After moving to Richmond from Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, Cathy Ritter began volunteering with local organizations that serve the city’s unhoused population, buying blankets, tents and distributing meals. But it was the city’s dismantling of a large camp — home to over 120 people experiencing homelessness — that changed her perspective entirely.
As city crews cleared tents and residents packed their belongings, Ritter said she thought to herself: “Geez, thank goodness people help the homeless, but we need something that really solves a problem. It’s like putting a Band-Aid on it. It’s never-ending.”
When Ritter began researching initiatives in other cities, she came across Eden Village, a national nonprofit model that creates permanent tiny-home communities for people experiencing chronic homelessness…