Report: Homeless population in Norfolk increasing

NORFOLK

After Robert lost his retail job in May, he spent his meager savings fast.

So in July, he began eating lunch daily at the Union Mission in Norfolk, joining the city's growing number of people who have come to rely on local social service agencies for food and shelter.

"I'm not homeless yet, but it's coming to a point where I'm going to be," he said. He's submitted more than 50 job applications and has now fallen behind on his rent, he said. In the past year, Norfolk and cities across the country have seen more people like Robert, people who have lost or are about to lose housing because of foreclosure or layoffs.

However, Norfolk's homeless population has grown faster than in any of the other two dozen cities surveyed in a national assessment of homelessness and hunger released Tuesday by the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

According to the report, from 2008 to 2009, Norfolk saw a 15 percent increase in its overall homeless population and a 32 percent increase in the number of people requesting emergency food assistance.

Agencies increased the amount of food they distributed by 7 percent - to more than 11 million pounds - but it still wasn't enough to meet demand.

A count of homeless individuals and families in January found 577 people in the city living in shelters or out on the streets - a number officials said has increased since then.

"The numbers are getting bigger and bigger and bigger," said Sarah Paige Ful-ler, Norfolk's director of the Office to End Homelessness. "And the longer the economy isn't rebounding, the more damage that's done."

She called the study a "wake-up call."

Norfolk was the only Hampton Roads city to be surveyed by the study, which asked 27 municipalities - including Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Detroit and Miami - to self-report data.

In addition to seeing the greatest percentage increase of individuals who were homeless, Norfolk also recorded a 7 percent increase in homeless families.

The city has a waiting list of 164 families who need shelter, said Priscilla Monti, media corporate relations manager at ForKids, which operates transitional housing and two shelters in Norfolk and Suffolk. The agency is housing 42 families in its locations, she said.

"The need is the most we've ever seen... and the funding is the lowest," Monti said. "It's just tragic times right now."

At Union Mission, men sleep on the floor of the lobby and women have been lodged in offices or hotel rooms, spokeswoman Linda Jones said. The agency's shelters house nearly 300 people each night - up about 10 percent from last year, she said.

The population has also changed. There are more women and younger people becoming homeless, she said.

In the survey, city officials said the closing of the Ford truck assembly plant in 2007 affect ed local employment levels even before the national economy soured. Layoffs and underemployment increased the need for food and housing assistance.

In 2005, Norfolk unveiled a plan to end homelessness in 10 years, pledging to better coordinate efforts between agencies and to increase local funding.

Officials said the biggest concern in the coming year will be making sure they collect enough donations to aid people.

Union Mission has had to turn away volunteers for its food storage warehouse. Like most agencies, it has seen a significant drop in donations, Jones said.

The agency relies solely on private donations, which have declined 23 percent in 2009, she said.

Last year, the mission provided 2,500 boxes of food to families in need during the holidays, she said. This year, it has collected enough to put together only about 1,000 boxes so far.

Norfolk isn't the only city to see a rise in need. In Virginia Beach, food stamp applications spiked 44 percent, spokeswoman Carissa Frasca-Cutrell said. And although its homeless count in January showed a decrease in the city's population, phone calls requesting assistance have increased "tremendously," homeless policy and resources coordinator John Boylan said.

Many of the requests are from people who have had their jobs terminated or their hours cut, Fuller said. There is also a growing pool of tenants who paid their rent but lost housing when their landlord defaulted on the mortgage.

Both Boylan and Fuller said their cities had recently received stimulus money to aid residents before they lost their housing.

Virginia Beach will use its more than $1 million and Norfolk its $2 million to help those on the brink of homelessness pay utility bills or catch up on rent payments.

That money will supplement funding at many local agencies, Fuller said. But she and others are concerned that the money won't be enough to keep up with the demand.

For instance, in October, ForKids served the most people it ever had in its 20-year history.

"Do we all worry? Absolutely," Fuller said. "We're serving three times the number of people with a third of the money. It's a huge concern. What are we going to do next year?"

Pilot writer Judy Le contributed to this report.

Meghan Hoyer, (757) 446-2293, meghan.hoyer@pilotonline.com