Innovative Housing for Homeless on the Horizon

Fairfax County

A new innovative approach for housing our homeless residents and helping them transition into permanent housing is scheduled to open in late 2019 in the Bailey’s area. The new facility will be located at 5914 Seminary Road and will replace the existing Bailey’s Crossroads Community Shelter located at 3525 Moncure Ave.

Several features of the new facility include:

• 52 emergency shelter beds to serve single adults, including four medical respite beds
• Approximately 18 personal living quarters
• Outdoor picnic and activity area
• 24-hour staffing, including guidance and counseling
• Hypothermia prevention program site, which operates from November through March, with a “no turn-away” policy during freezing temperatures.

“This brand new facility will be our first in a new generation of modern facilities,” said Dean Klein, director of the county’s Office to Prevent and End Homelessness. “We have some very old facilities with a lot of wear and tear that weren’t built to accommodate the new models for housing our homeless population. This new facility will have much better efficiencies of our resources and staff to provide the best care possible to this vulnerable community.”

The facility is designed to provide flexibility where multiple needs can be met at one location. It will provide both emergency shelter to meet crisis for single individuals who are homeless, as well as permanent supportive housing units to allow us to provide permanent housing with intensive services. These services are needed  for individuals who have been homeless for a long time and have significant barriers that have prevented them from being independent in our community

In addition, the flexible space will be able to accommodate changes in the numbers of homeless and will allow for an increase in permanent supportive housing units as our homeless numbers decrease.

 

Demographics of Current Shelter Residents

• 74 percent of the current Bailey’s shelter residents are male; 26 percent are female
• One third of the residents are age 51+
• 8 percent are U.S. military veterans
• 11 percent are survivors of domestic violence
• Many have chronic health problems and disabilities
• Average stay in the shelter is less than two months

 

Reproduction of this article, and photographs,  requires written permission of the author.  (Copyright © 2012 Annandale Chamber of Commerce. All rights reserved.  (Photographs & images, on this page, and on this website, are not available for use by other publications, blogs, individuals, websites, or social media sites.)

 

For More Revitalization Articles