Mayor Levar Stoney spoke at Thursday’s news conference alongside City Council members and representatives with shelter operators Salvation Army and HomeAgain. (Jonathan Spiers photos)
While concerns remain among some neighboring businesses, city leaders are celebrating the opening today of a long-term home for Richmond’s cold-weather shelter in Northside, as well as a new family shelter downtown.
Mayor Levar Stoney and members of Richmond City Council joined officials with homeless services providers Salvation Army and HomeAgain in a news conference Thursday to mark the opening of new and larger capacity shelters at 1900 Chamberlayne Ave. and at 7 N. Second St.
The Chamberlayne Avenue location, Salvation Army’s local headquarters, will serve as the city’s inclement weather shelter and remain open year-round as a 150-bed shelter and physical point of entry for the regional Greater Richmond Continuum of Care services network.
The city also plans to open a housing resource center at the location, as part of a larger plan by the Salvation Army to turn the building into its planned Center of Hope, with the city providing $7 million toward the nonprofit’s $15 million rehab. A grant contract for that effort was approved by council last month. The arrangement adds 100 beds to the roughly 50 that the Salvation Army already offers there.
Also opening today is a 50-bed year-round family shelter at 7 N. Second St., the former HI Richmond Hostel building across from the downtown library. HomeAgain, which operates a 35-bed shelter nearby at 2 E. Main St., will operate the Second Street shelter.
The former HI Richmond Hostel building at 7 N. Second St. (BizSense file photo)
A third location is in the works at 10 E. Belt Blvd in Southside, and councilmembers have said a long-term goal is to establish additional shelters across the city, potentially one in each of its nine magisterial districts.
But the immediate goal was to open the inclement weather shelter, or IWS, by Dec. 1, ahead of the lower temperatures to come over the winter.
Previous years saw the IWS at various locations around town, including last year at the Chamberlayne location. While the Salvation Army owned the property, the IWS there last year was run by Commonwealth Catholic Charities. The Salvation Army will be the operator this year and going forward.
At Thursday’s news conference outside the Chamberlayne building, Councilmember Stephanie Lynch said, “We have come so far from the days of yesteryear where we had a shelter that was in question,” describing the Salvation Army site as a “permanent” ICW and year-round shelter.
“This will stand as the beacon of hope going forward for our unhoused citizens who are looking for a place during the inclement weather months and beyond,” Lynch said, adding: “We know that the hardest work is yet to come.”
The Chamberlayne Avenue location has been the Salvation Army’s local headquarters since it moved there in 2020.
The previous evening, city officials including Councilmember Ann-Frances Lambert and Police Chief Rick Edwards heard from neighboring property owners and businesses at a meeting of the Chamberlayne Industrial Center Association. Its members reiterated concerns that the shelter will bring back bad behaviors that they saw last year, despite the change in shelter operators.
The group discussed what can be done to curb unwanted activity and how to go about reporting and responding to incidents. During the meeting, Edwards reiterated points he previously made previously that his department would make regular visits to the facility, receive weekly updates from the nearby Fourth Precinct and place cameras and mobile light trailers as needed.
At Thursday’s event, Lambert, whose district includes the Chamberlayne area, acknowledged the meeting and the business community’s concerns.
“We hear your concerns,” Lambert said.
In a public hearing last month, association president Dave Kohler told councilmembers that the group would file an injunction to stop the Chamberlayne shelter if it was approved. It was unclear Thursday whether legal action is being pursued. Attempts to reach an association representative for comment were unsuccessful.
Mayor Levar Stoney spoke at Thursday’s news conference alongside City Council members and representatives with shelter operators Salvation Army and HomeAgain. (Jonathan Spiers photos)
While concerns remain among some neighboring businesses, city leaders are celebrating the opening today of a long-term home for Richmond’s cold-weather shelter in Northside, as well as a new family shelter downtown.
Mayor Levar Stoney and members of Richmond City Council joined officials with homeless services providers Salvation Army and HomeAgain in a news conference Thursday to mark the opening of new and larger capacity shelters at 1900 Chamberlayne Ave. and at 7 N. Second St.
The Chamberlayne Avenue location, Salvation Army’s local headquarters, will serve as the city’s inclement weather shelter and remain open year-round as a 150-bed shelter and physical point of entry for the regional Greater Richmond Continuum of Care services network.
The city also plans to open a housing resource center at the location, as part of a larger plan by the Salvation Army to turn the building into its planned Center of Hope, with the city providing $7 million toward the nonprofit’s $15 million rehab. A grant contract for that effort was approved by council last month. The arrangement adds 100 beds to the roughly 50 that the Salvation Army already offers there.
Also opening today is a 50-bed year-round family shelter at 7 N. Second St., the former HI Richmond Hostel building across from the downtown library. HomeAgain, which operates a 35-bed shelter nearby at 2 E. Main St., will operate the Second Street shelter.
The former HI Richmond Hostel building at 7 N. Second St. (BizSense file photo)
A third location is in the works at 10 E. Belt Blvd in Southside, and councilmembers have said a long-term goal is to establish additional shelters across the city, potentially one in each of its nine magisterial districts.
But the immediate goal was to open the inclement weather shelter, or IWS, by Dec. 1, ahead of the lower temperatures to come over the winter.
Previous years saw the IWS at various locations around town, including last year at the Chamberlayne location. While the Salvation Army owned the property, the IWS there last year was run by Commonwealth Catholic Charities. The Salvation Army will be the operator this year and going forward.
At Thursday’s news conference outside the Chamberlayne building, Councilmember Stephanie Lynch said, “We have come so far from the days of yesteryear where we had a shelter that was in question,” describing the Salvation Army site as a “permanent” ICW and year-round shelter.
“This will stand as the beacon of hope going forward for our unhoused citizens who are looking for a place during the inclement weather months and beyond,” Lynch said, adding: “We know that the hardest work is yet to come.”
The Chamberlayne Avenue location has been the Salvation Army’s local headquarters since it moved there in 2020.
The previous evening, city officials including Councilmember Ann-Frances Lambert and Police Chief Rick Edwards heard from neighboring property owners and businesses at a meeting of the Chamberlayne Industrial Center Association. Its members reiterated concerns that the shelter will bring back bad behaviors that they saw last year, despite the change in shelter operators.
The group discussed what can be done to curb unwanted activity and how to go about reporting and responding to incidents. During the meeting, Edwards reiterated points he previously made previously that his department would make regular visits to the facility, receive weekly updates from the nearby Fourth Precinct and place cameras and mobile light trailers as needed.
At Thursday’s event, Lambert, whose district includes the Chamberlayne area, acknowledged the meeting and the business community’s concerns.
“We hear your concerns,” Lambert said.
In a public hearing last month, association president Dave Kohler told councilmembers that the group would file an injunction to stop the Chamberlayne shelter if it was approved. It was unclear Thursday whether legal action is being pursued. Attempts to reach an association representative for comment were unsuccessful.