Help to the homeless

By Kipp Hanley

Published: November 5, 2008

It took nearly six years, but the Catholic Charities of Arlington homeless project in Woodbridge couldn't have come to fruition at a better time.

Together with HomeAid Northern Virginia, Catholic Charities announced Wednesday its plans to renovate the Natchez Apartment complex on G Street for transitional housing for homeless families.

"The good news is that we are providing transitional housing for the homeless," Catholic Charities Executive Director Stephen Luteran told the dozens of people attending Wednesday's 30-minute program. "The bad news is that we have homeless people [in the county]."

Catholic Charities estimates there are 11,000 homeless people in Northern Virginia.

Catholic Charities will likely consider some of the overflow of individuals at shelters as candidates for the apartments, said Luteran. It estimates that the 14-unit complex across the street from Cardinal Montessori School will take three to four months to renovate and will eventually serve up to 20 to 25 homeless families per year.

Prince William Supervisor Martin E. Nohe, R-Coles, attended along with various members from charitable organizations and Beazer Homes, which agreed to take on the project.

Nohe, who grew up in the same neighborhood, said it was great to see private organizations assisting their community when potential dollars from the county government are expected to be scarce come this fiscal year.

"We are facing a tough [budget] road ahead," Nohe said. "One of the things that's tough is just when our resources start to shrink, that's when they need our help."

Catholic Charities' purchase of the site was accomplished through a recent capital campaign. And Catholic Charities estimates that its partnership with HomeAid will ultimately save almost $250,000 in costs—money it can provide directly to servicing the homeless.

HomeAid is the non-profit charitable arm of the Northern Virginia Building Industry Association. One of its many projects in Northern Virginia includes the recently completed Action in Community Through Service building in Dumfries.

The new project also falls in line with the Prince William area's Consolidated Housing and Community Development Plan, which outlined its goal of having eight units "created and/or maintained over the next five years through acquisition, construction or rehabilitation for the purpose of providing a suitable living environment for the homeless."

Homeless families will have an on-site case worker and services such as financial assistance for schooling and a mandatory savings account that's returned to them once they move out for good.

While families can live for up to two years in the complex, Catholic Charities will keep in contact with them for the next year to make sure they don't relapse back into homelessness, said Luteran.

Eventually, Catholic Charities hopes to launch an adopt-a-family program where local residents can provide guidance and mentoring to families living in the complex.

"Every single family should have a place to raise their children," Luteran said.

HomeAid president David Cogley said he's proud to be associated with an organization that's able to acquire resources for a project like this even in the worst of economic times.

"When the housing industry goes down the toilet, [it's nice to know] that if we needed this at cost, or that for free, nobody ever turned us down," Cogley said.

Staff writer Kipp Hanley can be reached at 703-878-8062.