Homeless Reduction Grants to boost supportive housing 

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam announced recently that more than $6 million in Homeless Reduction Grants has been awarded through the Virginia Housing Trust Fund for 38 projects – including in Henrico – throughout the state. The funding will advance 102 targeted efforts to reduce homelessness, which include rapid re-housing, support services for permanent supportive housing for the chronically homeless, and the pre-development of permanent supportive housing projects for individuals or families experiencing recurring homelessness.

Northam and the General Assembly earmarked $55 million to the Virginia Housing Trust Fund this fiscal year, and his budget proposal increases the funding to $70.7 million in the current year.

“Housing affordability continues to be a challenge nationwide, and the COVID-19 pandemic has shown us in very stark terms how too many families are at risk of losing their homes,” said Northam. “These grants will help add critical permanent supportive housing units to our stock and fund innovative efforts to reduce homelessness, right now as we weather this public health crisis and into the future.”

In Henrico County, St. Joseph’s Villa will receive a Homeless Reduction Grant award of $97,983 for the Flagler project, which provides housing stabilization services for a number of chronically homeless individuals in the Central Virginia area. The project will provide rent assistance for individuals in need of permanent supportive housing, serving as a bridge for those in need of long-term housing support to maintain permanent housing in the Greater Richmond Continuum of Care.

Henrico County will also share in a $253,750 Homeless Reduction Grant award designated for Central Virginia localities through Homeward. The project will support staffing to connect older adults currently staying in a pandemic response shelter in the Greater Richmond Continuum of Care with permanent supportive housing. Funding will support policy development and a consumer support council to integrate older adults who have experienced homelessness into the program.

St. Joseph's Villa will receive additional Homeless Reduction Grant Awards to support two projects in the Tri-Cities area, where SJV operates a home. One grant is designated for the Crater Area Coalition on Homelessness and will support an expanded youth project built off research from the Petersburg High School Pilot Program; the other will support the continuation of the Petersburg Pilot Project, which originated as part of the Challenged Schools Initiative and has continued in coordination with the Petersburg City and Schools Initiative.