Sanders: 2000 Holiday Drive is just part of the city’s response to homelessness

Charlottesville City Council’s decision on August 3 to approve $4 million “for homeless intervention services to include emergency sheltering and direct to housing supports” is the latest in a series of steps orchestrated by Charlottesville City Manager Sam Sanders.

“Almost three years ago, I stood before Council and stated that we need to do two things. Set a new standard and manage expectations as it related to homelessness in our city,” Sanders said. “And while that in and of itself is not a plan, it was accompanied by what I refer to as community interventions.”

That has included the hiring of the Block by Block team to clean the Downtown Mall on a regular basis, designating a city staff member to serve as “Downtown Strategy Manager,” and renting space in York Place for a public bathroom. The Downtown Transit Center has also been reopened and Sanders said negotiations are underway with the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority to open a permanent public restroom at the building CRHA owns in the 300 block of East Main.

The city now pays the Blue Ridge Area Coalition for the Homeless $250,000 a year as a fundamental agency and the city paid for that entity to conduct a Point in Time count in late July.

Sanders said the city has provided a storage space in the parking lot of the Salvation Army on Ridge Street that is used by many to store belongings and the city has provided bags for both the Haven and the Blue Ridge Coalition for the Homeless to distribute for that purpose.

But many have continued asking the city to do more. There have also been complaints about people in an impaired state on the mall. Sanders said the city is working with Region 10 to find out how to get assistance to more people.

“Sleeping on the mall was a regular complaint,” Sanders said. “An ordinance was presented. Council deferred in favor of an alternate place so that we could get an opportunity for people to have a place to go. And we’ve been working diligently on that ever since.”

Sanders said 2000 Holiday Drive was purchased to provide a low-barrier shelter but the community needs more transitional housing that allows more privacy to individuals.

“We do recognize that a congregate shelter is not the preferred option,” Sanders said. “It is an option for us to have available as soon as we possibly can and then we can grow from that and that is the intention.”

The Salvation Army’s Center for Hope is part of the overall solution to add more transitional housing. The entity has plans to expand from 55 beds to 114 beds and double the size of a community dining room to 120 seats. Charlottesville has already contributed $3 million and Council will be asked to allocate another $3 million on August 17.

“Seven million was awarded from the state of Virginia through the support of Senator Creigh Deeds,” Sanders said. “That money is to be split between the city and the Salvation Army.”

The remaining $4 million will go toward transitional housing and is not the same $4 million that is being used for the encampment transition and the upfit of 2000 Holiday Drive in the short-term. In all there are three different groups that will receive some of those funds.

• Central Arizona Shelter Services – will operate the emergency shelter
• Clutch Consulting Group – will provide direct-to-housing services
• Community Solutions

“These three partner organizations are working with the city and the Continuum of Care to broaden our efforts and to fill present gaps to ensure a better opportunity to make homelessness rare, brief and non occurring because that is the goal for all of us,” Sanders said.

Sanders said a scope of work for each is still in development and he said he hoped that would be complete within 30 days. He said the budget submitted by CASS was $3 million to serve 120 people for a 12-month period, a situation deemed to be the worst case scenario.

The future of 2000 Holiday Drive

In recent years, Charlottesville has experienced large budget surpluses with $21.7 million in FY23, $22.4 million in FY24 and $8.5 million in FY25. The results for FY2026 will become known in December when an audit of the accounts has been completed.

Sanders told Council there’s a balance left of about $16 million in the fund and about $10 million has been set aside for property acquisitions. He said in the near term there is a need to move forward with the permanent plan for 2000 Holiday Drive.

“So the plan is to open a centralized One Stop Homeless Services center at 2000 Holiday Drive featuring an overnight shelter, eventually a day shelter, comprehensive set of on site wraparound services, connection to off site services, transitional housing options for 18 months to 24 months, longer term stays after we get this facility open, and continued efforts to access permanent affordable housing,” Sanders said.

Sanders said in the short-term there would be storage space for residents as there is enough room in the building. A building permit has been issued for minor construction work to get it ready for habitation.

“We’re finalizing those details, ” Sanders said. “And that is not being paid for by this $4 million. That is being paid for by local philanthropy.”

City Councilor Michael Payne advanced the concerns of several speakers who appeared during the public comment period.

“One of the other questions we’ve gotten is about pets,” Payne said. “Is it known at this point what the approach would be in terms of how they staff the facility?”

Sanders said CASS accepts those with pets and has procedures in place.

“We have to look at their procedures to determine how that is done,” Sanders said. “That has not been a practice here, so we are adding to that benefit. So hopefully we can help individuals who have historically not been able to come inside for that reason.”

Sanders said CASS has been in operation since 1984 and operates across the state of Arizona. He said one of their employees had a family connection to Charlottesville and contact with the city was made.

“And from that we were able to dig deep into this conversation and we have become satisfied with what we’ve learned,” Sanders said. “We still have questions. It’s not to say that it’s a done deal. That’s why there’s no contract being presented tonight. This is just asking for the resources to commit that. The invitation was extended, their board accepted.

What about other places?

Albemarle County will open up a waiting list for housing vouchers on August 17 including Vista29, an 80-unit single-room occupancy facility under construction by the group Support Works Housing.

Sanders said those units are expected to come online at the end of the year and it is possible some who decide to live temporarily at 2000 Holiday Drive might be able to get a space there.

“The folks at Support Works have indicated a desire to be on site at Holiday Drive once the doors open so that they can directly do that work and we have intended to make sure that that is possible for them to do,” Sanders said.

As for other transitional housing sites, Sanders said one option is at a site on Levy Avenue that the city purchased from the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority for $4 million in early 2024 using proceeds from the American Rescue Plan Act. (learn more)

Sanders said he is hopeful that a way can be found to provide a different kind of transitional housing than currently exists. He described this as a place where rent is held low to provide a “mid step.”

“The mid step would be a property that is owned, that is depressed in cost because it’s covered by the city, any other entity, and it makes it possible for the rent that is attainable,” Sanders said. “The individual can make that rent payment and they can stay there 18, 24 months while they figure out other things, work with case managers, work through wraparound services, and eventually move into a permanent rental situation.”

City Councilor Michael Payne pointed out that the solutions are going to be expensive such as Vista29 costing a little less than $30 million put together with multiple partnerships. He said the city cannot do it alone and encouraged people in the audience who want to help solve the problem to think like builders.

“If you’re interested in it on your own, look through property listings in the community, see what’s for sale, look at what it would look like to be able to acquire that site,” Payne said. “If there are renovations needed on that site, what is the amount of money and work, volunteer labor that would need to go into renovating it.”

At one point, the city had approached the Salvation Army about using their thrift store on Cherry Avenue. Sanders suggested that the city might purchase the property from them in order to help them close out their capital campaign for the Center for Hope.

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