving it, especially during a snowstorm, is not they want to do, said the county’s deputy director of Human Services Elijah Johnson. It’s necessary for those in tents to wake up every few hours to brush off the snow to prevent a collapse. 

The 53-bed facility was not full during Monday night’s snowstorm, said Johnson. To reach the homeless where they are, Johnson was directed to purchase 84 cold weather sleeping bags, at a cost of about $6,000, and to provide them to area aid groups and churches so they could be distributed to the homeless. Officials plan to purchase and distribute about 200 more bags, each rated at withstanding cold of 30 degrees below zero, for about $50 each.

On Tuesday night, there was a call from Gainesville Supervisor Peter Candland to do more. He wants to call out the National Guard so they can use their materials to assist the homeless in the community.

It was an idea that first surfaced on the blog of local activist Al Alborn on Monday. Candland and Prince William County Board of Supervisors Chairman Corey Stewart, At-large, penned a joint letter to Gov. Terry McAuliffe asking for help of the federalized forces.

It’s no secret that many of the unsheltered homeless in this community are living in wooded areas on private property. Those who have spent years helping them, bringing them necessities like water, food, and propane tanks so they can keep warm, say calling out the National Guard would undermine the relationships built between the private land owners and the aid organizations. To them, calling out the troops sounds like an election year ploy.

“It appears Mr. Candland did have an awakening by meeting a homeless man. I wish everyone on the Board would take me up on my offer to meet them where they live. And I would hope it wouldn’t be an election year opportunity, but something done privately,” said Gayle Sanders, of Woodbridge Homeless Outreach.

She and her husband, Danny, spent more than 20 years helping homeless at the Hilda Barg shelter on Route 1 in Woodbridge where Gayle Sanders served as the director of operations.

“Prince William County residents are becoming aware there is nothing for the very poor or disabled to rent. I hope the Supervisors aren’t paying lip service to the turning tide of community compassion,” added Sanders.

Officials told Candland that a local emergency needed to be declared before National Guard troops could be deployed in the county. Neabsco District Supervisor John Jenkins, who has many unsheltered homeless living in his district in Dale City, asked County Attorney Angela Horan to brief Board members on the laws regarding calling up the Guard.

Jenkins said many of his constituents have asked the county to house homeless inside the recently vacated Kmart building on Dale Boulevard.

“well. it’s private property, and we don’t take private property without going through due process,” said Jenkins.

Candland and several other volunteers spent a portion of this past weekend collecting donations for the homeless. He proposes the creation of an interfaith council based on a similar model used in Fairfax County to coordinate supplies and the aid effort.

“A lot of the folks on the western end didn’t even know we had a homeless problem in Prince William County,” said Candland. “Most of the work is being done in the east while we have willing hands and willing hearts in the west.”