By: Caroline Jones, Executive Director
With the year coming to a close, I pause to look back on all the great strides that our community took to end homelessness this year. At Doorway for Women and Families, we saw people end the cycle of homelessness and domestic violence every day. In October, Arlington showed its true power by bringing together non-profits, county agencies and 150 volunteers for the 100 Homes for 100 Arlingtonians Campaign. Caring people walked our streets in the middle of the night to identify the most medically vulnerable people living on our streets. But, unfortunately, we cannot look back for long because homelessness continues to affect a number of our neighbors. As we come into the new year, I continue to believe that everyone deserves a safe and affordable home. But, to achieve this we must engage in a broader effort to end homelessness.
Just last week, two new families moved into the Doorways’ Freddie Mac Foundation Family Home. For one, the idea of being a family became a reality when the father earned sole custody of his six-month old daughter. They had repeatedly found themselves homeless and, after exhausting their network of family and friends, resorted to knocking on doors night after night hoping to find a safe place to sleep. Wanting nothing but security for his little girl, the father is so grateful to be in our shelter where he can build the basic life skills needed to maintain a home long-term. For the other family, finding stable housing will determine whether they can stay together as a family. The mother and father have struggled to provide for their four children with only one income. I can tell you that even when affordable housing units come available in Arlington they are often too small to support a family of six.
Sadly, more and more families are struggling to provide their children with an affordable place to call home. You won’t see families on Arlington street corners; they are well hidden in overcrowded and precarious housing all across the county.
Recognizing the sharp rise in family homelessness in recent years and the well-known negative effects homelessness has on children, our Governor recently called for a 15%, statewide reduction in family homelessness by 2013. This is the most significant proclamation in the State’s history toward addressing family homelessness. The Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development, the Virginia Coalition to End Homelessness, the National Alliance to End Homelessness, and the Freddie Mac Foundation have formed a public-private partnership to help communities across the state reach this goal. It is an ambitious goal, but a vital one to bring focus and additional resources toward ending homelessness for the children and families of our community.
The 100 Homes Campaign demonstrated what is possible when a caring community comes together to support others. Doorways was proud to partner with other agencies in reaching people living on our streets. In order to help homeless families with children in our area, we must go beyond the street to identify and help the countless Arlington families living in dangerously unsafe and unstable environments. Families who struggle to obtain housing or sustain it, those with very low incomes, and those with limited skills to be self-sufficient long term. These families need more than temporary shelter, or short-term assistance. With the Governors initiative, we hope to provide targeted assistance tailored to meeting these challenges – with the goal of long-term stabilization for vulnerable families.
I am excited by these possibilities. It will take effort from all of us to bring them to our community. Every day through my work at Doorways for Women and Families, I am inspired knowing that we can end the cycle of homelessness for children and families. A broader effort to end homelessness will help us build a community where no family has to choose between finding affordable housing and staying together and every father is able to provide his daughter with a place to call home.
Caroline Jones
