Businesses, Nonprofits and Citizens Join Forces to Help Families In Need

If anybody understands the importance of housing, it’s a Realtor®. Each day Realtors® experience the joy of helping people find a new home, and they see how stressful the search for housing can be. Imagine the stress experienced by those in our community who do not have a place to call home  – the angst and fear they experience daily. 

It might be surprising to learn that in a county as wealthy as Fairfax, there are approximately 1,300 people experiencing homelessness every day. Nearly 30 percent of the homeless are children. More than 60 percent of the adults in families who are in homeless shelters are employed, but their earnings can’t support the cost of housing in this area. 

Those who are homeless become even more vulnerable during the winter. Fairfax County’s Office to Prevent and End Homelessness (OPEH) manages a Hypothermia Prevention Program which runs from November-March. The program relies on partners to help carry out the life-saving mission that gives our most vulnerable neighbors a safe, sheltered and warm place stay. In 2012-2013, 1,078 individuals were served by the program, and there were no deaths due to hypothermia in our community. Moreover, many were moved into permanent housing. 

OPEH is part of the Fairfax-Falls Church Partnership to Prevent and End Homelessness, which was created to bring together citizens, businesses, government leaders, the faith community and nonprofit organizations to work collaboratively to end homelessness locally. The Northern Virginia Association of Realtors® has been helpful in addressing local homelessness through its support of the Partnership’s Jeans Day initiative (http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/homeless/events/jeansday/2013-jeans-day-event.htm). 

The partnership’s efforts are making a difference. Partners and supporters have helped reduce homelessness in our community by 26 percent since 2007. If you can help make an additional impact or have other thoughts about how Realtors® can make a difference, please contact Dean.Klein@fairfaxcounty.gov or learn more at www.fairfaxcounty.gov/homeless.

Dean Klein, Director, Fairfax County Office to Prevent and End Homelessness