Community Comes Together To Support the Homeless
How deeply pervasive is homelessness in Prince William County and its surrounding areas?
According to The Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG), homelessness is defined as “living in emergency shelter, transitional housing, domestic violence shelters, runaway youth shelters, safe havens, or places not meant for human habitation, such as streets, parks, alleys, abandoned buildings, and stairways.”
The COG provided a report that included these statistics of the homeless numbers in the Metropolitan area, including Prince William County for 2018 and 2019.
Prepared by the Homeless Services Planning and Coordinating Committee
To help combat homelessness, several nonprofit organizations across Prince William County work to provide services and resources to residents in need, such as: emergency housing, shelters, food, and permanent housing.
In Prince William County, Va ACTS is an organization that gives people a place to get help through their housing program, which states in part: “Rapid Re-housing is a federal and state-funded program designed to give literally homeless individuals and families the opportunity to rent their own place. Those that qualify as literally homeless can come from places not meant for habitation, such as cars, campsites, and benches.”
While Va Acts works to house inidviduals and families, newely-housed individuals remain in need of essential items such as toiletries. Thankfully, a collaborative effort between three local businesses: My Natural Me, Keep The Box, LLC, and An Added Touch Salon, have launched a campaign to provide 10 welcome boxes to the ACTS Housing department filled with practical items for someone moving into their new home.
How you can help:
(1) Sponsor a Box : $25 or $50
(2) Donate items in person to An Added Touch Salon on the following date and time ONLY:
Saturday, January 9th (10 AM – 2 PM)
1380 Old Bridge Rd., Woodbridge, VA 22192
Needed items: trash bags, sponges, dish soap, dish towels, napkins, bath towels, hand towels, washcloths (2 each), toothbrushes with holders, extra toilet paper, toilet brushes.
You can follow the various organizations supporting this cause below:
https://www.facebook.com/mynaturalmewoman
https://www.facebook.com/keepthebox
https://www.facebook.com/An-Added-Touch-Salon-154170904616338
For more information on how you can help support this that will end January 15th, please contact Keep The Box, LLC at keeptheboxllc@gmail.com
