The story below is from our May/June 2023 issue. For more stories like it, Subscribe Today. Thank you!
Homelessness is on the rise in the Star City — how are we helping those who need it most?
Editor's Note: Listen to our sixth podcast episode featuring interviews with Roanoke City Council Vice-Mayor Joe Cobb, RAM House Executive Director Melissa Woodson and Rescue Mission of Roanoke CEO Lee Clark, as we share more about this local issue, as well as a helpful resource list.
The city of Roanoke maintains a point-in-time count of those experiencing homelessness. The most recent data available is from the night of July 20, 2022. That night, the city counted 269 homeless individuals—91 of which were unsheltered.
The 2022 number is up compared to the same month in 2021 when 198 individuals were counted as being homeless.
Courtesy of the Rescue Mission of Roanoke, Inc.
A guest makes a bed at the Rescue Mission.
Joe Cobb, Roanoke’s vice mayor, explains that since COVID-19, homelessness in the city has been on the rise. “We’re seeing more people wanting to be outside, which is why we’ve seen some increase in issues with encampments. And we’ve also seen an increase in the number of unsheltered youth and young adults,” he says.
The pandemic exasperated mental health issues and substance abuse in the community, which has contributed to increased homelessness, Matt Crookshank, Roanoke’s human services administrator, notes. “We’ve just seen extraordinarily high rates of substance abuse and mental health issues, folks with really severe issues.”
The rising cost of housing, utilities and food, he adds, are all factors that could lead to a continuation of the trend of homelessness.
Although there has been a recent spike in homelessness, Cobb notes, “homelessness in the city and region has been reduced by 60% over the last 10 years.” That success is due in part to the work of the Blue Ridge Continuum of Care and Blue Ridge Interagency Council on Homelessness, which is the region’s planning group that works to end homelessness. It’s comprised of service providers from Roanoke and its neighboring localities. “We have a really comprehensive effort that is very collaborative,” he says.
Each one of the individuals and organizations that collaborate with the council are working tirelessly day in and day out to make the lives of the homeless a little bit better.
Courtesy of RAM House
Volunteers serve meals and share their love of the “Ram Fam.”
Crookshank is one of the key people in the city whose job it is to tackle the issue. He’s been doing this type of work for the past 11 years. “My passion is to improve my community and have an impact on those that are most vulnerable,” he says.
His efforts extend to bureaucratic work and direct service programs like the Homeless Assistance Team.
The team, which was started in the 1990s, is an outreach program that connects individuals who are on the streets to services. Originally comprised of three case managers, two new members were added when the city observed the growing need.
Courtesy of the Rescue Mission of Roanoke, Inc.
About 160 meals are served daily at the Rescue Mission.
The team’s work increased in urgency when the Roanoke City Council passed a sidewalk ordinance that prohibits sleeping on sidewalks in the downtown district in late 2021. “It created more urgency for us to work through permanent solutions to get people off the streets and into permanent housing,” Crookshank says.
Two of the service providers the team connects individuals with in pursuit of permanent solutions are the Rescue Mission of Roanoke, Inc. and Roanoke Area Ministries, known as RAM.
Lee Clark, chief executive officer of the Rescue Mission, describes the mission of his organization as being to “change people’s lives for the better.” It does so by providing meals, emergency shelter, recovery programs, grocery boxes and medical care.
Even though the organization is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year, it’s continuing to evolve to meet the community’s needs.
A year ago, it started a medical street outreach team that goes directly to the homeless to provide medical services. One of the benefits of going into the community, Clark notes, is that the Rescue Mission is able to build relationships with those who are homeless in the hopes that they will decide to go to the shelter and eventually utilize all of the services it has to offer. “We want to move them out of crisis and into stability,” he says.
Currently, an average of 250 individuals stay at the shelter each night. Over the course of 2021, 1,748 unique individuals were given temporary housing by the shelter.
The Rescue Mission’s work isn’t done once it helps someone obtain permanent housing. Two years ago, it started an after-care program. When someone moves out now, case managers follow up with them to make sure they have the support they need. The case managers even help with obtaining furniture. “Rather than letting things spiral out and having that person back on the street and in the shelter, we intervene quicker and help them stay in their home,” Clark explains.
Run by nine employees and around 30 volunteers, RAM has been advocating for those facing or threatened by homelessness and hunger since 1971.
Courtesy of RAM House
In 2022, it spent just under $300,000 to keep those who were facing eviction stay in their homes. That same year, it helped 125 individuals, including 30 children, get off the streets. “A lot of those people came from our day shelter,” Melissa Woodson, executive director, says.
The day shelter, which offers breakfast and lunch, is open 9 a.m.-4 p.m. year-round. Compared to before the pandemic, the number of those who are served lunch has more than doubled, with around 160 meals served every day. Sixty-six percent of the shelter clients last year were unsheltered.
“We’re getting younger and younger people in here who are severely addicted to narcotics. We see a lot of men in our shelter. We see a lot of people who are suffering from schizophrenia,” she explains. In response to the growing need, RAM is expanding its mental health and recovery support.
“I’m not going to pretend we can save everybody here because we can’t, but we can give people a better daily existence than they would have if we weren’t here,” Woodson says.
Homelessness isn’t just an urban issue; it also impacts the region’s more rural communities.
The Warming Shelter of Franklin County was started in early 2022 in the lower level of Redwood United Methodist Church in partnership with Lake Christian Ministries in Moneta. It’s run by a single staffer and volunteers.
Courtesy of the Rescue Mission of Roanoke
This past winter, the shelter was open each night in January and February and on nights when the temperature was 35 degrees or below in December through March. The hope is to eventually offer a day shelter as well.
Since the shelter is still new, a lot of work has gone into building trust with the local homeless population.
“A lot of folks who need to come in won’t because they don’t know us or they may have assumptions of who we are or how they may be treated,” Susan Hughes, one of the organizers, says. “It’s been difficult to build a reputation of trust in the community.”
In February, the shelter was averaging eight guests per night. Those who spend the night are given access to dinner, showers, sleeping quarters and breakfast.
“As the word continues to get out, I expect we’ll have more folks coming,” Hughes says.
Courtesy of Franklin County
The Warming Shelter of Franklin County provides a warm place for the homeless population of the county to stay during the winter months. In February, an average of eight guests sought shelter there each night.
A common desire that all of the individuals who work to reduce homelessness have is to humanize the issue.
Cobb stresses that it’s important to keep in mind that “these are our neighbors, part of our human family.”
Homelessness can happen to anyone if they don’t have a support system to help when a crisis occurs, Crookshank notes. “A lot of times housing instability and homelessness is just poverty related. It’s important for the community to realize that stereotypes and what we think of homelessness isn’t always the case,” he says.
Courtesy of the Rescue Mission of Roanoke, Inc.
Guests enjoy eating meals in the Rescue Mission dining room.
Hughes explains that it’s easy to overlook those who have fallen through the cracks and are difficult to help. “Many who choose to turn a blind eye are those who feel it’s the issues of the individual,” she says. “We’re all called to reach out and care for others.”
It’s hard to deny that the work that these individuals are doing is draining.
Woodson has been in her position for three years. “Post-COVID, our services are doubling but we still have the same number of people. It’s extremely challenging for the volunteers and staff,” she says. The one thing that has kept her staff going has been their dedication to the mission.
“It’s challenging work. It can be emotionally draining. We get emotionally invested in the people that need our help,” Crookshank acknowledges.
One of the ways the Homeless Assistance Team keeps its members motivated is by celebrating anytime someone it’s helping moves into permanent housing.
“It’s hard work but it’s fulfilling,” Hughes notes.
Cobb is hopeful the work will continue. He pointed to the fact that the Council of Community Services stepped in to make sure some of the services Trust House had been providing wouldn’t stop after its closure as proof that there’s a strong appetite in the community to help these people.
The story above is from our May/June 2023 issue. For more stories like it, Subscribe Today. Thank you!