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Their Side of the Story

Life moves fast these days, and with the cacophony of influences in your life hollering for attention it is hard to give credit to the very things that provide us with sustenance like food, water, access to health care facilities, and a sense of belonging in the community. I am guilty of overlooking how lucky I am as are many people these days. I am at fault of merely shoving aside the notion that so many people on our streets of Richmond are lacking the very things that I take for granted every day.  I used to think, that if homeless individuals wanted help they would go out and get it and that they had little, if no desire, so attempting to provide help was a futile task. A single mindset that defines any group of people is the most damaging feature of typecasting groups or individuals, since it does not leave room for any other explanation. It simply, “is what it is”.

As a communications intern at Virginia Supportive Housing it is my obligation to be open to many varying opinions and ideas and communicate mine and the organizations objectives effectively.   I broke from this single notion of futility primarily with the help of the people at Virginia Supportive Housing. While working with this wonderful organization, I have learned to keep my eyes and ears open for anything that could better communicate the organizations importance. I have found many ways to link my school work with VSH this semester for example, during one of my classes; we watched a video from the wonderful “TED” seminars online that stressed the importance of communication. A woman named Adichie Chimamanda from Nigeria raised some very interesting points about stereotypes and theories of how they perpetuate. Chimamanda calls stereotyping “a single story” and I agree with her claims that if you only believe one story about anyone, you really do not know anything about them at all. Like I said, I was guilty of thinking that the cause to defeat homelessness was futile and that was my single story on that particular day.

While interning with VSH, I have had the opportunity to interview individuals who were once on the street and are now in supportive housing. Prior to carrying out these interviews, I had a single story of homeless individuals. As far as my single story was concerned, they were mostly lazy; life on the streets was not that hard, they WANTED to live on the streets, so attempts to help them were futile.  After doing my first interview with a wonderful lady named Myra, my single story was turned on its head! She had financial struggles through and through, was another product of the sour economy, displayed a stringent work ethic, and because people at Virginia Supportive Housing listened and reached out to her, she is back on her feet. My experience after interviewing Myra was similar to that of Ms. Adichie’s with her single story on the Mexican people in that I felt ashamed of myself. Who was I to have this single story of human beings living on the streets of the very city that I go to school in?

The lesson that I learned from this video is that even though it is hard to break out of entrenched norms and ideas when you are surrounded by them on a daily basis, it is possible. Individuals, groups of people, and whole cultures should be granted the same chance to share their side of the story that will never have just one side. In my opinion VSH and this video teaches not only the world an important lesson, but professionals in the communications field that you can never formulate a crystallized opinion of anyone. In order to communicate effectively, we must understand that everyone is different and ever changing. We must embrace that there are billions of stories and in the case of homelessness; futility is NOT one of them.

It's Time To Celebrate Our Most Valuable Resource!

Did you know that 62.8 million Americans performed volunteer service in 2010? That means that about one in every five Americans volunteers! Just about every household contains at least one person who volunteers. Volunteering is an activity that cuts across gender, age, racial, and ethnic lines. It is open to all individuals regardless of their educational degree, income level, or marital status. People representing all political and religious convictions can and do volunteer. Volunteering is one of the most optimistic, altruistic, and empowering activities we can engage in.

Volunteering happens inside and outside, day in and day out, weekdays and weekends, throughout the year. But there is one week every April when we stop for a moment to recognize, honor, and celebrate the service of volunteers, and that is National Volunteer Week (April 10 – 16). National Volunteer Week is an annual event organized by the Points of Light Institute and Hands-On Network to promote the contributions of America’s most amazing and inexhaustible resource – volunteers.

What in the world would we do without volunteers?

Here at Virginia Supportive Housing, we believe that homelessness is a problem that affects everybody in the community, and community volunteers can and should be a part of the solution! Through their activities, VSH volunteers support our very low-income, formerly homeless clients in their efforts to stabilize and reinforce their connections to a caring community.  What could be more compelling and meaningful than that?

In 2010, VSH volunteers completed 6846 hours of service. This gift of time was collectively equivalent to $142,739 in support. Within the past year, they painted VSH properties, cleaned units, raked yards, planted flowers, constructed shelving, put up drywall, helped clients move belongings & furniture, served food, played Bingo, hung decorations, made holiday cards, taught computer skills, wrote newsletters, composed blogs, interviewed clients, conducted research, donated canned goods, and led collection drives for household items like pots & pans, bedding, and towels.

VSH is very proud to join the nation in honoring our volunteers with a National Volunteer Week recognition event on Wednesday May 3 from 6:00 – 7:30 p.m. In addition to speakers and refreshments, VSH will also select one individual to receive the Bob Sledd Volunteer of the Year Award for outstanding service in support of VSH’s proven permanent solutions to homelessness. We hope you’ll be a part of the celebration. To RSVP, please send an e-mail to [email protected] or call 804-836-1061.

If you didn’t get a chance to volunteer with VSH in 2010, don’t worry. VSH offers opportunities every single month for volunteers to roll up their sleeves, have fun, and make a big difference! Take a look at the upcoming schedule of projects below and let us know if you can help by sending an e-mail to [email protected]. We can’t do it without YOU!

SATURDAY APRIL 16 FROM 12 – 4:00: GLOBAL YOUTH SERVICE DAY
This project is suitable for middle & high school youth volunteers. 25 – 30 volunteers are needed to rake and clear debris, cut grass, trim bushes, clean out beds, mulch, and plant flowers at a VSH property that serves adults with chronic illness. At least five volunteers must be adults who can help with supervision of the activity.

WEDNESDAY APRIL 20 FROM 1:00 – 4:30: HELP GET A FAMILY OFF THE STREETS!
25 – 30 volunteers will paint a vacant three-bedroom apartment in the Highland Park area so that a homeless family can get off the streets!

MONDAY APRIL 25 – THURSDAY APRIL 28 FROM 1:00 – 4:30: AFFORDABLE HOUSING AWARENESS WEEK
15 – 20 volunteers are needed every day to paint occupied units, administrative offices, and community spaces at a downtown property that serves 47 very low-income formerly homeless single adults.
 
FRIDAY APRIL 29 FROM 1:30 – 4:30: VSH OFFICE MAKEOVER
5 – 8 volunteers are needed to paint a large office at the VSH headquarters so that APTS staff can better serve VSH clients.
 
SATURDAY APRIL 30 FROM 10:00 A.M. – 1:00 P.M.: SPRING SPRUCE-UP CAMPAIGN
20 – 25 volunteers are needed to rake and clear debris, cut grass, trim bushes, clean out beds, mulch, and plant flowers at a VSH property in the Fulton Hill area that serves adults with traumatic brain injuries.
 
COMING IN JULY 2011: 1,000 HOMES FOR 1,000 VIRGINIANS!

What else can you do RIGHT NOW to give the gift of your time in support of our proven, permanent solutions to homelessness?
• Check out photos of volunteers in action on our Facebook page
• RSVP for a 1,000 Homes for 1,000 Virginians information session on April 15 at 5:30 p.m.
• Attend the next volunteer orientation on May 6 at 5:30 p.m.
• Sign up for our volunteer e-newsletter
• Submit a Volunteer Interest Form
• Request an application
• Resolve to get involved!

1,000 Homes Campaign – What's All The Hoopla About?

Across Virginia, communities are accepting that homelessness is solvable. 1,000 Homes for 1,000 Virginians is a statewide initiative – led by the Virginia Coalition to End Homelessness – to house the 1,000 most vulnerable Virginians cycling between the streets, emergency shelters, hospital emergency rooms, jails, and prisons.

As part of the national 100,000 Homes Campaign, the 1,000 Homes for 1,000 Virginians initiative aims to compile information about the most vulnerable people experiencing homelessness, in Richmond and in other communities across the state and then systematically house them before their homelessness causes them to die.

Richmond, VA is the first city to join this statewide initiative.  Locally, Homeward and Virginia Supportive Housing are leading the 1,000 Homes for a 1,000 Virginians campaign.

So, why should we jump on this bandwagon and join this campaign?  Isn’t our community already permanently housing the most vulnerable individuals including people who are chronically homeless?

Well, we’re trying to, but we’re not always successful.  Last year, VSH successfully moved 13 individuals from our South Richmond supportive housing into their own apartments in the community.  This allowed us to fill the vacated apartments with individuals who were living on the streets or in shelters.  One of the individuals who moved into one of these vacant units had been homeless a year and was sick when he moved into this apartment.  Shortly after he moved in, he was hospitalized and never made it back to his new home.

Life on the street and in shelters is not merely uncomfortable and dangerous – it is often lethal as well. Individuals experiencing homelessness are three to four times more likely to die prematurely than the general population  resulting in an average lifespan 25 years shorter than that of the average American.

In 2010 according to Homeward, 17 people in our community like the gentleman who moved into South Richmond died while homeless or soon after exiting homelessness.  We should not accept this in this community.  It does not have to happen and indeed we’re hoping that it does not happen again.

In Richmond, there are approximately 943 homeless adults, and 165 living on the streets.   Forty-eight percent of homeless adults report a long-term disability.  And surprisingly, the cost of homelessness is higher than that of providing housing. Public services, tax dollars, and people all benefit from housing the homeless.

In undertaking the 1,000 Homes campaign, Richmond will follow the objectives and strategies of the national campaign.  On Friday, April 1, 2011, Mayor Dwight Jones helped us launch the campaign and put all of his backing behind the effort.   The launch was attended by community leaders from all sectors including health care providers, housing and homeless service providers, local and State government, and foundations.  The campaign launch sets the stage for a registry week in late July, followed by steps to permanently house the community’s most vulnerable citizens. 

In the next few months, we will:
1) Build a strong action-oriented local team that is ready to drive tangible housing outcomes;
2) Conduct a census in our community to clarify the demand for housing and create a by-name, photograph registry to help determine the need for local resources;
 3) Line up housing and support resources by bringing together private, non-profit and mainstream sources of housing and services to house people using person-specific data;
4) Move people into housing by working together to match people to the housing, service models, and rental supports best targeted to their needs;
5) Help people stay housed by partnering with community agencies to ensure that housed individuals are able to maintain housing, critical to the success of the program.

In short, by working together and specifically identifying and housing those most likely to die if left unhoused, we will do what we have not been able to do before—prevent people from dying on the streets by connecting a real person to an apartment immediately and giving that person a chance to survive and thrive in stable housing.  Find out more about how you can join us in this worthwhile effort. Send an e-mail to [email protected] to learn more about volunteer opportunities or attend an information session.  We can’t do it without your help.

Eight Little Words

In many ways, this past Sunday was a day like any other. It may have been unusually cold and overcast for the end of March, but otherwise nothing very earth-shaking seemed to be going on.

And yet, page one of section E of the Sunday Times-Dispatch featured a positively radical heading consisting of four little words in pale gray lettering: “We Can End Homelessness.” And the article beneath it, entitled “Connect Passion and Solutions,” perfectly captures with four more little words the simple yet revolutionary strategy required for achieving this ambitious goal.

It’s simple, according to the commentary’s author Kelly King Horne, executive director of Homeward. We say we want to end homelessness in our community. And thanks to three decades of research, we actually know how to do it. So…what’s the hold-up? Why, as King Horne points out, has the total number of people experiencing homelessness on any given day in our region remained relatively unchanged since 2007?

Does our community lack passion for or commitment to this issue? Quite the contrary. Just a few months ago, Governor McDonnell took the issue head-on when he assigned his own Senior Economic Advisor Bob Sledd to the statewide task force charged with generating an action plan. Richmond also has its own ten-year plan for ending homelessness, and the recommendations in both documents are clearly spelled out. Meanwhile, hundreds of community volunteers regularly demonstrate their deep commitment to the issue by supporting organizations in the regional homeless service providers system as well as city-wide events like Affordable Housing Awareness Week and  Project Homeless Connect.

Didn’t somebody famous once say, “If we don’t know where we want to go, it’s unlikely we will get there”? This is the point King Horne makes when she asks, “What do we mean when we talk about ending homelessness?” How do we define it? How do we measure it? What does it look like? How do we wrap our arms and our brains around something we have been struggling unsuccessfully with for decades?

Once we stop – really stop – thinking about the problem in terms of temporary fixes and start thinking about it in terms of permanent solutions, the answer becomes simple. Get families and individuals out of emergency shelters. Stabilize them with permanent housing as quickly as possible. Connect them to services. Problem solved.

Can it really be that straightforward? We at Virginia Supportive Housing know it can, because that’s what we do every day.  For over 20 years, we’ve been providing permanent housing and support services for homeless individuals and families. And with a 98% success rate, we know our integrated approach to ending homelessness really works. We can prove it.

So now what? King Horne’s inspiring commentary says it all. Connect passion to solutions. Learn more. Read Governor McDonnell’s task force recommendations. Read Richmond’s ten-year plan. Find out what other communities are doing. Then connect. Follow VSH on Facebook. Subscribe to our newsletter. Attend a presentation. Roll up your sleeves. Join our volunteer program. Be a part of our proven permanent solutions.

Once we know where we’re going, it’s likely that we really will get there. We CAN end homelessness!

Be Sure To Watch The APTS Documentary On March 24!

Don’t forget to watch the upcoming PBS documentary featuring VSH and A Place To Start! Virginia Currents is an award-winning PBS news magazine that celebrates remarkable people & places in the Commonwealth. Tune in to WCVE Channel 23 on Thursday, March 24, at 8:00 p.m. for a special Virginia Currents documentary highlighting the successes of VSH’s three-year-old program A Place to Start (APTS).

A Place To Start is an innovative regional program that serves individuals experiencing chronic homelessness and serious mental illness. On January 26, VSH was proud to release a report documenting the outcomes of this highly effective program over a 20-month period. This report demonstrated a 98% success rate in keeping clients in housing and a total savings to the community of more than $320,000!

To read VSH Executive Director Alice Tousignant’s recent blog on this program, click here. To read the RTD article on this program, click here. To support VSH’s proven permanent solutions to homelessness, click here!