Sometimes these stories posted Information Charlottesville may be out of date when they are eventually transferred from the Charlottesville Community Engagement. The delay is due to a production schedule that involves creating audio versions for a podcast and radio show that airs on WTJU on Saturday morning. This particular story features quotes from the June 15, 2026 City Council meeting and this article is intended as a snapshot in time.
In any case, eight months have passed since the Charlottesville City Council agreed to spend $6.2 million on purchasing an office building on Holiday Drive as a site for a low-barrier shelter and facility that provides other services for those experiencing homelessness.
City Council has held two public meetings this spring with organizations in the “continuum of care” to program the facility. Charlottesville City Manager Sam Sanders said on June 15 that the groups are still working on an operational plan.
“They asked for six months and I gave them three months,” Sanders said. “So end of August for the plan that we discussed.”
Those groups are the Blue Ridge Area Coalition for the Homeless, the Haven, and Peoples and Congregations Engaged in Ministry.
- Charlottesville City Council briefed on low-barrier shelter by groups that provide the programming, March 27, 2026
- Many details remain to be worked out for how three groups will work together at Charlottesville’s future low-barrier shelter, May 15, 2026
Sanders said the goal is to have a plan for how the facility will work for those who will be using its services.
“In addition to that, we’ve engaged additional experts in the field of looking at spaces, architects and others to try to help us see are there ways to adjust what we anticipate the cost to be to see if we can get that down,” Sanders said.
All of the members of the “continuum of care” are nonprofit organizations governed by people on Boards of Directors. City Councilor Lloyd Snook said he has been in conversation with some of them.
“I’ve talked to a number of people who are on the boards of those various agencies, and a number of them have said to me, in some fashion or another, I don’t know whether we’re all going to be able to get on the same page,” Snook said.
Snook wanted to know if at some point the city could take the leadership reins and make decisions.
“That’s what we’re doing,” Sanders said.
Councilor Michael Payne has stated that the encampment is unsafe and pointed to the death of an occupant earlier this month.
“The conditions are conducive to that kind of tragedy happening, and people remain in a floodway,” Payne said. “As we approach tropical storm season, flash-flood season, are there any timelines for the city assessing conditions that are so dangerous in terms of fire risk or health and human safety, [where] death is a real imminent risk given those conditions?”
Sanders said the city is looking at its options for removing people who are in places that are at risk including those closest to the river. An obstacle has been an unwillingness to cooperate from several businesses along the way.
Sanders had other updates as well.
Assistant City Manager Sam Roman and Human Services Director Misty Graves have met with the board of PACEM to open an emergency shelter as soon as possible. Sanders said this is not a guaranteed outcome.
Sanders said a handwashing station, a portable toilet, and a dumpster will be installed this week at city-owned property at 0 East High Street.
“We have continued to try to work with business owners in the area, but they have not been open to the idea of supporting an effort to put additional items in that general area,” Sanders said.
Sanders excluded the Rivanna River Company from that list saying that business is being helpful. The company rents from the city.
Sanders said the Blue Ridge Health District has been contacted about conditions in the encampment that affect both the residents living on public property and those who seek to walk along the Rivanna River on a public trail.
Today Sanders is meeting with the group SupportWorks Housing to see how they may be able to assist. The nonprofit organization owns the Crossings at 4th and Preston and is currently constructing an 80-unit supportive housing building on U.S. 29.
Meanwhile BRACH has posted a request for proposals for organizations who can provide two outreach coordinators.
“This role will focus on engaging unsheltered individuals, coordinating with local partners, and connecting people to shelter, rapid rehousing programs, and supportive services,” reads the RFP.
Submissions are due on June 29.
Before you go: The goal of Town Crier Productions is to increase awareness about what is happening at the local, regional, state, and federal government levels. Please share the work with others if you want people to know things. Paid subscribers cover the cost of conducting research for this article which was originally published in the June 16, 2026 edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement. You can either subscribe through Substack or make a charitable contribution.
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