The city of Richmond’s inclement weather shelter is now open each day from 5 p.m. to 8 a.m. through April in the same Northside location where it operated last year: the Salvation Army at 1900 Chamberlayne Ave.
According to a July point-in-time count conducted by the nonprofit Homeward, 585 people in the greater Richmond region were experiencing homelessness. More than 300 people were in a shelter bed and 267 were unsheltered — sleeping in places outside or not meant for human habitation like a car, tent or building doorway.
The figures represent a recent increase in the homelessness rate, especially among people 55 and older. The numbers also highlight the need for more affordable housing and wraparound services. In 2023, Homeward counted 486 unhoused people in the region.
The Salvation Army shelter will offer 100 inclement weather beds available for single people: 60 for men and 40 for women. Fifty separate year-round beds are available for single adult men at the same Salvation Army location — though the beds are reserved and the spaces are full, according to Dianne Wilmore, the homeless services liaison for the city of Richmond.
The shelter is ADA, LGBTQ+ and service-dog compliant, according to Wilmore. She told VPM News the shelter was opened several days this fall when temperatures dipped below 40 degrees or when there was an inch or more of rainfall.
A Richmond spokesperson also said there are not current plans to expand or open any additional inclement weather shelters in the near future.
If the Salvation Army shelter reaches capacity, residents will be directed to a coalition of government agencies and nonprofit organizations called the Greater Richmond Continuum of Care for help finding shelter.
Homeward Executive Director Kelly King Horne told VPM News that she thinks more resources should be poured into preventing homelessness — and helping people find permanent housing and job opportunities — before the city determines whether additional shelter beds are needed.
“You can't fix decades and decades of under investment in both affordable housing and housing affordability with a shelter on its own,” Horne said. “That’s the challenge.”
Horne said a practice that’s been effective is using flexible dollars to help people pay a utility connection fee or an apartment application, for example. For older individuals with disabilities, she said more permanent supportive housing is required.
Horne added the existing shelters need more resources, so they can hire more staff to help people find employment and other housing options.
Through Richmond’s partnership with the Salvation Army, a range of wrap-around services are now available at the Northside shelter.
“The Resource and Training Center is really focused on services, case management, and really helping people on their path to stabilization there,” Tracy Deshazer, Richmond’s deputy chief administrative officer for human services, recently told a city panel.
The training center currently has two full-time staff members — a behavioral health clinician and a case manager. And the city’s working to expand its outreach to those who might benefit from the training center, according to Deshazer.
If you are unhoused or will lose housing in the next three days, you can call the Greater Richmond Continuum of Care’s Homeless Connection Line at (804) 972-0813.
