SHINE THE LIGHT CHAT

SMBW sat down with the Executive Director of HomeAgain, Mandy Herbert and 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? have been in the nonprofit world for close to 20 years now. 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 numerous years in health care, I decided it was time for a transition. During my time in that patient assistance arena, I became familiar with our patients and those who struggle 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. And 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 that for over 40 years, and we have two shelters, one for families, the other is 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, we help with tutoring for the children, we help them locate and hopefully secure 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 those service offerings are also available from our main shelter. We have 20 beds dedicated to men, and then eight specifically dedicated to our veterans.

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. And we've really seen over the past two years clients take advantage of that program and address underlying issues, which is making them more successful when they're independently living on their own.

Explain housing equity— what makes housing inequitable?

Right now in Richmond, housing is popping up everywhere that we look. If you go off Broad Street, you'll see apartments popping up, 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 afford-ability and capacity. We don't have enough room in our schools to accommodate those who might choose to live in those different types of housing units, and the average rent for a house in this area is about $1,300 a month. If you look at the average mortgage for a house in this area, though, it's also $1,300 a month. It just doesn't seem attainable.

Why would someone pay the same amount that pay for a mortgage for a rental home? And why are they being charged that for a one bedroom apartment? It's not affordable. Yes, we may have housing popping up, but even people who are not currently experiencing homelessness and are working decent jobs with decent pay, are struggling to just afford housing. I don't foresee it necessarily improving without us advocating for change.

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

Over the past couple of years, debt and layoffs have become a huge factor. 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 having access to a grocery store or good schools. It's vital that everybody, regardless of their backgrounds or locations, have equal access to the resources that we all need to maintain a stable living situation.

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

HomeAgain's Rapid Rehousing Program finds permanent supportive housing solutions for those experiencing homelessness. When we do find a place for a client to move, the challenges are not 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 coming from the city. They have taken a 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 those comprehensive services. They definitely see the need and they see what we have done with some of the COVID relief funds. Right now we are starting to see more areas of local government really open up and dig in 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 and Families First model, and that teaches us that there are underlying conditions that need to be addressed that require support in order to set our clients up for success and one of those conditions is that they cannot be successful without a roof over their heads where they feel comfortable. We want to make sure that we not only get them housing but also follow it up with all of our comprehensive services. Because as you and know, you're not going to achieve success if you don't have stability or a place to live.

Housing comes first on the list of challenges and needs that have to be addressed. 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 those in our community, developers, and legislators in city, state, and federal levels of our government. Part of that education process is sharing our clients’ stories and pulling the data that we know tells that story and supports that need. 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 become homeless 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; there are times when we might find a building that we could potentially transform into apartments that are affordable to those in need, but the community members around that area have one thought in their mind, maybe based on how they were brought up or conversations they've had, but they've kind of made up their own story as to why these community members should not be living where they are.

I would also urge the community find ways of supporting 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