Homeless could spike in region when coronavirus pandemic ends

The number of coronavirus cases in the Fredericksburg region continues to rise, but when the pandemic comes to a close, area leaders could be dealing with a wave of homelessness.

Fredericksburg’s homeless numbers have held steady at 207 people over the last 10 years. This number includes unsheltered homeless as well as reports of chronic homelessness.

The Fredericksburg Region Continuum of Care, a program designed to shelter the homeless from throughout the region, in Fredericksburg, Stafford, and Spotsylvania, has been able to move nine families into housing over the course of the last two years. This breaks down to 11 people who were previously unsheltered are now living in homes.

Two years after being placed into housing and undergoing financial counseling,  a total of 82% stay there, reports Fredericksburg Region Continuum of Care Director Sam Shoukas.

The program has been able to help the homeless on budget of $20,000 per year, which it has received from Fredericksburg, and Mary Washington Healthcare. The commission has spent $40,000 on their efforts over the past two years, the officials outlined Tuesday, November 10, during a Fredericksburg City Council meeting.

Most of the funding goes to case management, and it runs out quickly. In addition to the commission finding shelter for the homeless, the people involved, some of which live with disabilities, eventually are able to assume responsibility for their financial expenses for the homes.

Right now, it’s a challenge for the commission to find vacant homes in the city in which to place their clients. However, once the coronavirus pandemic subsides, and moratoriums on evictions are lifted, that there could be a “tsunami of homelessness,” said Sam Shoukas, a continuum of care coordinator.

During the pandemic, Shoukas’ organization has relied on hotels and hospitals to offer beds to the unsheltered in order to abide by social distancing rules. That’ll continue until Summer 2021.

Many people who are now living in poverty, but are not homeless, live paycheck to paycheck, and can easily be on the streets in the event of a family disaster, or loss of a job.

Fredericksburg committed $10,000 to the program this year while Mary Washington committed another $10,000. Continuum is looking at other possibilities for funding. According to Shouka, other localities such as Stafford County and Spotsylvania, where 24% and 15% of Shouka’s clients come from, respectively, chose not to provide funding to the program.

Shouka is hoping to get $40,000 from the surrounding localities for the Fiscal Year 2022 while estimating receiving $20,000 from other community resources.

Those community resources include other local charity groups such as Fahass, Empower House, and Micha among others as well as more national groups such as Habitat for Humanity and the Salvation Army.