The City of
Virginia Beach re-launched its hotline for emergency housing and homeless
services. Citizens who are homeless or at risk of losing their home should
call the Regional Housing Crisis Hotline at (757) 227-5932, Monday through
Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The new call
center, previously known as Connection Point, will continue to be the single
point of contact to streamline the homeless referral and assessment process.
Families and individuals who are homeless will be connected to a case manager
with the Department of Housing and Neighborhood Preservation and assessed for
shelter, transitional housing and permanent housing programs based on their
circumstances. Those who are at risk of losing their home will be assessed for
financial assistance or other safe and appropriate alternatives to prevent
homelessness.
ForKids, a
nonprofit based in Norfolk that serves homeless families and children, is the
new provider operating the city’s call center under a contract with the
Department of Housing and Neighborhood Preservation. The organization currently
operates the housing crisis hotline for the City of Norfolk and Peninsula
cities.
The city also
has enhanced day support services for homeless individuals at the Lighthouse
Center, 825 18th St. In addition to continuing to offer showers,
laundry and mail delivery services, an assessment team will now be available at
the center to refer and connect individuals directly to housing programs.
“We will now
have our Homeless Outreach Team and new homeless case managers onsite to engage
individuals and assess them for shelter, transitional housing or permanent
supportive housing programs,” said Pam Shine, homeless programs coordinator
with the Department of Housing and Neighborhood Preservation. “Our goal is to
ensure that everyone who walks through the door to access services has a
housing plan.”
Individuals
will also be able to access a variety of other organizations and resources,
including the Department of Human Services, Veterans Affairs, employment agencies
and support groups.
Volunteers of
America, a faith-based nonprofit that provides health and human services, has
operated day support services at the Lighthouse Center since it opened in 1997.
Effective July 1, the city’s Department of Housing and Neighborhood
Preservation now operates day support services at the center.
“Volunteers
of America and Debbie Maloney, executive director of the Lighthouse Center,
have been valuable partners in our communitywide effort to address homelessness
in Virginia Beach,” said Andrew Friedman, director of Housing and Neighborhood
Preservation. “The organization has connected hundreds of individuals to
various resources to help them overcome their homelessness, and we hope to
build upon this foundation by incorporating best practices and a housing first
approach in order to make homelessness rare, brief and non-recurring for even
more individuals.”
The day
support service center is open Monday through Friday, 8 to 5 p.m. Day support
services are available until 3 p.m. For more information, please call the
center (757) 437-4911.
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