Shine the Light Chat with Mandy Herbert

SHINE THE LIGHT CHAT

SMBW sat down with the Executive Director of HomeAgain, Mandy Herbert to discuss the housing crisis and homelessness in Richmond.

Tell us about your role at HomeAgain.

I’m Mandy Herbert, the Executive Director at HomeAgain, and I joined the organization in August of 2021.

How did you come to work in housing equity? Why are you passionate about this issue?

I have been in the nonprofit world for close to 20 years. I previously worked within the nonprofit sphere of the health care industry, specifically patient assistance, where I was a fundraiser and program creator for the rare and chronic illness communities.

After COVID and over a decade in health care, it was time for a transition. During my time in the patient assistance arena, I became familiar with our patients and those who struggled to not only afford the high costs of the medication that kept them alive, but also the cost to maintain their household and their home.

These patients often faced the decision of paying for life saving treatment or keeping a roof over their head. That's just not a decision that anyone should have to make, and I did have experiences where the patients that we assisted became homeless because of that really difficult decision. So, the link for me to HomeAgain was dealing with those types of challenges in the past and then really wanting to come over to the housing side of things.

Describe the mission of HomeAgain.

HomeAgain helps individuals and families experiencing homelessness, secure and maintain a home again.

We’ve been doing this for over 40 years, and we have two emergency shelters, one for families, the other for men and veterans, and then two community housing programs which are rapid rehousing and permanent supportive housing. On an annual basis, we can see and support anywhere between 400 and 500 individuals across all of our programs.

What are some of the specific programs and offerings of your organization?

Our family shelter, The Espigh Family Shelter supports upwards of 30 to 35 individuals. Everyone's usually coming in as a family unit, and within the family shelter, we not only help our residents locate housing, we also help them with childcare, tutoring for the children, workforce development, and aid them in locating and hopefully securing jobs. If you're a person who's on the move, birth certificates, licenses, and other documents that are essential to seeking employment and housing can get lost, so we help our clients obtain that documentation. We also provide financial literacy courses. The list goes on and on, and all of those service offerings are also available in our men's and veterans shelter and community housing programs.

For 40 years, HomeAgain has helped people experiencing homelessness in the greater Richmond area secure and maintain a home again.

About two years ago HomeAgain was fortunate to receive funding from the Jenkins Foundation, which allowed us to create a partnership with a company called Family Insight, to provide our clients with mental health and substance use disorder counseling which can be done in a group setting or individual setting. Over the past two years, clients have taken advantage of the program and addressed underlying issues, which has made them more successful when they're independently living on their own.

Explain housing equity— what makes housing inequitable or equitable?

Right now in Richmond, housing is popping up everywhere that we look. If you go down Broad Street, you'll see apartments and condos being built everywhere, and if you come out to the Midlothian area there are different types of development, whether it's a condo, houses or apartments. Despite all of these housing options being introduced, the issue comes down to affordability and capacity. Some developments are being put in place of public housing, making it harder, if not impossible, for lower income families and individuals to maintain housing. Others are being built in already crowded areas. We don't have enough room in our schools to accommodate the growing population of people seeking affordable housing.

The average rent for a one bedroom apartment in this area is about $1,300 a month. If you look at the average mortgage for a house according to a 2021 US Census, it's just over $1,600 a month. How is it that a one bedroom apartment costs almost as much— and sometimes more, depending on location—as a mortgage for a house? It just doesn't seem attainable.

Why would someone pay near the same amount on a rental property as they would for a mortgage? It's simply not affordable. We may have housing being developed, but even people who are not currently experiencing homelessness and are working decent jobs with decent pay are struggling to afford housing. I don't foresee it improving without us advocating for change.

What are the barriers to maintaining housing for those experiencing homelessness?

Over the past couple of years, increasing debt and layoffs have become a huge factor in our community.

We've seen not only mental health issues increase, but we've also seen other underlying conditions arise, and with that comes the high cost of treatment. You have many people who can no longer work, and are going down that Social Security disability route, which is a challenge in itself to obtain.

Location can also be a huge barrier, making it incredibly difficult to get to and from a job or have access to a grocery store or good schools. It's vital that everybody, regardless of their race, gender, social status, income, etc., have equal access to the resources that we all need to maintain a stable life.

What challenges does HomeAgain come across in supporting affordable housing initiatives?

HomeAgain's mission it to help individuals and families experiencing homelessness secure and maintain a home, again. When we find a place for a client to move, the challenges are not solely limited to affording utilities or rent. Even just getting those basic things like furniture or cleaning and cooking supplies, that everyone needs in order to function within their home, is challenging.

How do you think Richmond declaring a housing crisis will help?

At HomeAgain, we've actually seen an increase in the conversations between HomeAgain our partners in the Continuum of Care and the city. The city has taken great interest in trying to figure out ways to help us increase and find affordable housing, and do that in a way in which we can then provide supportive comprehensive services. They definitely see the need for added support and they have seen the positive impact we've made with COVID relief funds and other public funding. Right now we are starting to see more areas of the government really dig deep to try to help us come up with solutions.

Why is having a home so important for those going through physical, financial, or emotional crises?

We follow the housing first model, and that teaches us that in order to set our clients up for success we need to put a roof over their heads first. From there we can address any underlying conditions or contributing factors to homelessness in a safe and secure environment. We want to make sure that we not only get them housing but also follow it up with all of our comprehensive services.

You're not going to achieve success or stability if you don't have a place to live. For those experiencing homelessness, tackling additional obstacles like physical or mental health can be nearly impossible.

For example, attending a mental health counseling session: how are you going to get there? How can you heal and learn the life skills that are needed to live independently when you're living on the street?

Something has to come first and within the Continuum of Care, we believe that it's housing.

How do you advocate for families and individuals experiencing homelessness?

I always say, we can't expect everybody to know the challenges—education is key. We need to educate our community, developers, and representatives on the city, state, and federal levels. Part of that education process is sharing our clients’ stories and pulling the data that we know shows the positive impact we have on our community in the hundreds of lives we change annually.

It's our job as the experts in this field to share our stories and data so we can arm our representatives and communities with the right tools and knowledge to be a part of the solution.

What do you want our audience to get out of this?

I would want our community to learn from this initiative and to better understand the various reasons that the folks we serve experience homelessness and better understand the different ways that we as a community can break down barriers for those in need. I'd also like them to be open minded and have constructive conversations; there are times when we might find a building that we could potentially transform into affordable housing or even shelters for those in need, but the community members around that area have one perspective, maybe based on how they have learned or heard about homelessness, in either a positive or negative light. They come into the conversation with their mind already made up.

They've already created their own story as to why these community members should or should not be living alongside them.

I would urge the community to find ways to support those around them who are trying to make our community better and stronger by solving homelessness.

The community can either support us from afar or approach us and become an active part of that solution.

There's no wrong way to be involved. It just starts with educating yourself and taking whatever step is necessary and appropriate for you to support our community in our efforts to end homelessness.

Mandy Herbert HomeAgain, Executive Director