Testimony before the Arlington County Board, Dec. 13, 2011
Year-Round Emergency Shelter

Good evening. My name is Stephen Davis, and I have lived in Arlington County for over 30 years. I’m here tonight to speak on behalf of the Arlington Green Party in support of a year-round, low-barrier emergency shelter to be established as soon as possible.

As this Board has heard on numerous occasions, homelessness in Arlington continues to be a chronic, challenging issue.

On November 22 the County Manager announced a proposed plan whereby the County would acquire an office building at 14th Street North for the purpose of providing a year-round emergency shelter for Arlington’s homeless population as well as to provide added office space for County staff.

We support this proposal as a necessary but not fully sufficient measure to address homelessness in Arlington. First, as has been reported, acquisition of the proposed facility requires clearance of several legal and administrative hurdles to become a reality. If even one of these obstacles proves to be fatal, then Arlington’s homeless folks are back to square one or, in their situation, back on the streets. Therefore, we would support development of parallel, simultaneous plans and initiatives for a year-round shelter in case the nascent 14th Street North proposal does not bear fruit.

Second, our understanding is that the County Manager’s proposal may take an extended period to be implemented, by some accounts early 2013 at the earliest. We believe that Arlington’s homeless people should not have to wait that long to obtain the shelter they so desperately need. Until the 14th Street North shelter becomes available we believe that a year-round interim shelter facility should be located and developed so that homeless people will not be required to “shelter in place” when tropical rains and wind invariably come during the summer season.

Third as we’ve noted in the past, apart from the humane obligation of immediately addressing this issue, a year round shelter provides a stable environment for delivery of the social services the homeless require to rise out of homelessness.

We again ask that you recognize the critical need for a permanent, adequately-funded, year-round emergency shelter and that you commit an additional $300,000 to the establishment of this year around, low-barrier shelter in the fy2012 budget.

Note-the County Board voted unanimously at the end of the public hearing to approve the $25 million purchase of the office building in the courthouse area that will host the year round shelter, together with the necessary offices for homeless counselors and staff to work directly with homeless people. The building will host county employees on most of the floors of the building with the first two floors reserved for the future shelter.