Alice Tousignant is the Executive Director of Virginia Supportive Housing. She holds a Masters degree in Social Work Administration from Virginia Commonwealth University and a Bachelor's degree in Sociology from the University of Rhode Island. Alice has over 30 years of experience in the fields of housing, homelessness and social services. She is the past Director of the Virginia Housing Coalition and the Associate Director of the Division of Housing at the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development. She is a founder and past President of Emergency Shelter, Inc. and past President of the Richmond Community Development Alliance. She is a graduate of Harvard's NeighborWorks Achieving Excellence in Community Development Leadership program, and a recipient of the Fourth Annual Virginia S. Peters Housing Award. Alice currently serves on the Board of Area Congregations Together in Service (ACTS) and is the Board Chair of the Virginia Collation to End Homelessness.
Archive for March 2010
Virginia Supportive Housing Celebrates National Volunteer Week 2010 With Volunteer Experiences For People In Action!
March 30th, 2010
National Volunteer Week is an annual event that celebrates ordinary people doing extraordinary things to improve communities across the nation. This year, National Volunteer Week will take place during the week of April 18 – 24, and the theme is Celebrating People in Action. This event gives organizations that mobilize volunteer resources a great opportunity to recognize and honor their contributions, and Virginia Supportive Housing is proud to join this celebration.
Virginia Supportive Housing offers many opportunities for volunteers and volunteer groups to experience service that is both meaningful and rewarding. On Saturday, March 27, Team Hope demonstrated that volunteers with a commitment to service can not only MEET but EXCEED expectations and produce excellent results!
Team leader Steve Hoehn has a knack for projects that involve construction and repair and he “loves to do this stuff all the time!” Steve regularly recruits friends from his congregation at Hope Church for volunteer construction opportunities and recent projects include rebuilding a deck for Elder Homes and constructing dressers for the CARITAS Furniture Bank. In April, several team members will participate in the Pittsburg Project, a project that provides home repairs for elderly & disabled residents in low-income areas of Pittsburg.
Last Saturday afternoon, Virginia Supportive Housing was the lucky recipient of Team Hope’s giving spirit and technical expertise as they gathered at New Clay House, one of VSH’s Richmond properties, to rebuild a collapsing gate for an upcoming property inspection. Performing under less than ideal conditions (the crisp breeze made working in the late afternoon shade of the building decidedly chilly), the team worked together, applying problem-solving skills and complementing each others’ abilities to complete the project in less than six hours. Steve said of his experience on Saturday: “Virginia Supportive Housing has a great track record [and] it’s an awesome cause. We are really happy to help!”
People in Action are what National Volunteer Week is all about, and it’s also what Virginia Supportive Housing is all about. Homelessness is a problem that affects everyone in our community, and at VSH we believe that everyone can be a part of the solution. To find out more about how YOU can be a part of our proven, permanent solutions to homelessness, contact the volunteer program coordinator at 804-836-1061 or ajonesnassar@virginiasupportivehousing.org.
After a Lifetime of Turmoil, Home is Found
March 23rd, 2010
The sun shines down in rays through the blinds on her living room window as Linda Billings*,58, sits on her couch, hands clasped and resting in her lap.
With wide eyes, she begins to talk about how she experienced homelessness for the first time in her life in the fall of 2009.
“If you would have asked me 30 years ago I would have told you, ‘Nah, no way, not me,’” Billings says about whether or not she thought she‘d ever experience homelessness.
The oldest of her siblings, Billings has always been independent and a hard worker. At the age of 12, she began working at a diner where her mother was employed and says she has been “hooked” on making money ever since.
Billings married when she was 19 years old.
“My ex-husband was what they (some people) call an overnight drunk,” Billings says , “I worked 2 or 3 jobs at a time to support our family.”
Despite his alcoholism and eventual physical and emotional abuse, Billings remained married to her first husband for 12 years. She finally was able to break away from her tumultuous relationship and buy her own house.
“I’d have probably given up … I don’t know where I would have ended up if it hadn’t been for my children,” a misty-eyed Billings says, “They helped me.”
It wasn’t long before another man battling addiction would cause turmoil in her life; this time it was her own son.
Billings’ son would come to her every time he needed money. He would claim that if he did not pay, drug dealers would come after him and then his family, including Billings herself.
“In the beginning, sometimes I’d believe those stories,” Billings says, “Drug dealers will come after you.”
After losing vehicles and her second home because of her son’s addiction, Billings was told by doctors that she could no longer work because of health complications caused by varicose veins.
Unable to work, Billings was left with no place of her own to call home.
Her independent ways are what Billings says allowed her to never give up. Through the local shelters, she heard about Virginia Supportive Housing and contacted them immediately.
Billings had her eye set on a certain apartment building where she wanted to live. In just a couple of weeks, through the HPRP program at VSH, she was able to obtain her own apartment in that very building.
As Billings sits in her freshly vacuumed, candle-scented apartment, she explains how she is working on getting her GED.
“Virginia Supportive Housing has helped in so many ways. For one thing, knowing that they were there and willing to support me and help me get to where I am,” Billings says, “ I am so blessed and thankful to have them (VSH) in my life.”
*Name was changed to protect program participant’s privacy.
Did you know…
March 16th, 2010
…those experiencing homelessness are often victims of violent crimes.
In 2009 the National Coalition for the Homeless (NCH) published a report titled Hate Crimes and Violence against People Experiencing Homelessness. The report tracked violent acts against those experiencing homelessness ranging from beatings and assault to rape and even murder.
According to the report: “From 1999 through 2008, there have been 880 [reported] acts of violence committed by housed individuals, resulting in 244 deaths of homeless people and 636 victims of non-lethal violence in 267 cities from 46 states, Puerto Rico and Washington, DC.”
In 2008 alone, there were 106 total reported acts of violence against people experiencing homelessness. Twenty-seven of the attacks ended in the death of the person experiencing homelessness. Of the 79 non-lethal attacks, nine were rapes, eight were shootings and three were people experiencing homelessness being set on fire.
In 2008, Time magazine covered the story of John McGraham, a man who, while experiencing homelessness, was set on fire and burned to death on the streets of Los Angeles. The article is called Violence Against the Homeless: Is It a Hate Crime?
Most would say, “Of course it’s a hate crime!”
But as defined by most states, violence against the homeless is not a hate crime. A “hate crime” is defined as any of various crimes including assault or defacement of property when motivated by hostility to the victim as a member of a group based on race, creed, gender or sexual orientation. Violence against people experiencing homelessness is not categorized as a hate crime because homelessness is considered to be a temporary circumstance.
In 2009, The New York Times published an article entitled Attacks on Homeless Bring Push on Hate Crime Laws. At that time, Maryland, along with the District of Columbia, was the only state to expand its hate-crime law to add stiffer penalties for attacks on the homeless, with five other states contemplating similar legislation.
The NCH report is just one way to raise awareness about violence against those experiencing homelessness. For ways that you can help, read NCH’s “Recommendations for Action” here.
What do you think? Should violence against those experiencing homelessness by housed individuals be considered a hate crime?
