CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – Charlottesville City Council is scheduled to hear a comprehensive update on the homeless situation in the city, and the body will consider authorizing “up to $4 million dollars for emergency sheltering services and direct to housing initiatives in collaboration with the Department of Human Services,” according to the agenda for Monday’s meeting.

This comes as the city continues to move forward with its plan to clear the Free Bridge homeless encampment on or around Sept. 1 and open the property at 2000 Holiday Dr. as a temporary shelter.

Monday afternoon’s presentation will be the first update from City Human Services Director Misty Graves since City Manager Sam Sanders announced, in June, he was building a human services team from Graves’ department, “to help both in the administrative offices and out in the streets.”

She will be joined by Assistant City Manager Samuel Roman, who gave Council details at the July 21 meeting on the plans regarding the Free Bridge encampment.

At that presentation, Roman said Graves, along with City Councilor Jen Fleisher, were providing coordination support for the assessment and PIT (Point In Time) count team, who will facilitate the needs assessment and the count for people staying in the encampment “and beyond.”

People and Congregations Engaged in Ministry (PACEM) staff, as well as clinical staff from UVA Medical Center, were leading this effort, according to Roman.

“The intent is to learn about each individual’s current needs and begin gathering information helpful to prioritize and organize transition plans,” Roman said. “Director Graves’ staff has also been assigned to the team as assessors and scribes, and this will take place beginning today (Monday) throughout likely July 31.”

He said at the end of the data gathering, the city will use the information to finalize plans to open Holiday Dr.

The other priority Roman expressed is the cleanup of the encampment spaces.

“Our goal is, and will continue to be, restoring the space to its original intended use,” Roman said. “As a result, we are not waiting until Sept. 1 to begin.”

Sanders said, in June, the city was looking at the legalities of what they can and can’t do with the encampment.

A 2024 U.S. Supreme Court City of Grant’s Pass v Johnson decision overturned some lower court rulings that said an entity could only clear a public space if those people had someplace else to go.

The Justices in a 6-3 decision overturned those rulings.

The city still continues working on plans for the comprehensive low-barrier shelter for that Holiday Drive location in the longer term.

Holiday Drive, as both a short-term temporary and long-term low-barrier shelter has sparked concern from local businesses in that Holiday Drive-Emmet Street corridor.

The Virginia Restaurant, Lodging, and Travel Association has sent a letter to the city expressing concerns about the city’s expedited timeline to open the Holiday Drive shelter and questioning what steps will be taken to limit the impact on local businesses in that area.

In a copy of the letter obtained by Cville Right Now, the VRLTA questioned whether camping would be permitted on the property, will there be any adjustments to bus service to support the shelter, and would there be a police presence on site.

The letter also questions whether the city will upgrade street lights in the area of the shelter or adjust parking in the area.

The city homeless services plan also includes the new Salvation Army “Center of Hope” for which the city helped kick off fundraising to build.

The organization’s local leaders are hoping to replace the existing facility with the brand new 47,000 square foot “Center of Hope.”

To do that, the Salvation Army launched the public portion of the “Hope Has A Place” capital campaign at Tuesday’s event, with the goal of raising $28 million toward the construction of the new center. The Salvation Army has already raised $17 million, but the remaining $11 million is still a steep number for the organization.

“That is great news, but we have quite aways to go,” board member Richard Nunley said in his remarks at the event. “And it needs all of us to get in and pitch and do our best to raise this money so we can have this outstanding facility for our community.”

Maj. Donald Wilson of the Salvation Army of Charlottesville told Cville Right Now the plans for the new center have been in the works for almost 10 years. The current site’s three structures, built between 1969 and the early ’80s, includes 55 beds for men and women, and is the only emergency shelter for men and women in the county.

But what Wilson said makes the Salvation Army different is its commitment to work with people for extended periods of time, helping them out of homelessness.

“They have to have a desire to do it, and a lot of folks do,” he said. “It’s just [they] don’t have the support mechanism, or the people who walk with them through these items.”

Once built, the new center will allow for the Salvation Army to help even more people. The center will double the capacity of beds from 55 to 110 while also moving from a “congregational” shelter to private four-person pods for increased safety.

The center will also double the capacity of the dining facility, allowing it to serve 120 people at a time and increase family accommodations, providing seven two-bedroom apartments for 28 total occupants.