No response from City officials about shelter on North Side
Jeremy M. Lazarus | 12/1/2022, 6 p.m.
Has City Hall shelved plans to open to additional shelters in North Side for homeless people that would add 90 additional beds for the winter?
It appears that way, though Mayor Levar M. Stoney’s administration is keeping mum on the issue of providing additional beds.
Administration officials, including Sherrill Hampton, city director of housing and community development, did not respond to a request for comment, nor did 5th District City Councilwoman Stephanie A. Lynch, chair of the Education and Human Services Committee.
Commonwealth Catholic Charities reported Monday that it has yet to receive a city contract to proceed with its plans to open a 60-bed shelter in the Salvation Army’s space at 1900 Chamberlayne Ave.
And Fifth Street Baptist Church’s offer to provide space for 30 people a night appears to be a nonstarter. Several council members have said the church would need a special use permit to get around a city ordinance limiting most churches to providing temporary shelter for one week.
At this point, the city supports two shelters in South Side. That includes a 60-bed shelter for men at the United Nations Church, 214 Cowardin Ave., which the Free Press has been told is unaffected special use permit requirement.
The other is a 40-bed shelter for women and women with children that the nonprofit RVA Sister’s Keeper has opened at 2807 Hull St.
