Locking up homeless people is a callous response to long-running problem

A host of issues lead people to live on the streets, including a lack of housing across Virginia. (Parker Michels-Boyce for the Virginia Mercury)

Charlottesville city officials say they have no plans to roust homeless individuals from the well-known Downtown Mall pedestrian area, despite complaints from some business owners that the latter’s presence affects the “safety” and “cleanliness” of the area and they should be rounded up.

“It’s a super complex issue,” city spokeswoman Afton Schneider told me. “It’s not one that can be easily fixed.”

Thank goodness compassion has prevailed, at least for now, over punishment.

The callousness calls to mind Ebenezer Scrooge refusing Bob Cratchit a lump of coal in winter. Or demanding folks pull themselves up by their bootstraps — when they don’t even have shoes.

I understand that the presence of homeless people and the related panhandling could impede retail sales. Folks strolling along the Mall might feel threatened, or at least annoyed.

It’s important to remember, though, why some 200 homeless people in Charlottesville and five nearby counties have to survive this way: Many have faced medical emergencies, job terminations or other cash-sucking calamities. Affordable housing is at a premium in Virginia ; Demand has outstripped supply.

And sadly, an estimated two-thirds of those who survive on the streets worldwide suffer from some form of mental illness, according to a review of 85 studies published this year.

“Nothing is going to change if barriers still exist to get into housing,” Shayla Washington, executive director of the Blue Ridge Area Coalition for the Homeless, told me Thursday.

Charlottesville Tomorrow and The (Charlottesville) Daily Progress have covered homelessness closely in the city of 45,000 residents. Challenges there are often duplicated in communities across the state , including Norfolk, Virginia Beach and Fairfax County. Some localities have adopted a “Housing First” model , which provides shelter as quickly as possible and then offers needed social services and counseling.

The Daily Progress recently reported the mayor and police chief met with business leaders in late June about the issue at the Downtown Mall. Some businesspeople suggested the police more aggressively monitor and expel the homeless. They cited a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Grants Pass v. Johnson that said local ordinances with penalties for camping on public land do not constitute cruel and unusual punishment, even if homeless people have nowhere else to go.

The police chief in Charlottesville, though, said the city doesn’t have such an ordinance to enforce. Then, at an Aug. 5 City Council meeting, several residents and homeless advocates publicly opposed the “inhumane” rhetoric and lock-’em-up mentality.

That vocal repudiation was justified.

A petition organized by Friends of Cville Downtown suggested more resources be identified to help people who don’t have a roof over their heads, the newspaper said. Among them: a free public health clinic; an overnight shelter with fewer hurdles to admission; and a designated campsite with bathroom, showers and storage units. It was a turnaround from an original draft that was punitive toward people living on the streets.

Nor is it clear how much of an effect the presence of the unhoused has on Mall sales. Dueling statistics appeared in the recent article. Washington, the homeless advocate, pointed out that many shops there are niche or boutique retailers, which might limit customers. Inflation could impact sales, too.

“I don’t think homelessness is the only target for their businesses being affected,” she added.

What’s clear is the Charlottesville area isn’t the District of Columbia , where federal and local agencies have repeatedly cleared out large homeless encampments. In May, workers shut down several sites affecting scores of people in the nation’s capital.

That city tallied more than 5,600 homeless individuals during its annual Point-in-Time Count in January , a total that dwarfs the numbers in localities around Virginia.

“The District’s Encampment Response Team was activated to protect residents on District property after dangerous circumstances arose, including fires, danger of traffic collisions, multiple assaults, and growing rodent issues,” a city statement said.

This is an extreme stance, one that should be avoided if possible. Also, just because officials destroy tents and makeshift living spaces, that doesn’t mean the folks who had slept there suddenly have other places to live.

That’s why long-term, well-planned solutions are needed. Some ideas come from groups like Virginia Supportive Housing (VSH), a nonprofit developer that operates 11 residential communities around the state. They include one in Charlottesville known as The Crossings, which has 60 apartments and opened in 2012.

VSH and the Piedmont Housing Alliance want to build 140 affordable residential units in nearby Albemarle County called Premier Circle, but a previous news report said work stalled because of higher estimated costs. Construction could begin late this year, a VSH spokeswoman told me.

“We’re very, very excited for this project to get underway,” said Kate McCarthy, a spokesperson for VHS.

These efforts, though, can take years. That’s also true when city governments take the lead in opening overnight, multipurpose shelters.

During my time at The Virginian-Pilot, I engaged in a very public debate with municipal officials in Virginia Beach who, I believe, purposely dragged their feet on building an overnight homeless shelter in the commonwealth’s largest city. A sizable homeless population was often drawn to the Oceanfront or nearby neighborhoods.

It took plenty of ink and combative rebuttals from local officials before the city finally dedicated the $29 million Housing Resource Center in 2018. The center has beds for individuals and families, and it also provides medical exams, health education and other services.

Before the opening, unhoused people had to travel to a large, nonprofit facility in nearby Norfolk.

Or just sleep where they were.

That doesn’t mean homeless people have no value. It certainly isn’t an excuse to round them up like common criminals.

Or to remove them from the Downtown Mall in Charlottesville without any alternatives to shelter.