"It's great having your own home. It's total freedom."
Due to his paranoia, Jeff was homeless for 4 years. He would stay in a shelter or find a secluded spot to sleep, preferably a car. During the day Jeff would look for odd jobs to earn some extra cash. After participating in the A Place To Start (APTS), Jeff is now housed permanently in his own apartment.

PROGRAMS

Financial Foundations Housing Access Support Services

Mother and daughter happy to be in new home; preparing to unpack moving boxes

Housing Resource Center

Affordable, permanent housing remains very difficult to obtain and maintain for many in the Greater Richmond Area. Low-income individuals and families struggle with locating housing that meets their needs. Housing barriers make this process even more difficult. A criminal record (misdemeanors and felony charges), poor rental history, low or no credit score, and outstanding debts are examples of barriers that many face when trying to locate housing.

The Housing Resource Center (HRC) is designed to minimize, if not eliminate, the problems of housing location. The Housing Resource Center is for individuals and families with housing barriers who are trying to locate and maintain housing. The HRC is not designed to take the place of case management services. Because no money (rental subsidies) is attached to this program at this point, all clients of the HRC must be able to afford fair market rent.

Services the HRC can provide:

  • Thorough Housing Barrier Assessment to identify barriers to permanent housing
  • The development of a Permanent Housing Plan to address identified barriers (low credit scores, criminal record, poor rental history, etc.)
  • Identification of and linkage to landlords who have affordable rental property in the community.

The Housing Resource Center also manages FindhousingVA.org, a free, Web-based tool that lists available, affordable rental housing in the community.

To receive more information on the HRC, please contact the HRC's Housing Specialist, Sam Goodpasture, at 804.525.1951 or by E-mail at sgoodpasture@virginiasupportivehousing.org.