Service providers in Charlottesville reported that area housing needs are climbing, driven by rising rents and limited affordable housing.
During Monday’s council meeting Shayla Washington, executive director of the Blue Ridge Area Coalition for the Homeless, said there were 335 documented individuals on the Charlottesville Continuum of Care’s By-Name List — which is kept at The Haven and identifies currently known unhoused members in the community.
“There is a common narrative that people are being bused into our community from other localities, and it is very expensive to be homeless,” said Washington. “It’s hard to find someone who’s just going to pay money for you to be shipped somewhere else to experience housing instability, and we certainly don’t do that here.”…