New Hope Housing - Newsbriefs
Newsbriefs Rethinking Homelessness since 1977
Page 1 New Hope Housing, Administration Office 8407-E Richmond Highway, Alexandria, VA 22309 703-799-2293
Volume 22 Issue 6
September 9, 2016
A glimpse inside Fairfax County’s homeless shelter system By Angela Woolsey/Fairfax County Times, August 19, 2016
Jeff Lisanick was homeless from June to December 2009. Like many other Americans, he lost his job in the wake of 2008’s Great Recession, and he had nowhere else to go. So, he found himself seeking a bed at the Eleanor U. Kennedy Shelter on Richmond Highway in Fort Belvoir. “[It’s] kind of hard to describe, but it was like being in boarding school,” said Lisanick, who now works at the same shelter as a residential coordinator. “They really expect you to take responsibility, take ownership and do what you need to do to end your homelessness.” Operated by the nonprofit organization New Hope Housing, the Kennedy Shelter is one of seven emergency shelters in Fairfax County and one of three shelters geared toward homeless, single adults, with the other four aimed at families. Fairfax County wants to minimize its reliance on shelters as a means of addressing issues related to poverty and homelessness, treating its emergency shelters as a last resort, rather than the first stop, in case of a crisis. The county first changed its approach to its homeless population in 2008, when the Board of Supervisors adopted a 10-year plan to end homelessness. Titled “Blueprint for Success: Strategic Directions for the Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness in the Fairfax-Falls Church Community,” the plan was developed by a committee of residents, nonprofit groups, and business, school and government leaders. Its ultimate goal is to eliminate homelessness in the county by 2018.