Greater Richmond Continuum of Care Announces Seven New and Expanded Programs to Serve Young People Experiencing Homelessness in the Richmond Region

Richmond, VA – October 18, 2023 – The Greater Richmond Continuum of Care (GRCoC), the Richmond region’s collaborative and compassionate network of homeless service providers, announced the expansion and creation of seven programs specifically designed to serve young people experiencing homelessness in our region. These programs are made possible in large part to a $4,478,877 million grant that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) awarded to the GRCoC in 2022. This federal funding is for a two-year period.

“This grant award has already been impactful and marked the first time that the Richmond region received dedicated youth funding from HUD,” said Frances Marie Pugh, Youth Programs Manager with Homeward. “The programs announced today will ensure that our region can reach more young people facing the trauma of homelessness and help them on a pathway to a permanent home. The planning process has been truly collaborative with a wide array of community partners and we expect that these programs will be transformational for our region.”

Homeward led a planning process to identify the needs of youth experiencing homelessness in the Richmond region and developed a community plan that was submitted to and approved by HUD. As part of the grant award and implementation process, the GRCoC Youth Action Board solicited and reviewed program applications from local homeless service providers. This community-led effort evaluated all the applications and selected seven programs for funding, including:

• Commonwealth Catholic Charities Youth Hub Drop In Center: This project will expand the number of hours available for drop in and expand the supports available through the existing Youth Hub. This program offers low-barrier access to in-person services and a safe place to stay during the day.

• Virginia Home for Boys and Girls (VHBG) Youth Outreach: This project will add two additional youth outreach workers to the region’s coordinated outreach team. VHBG outreach workers will engage the community on issues around youth homelessness to connect and serve people 18-24 staying in cars or outdoors.

• Daily Planet Health Services (DPHS) Peer Support Case Manager: This project will add a Peer Youth Specialist (a person with lived experience) to DPHS’ case management team. This position will serve individuals 18-24 by providing additional levels of support and peer navigation to help participants connect to comprehensive health and supportive services in an effort to obtain and maintain independent housing.

• HomeAgain and VHBG Joint Transitional Housing-Rapid Re-Housing: This project will serve individuals and families aged 18-24 through site-based transitional housing (TH) on VHBG’s campus and Rapid Re-Housing (RRH) through the community. This project will have seven TH beds and 15 RRH units.

• Housing Families First Joint Transitional Housing-Rapid Re-Housing: This project will serve individuals and families aged 18-24 through site-based transitional housing and Rapid Re-Housing through the community. This project will have 12 TH beds and 26 RRH units.

• GRCoC Coordinated Entry System: This project will ensure the infrastructure needs for youth-specific expansions of the existing coordinated entry system to ensure accessibility to youth projects.

• Homeward Management Information System (HMIS): This project will ensure the infrastructure needs for youth-specific expansions of the HMIS to ensure accurate data from youth programs and to support Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) efforts.

“Never in my wildest dreams did I think my housing journey would look like this and I never thought I would be homeless,” said Kim Embe, Chair of the GRCoC Youth Action Board and a young person with lived experience of homelessness. “It's something that you're vaguely aware could reasonably happen, especially being someone who has always had to live paycheck to paycheck. I now am in a position to be doing such fulfilling housing work and sharing spaces with some of the most revolutionary people I know, who all share such a passion for addressing and ending homelessness. I can't wait to see what's in store for the rest of YHDP and general housing advocacy work in Richmond.”

Young people aged 18 – 24 who are experiencing homelessness and are single, parenting, or pregnant can qualify for these programs. The GRCoC’s existing coordinated entry system will be used to connect young people to services. They can access information and get connected to services via one of four options:

• Youth Hub: Located at 809 Oliver Hill Way in Richmond, open on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday 1pm-4pm. In-person intake and supportive conversations. Stop by or call 804-648-4177.
• Coordinated Youth Outreach: One-on-one intake and supportive conversations for young people staying in cars or outdoors. Notification of individual or family sleeping outdoors (google.com)
• Homeless Connection Line: Phone-based intake and supportive conversations available Monday - Friday 8am-9pm and Saturday - Sunday 1pm-9pm. Leave a voicemail if all lines are busy and your call will be returned within one business day. Call 804-972-0813.
• EmpowerNet: 24/7 phone hotline for domestic/sexual violence shelter, counseling, and crisis assistance. Call 804-612-6126.

To learn more about the youth programs and how our region is using the HUD grant, visit youthrva.org.

Additional information about the GRCoC and community-based efforts to reduce homelessness is available at endhomelessnessrva.org.