A man stands in the rain, he can’t feel his toes anymore because he has been out all day, with his tools on his belt, trying to find any odd job.  He is hungry, he has been unable to get to a soup kitchen because that is across town from where he has been looking for work.  He is waiting for the shelter to open trying not to let the frustration defeat him.

In large cities such as New York, Washington DC, or Chicago, homelessness is a problem people expect.  It is easy to forget that homelessness occurs everywhere, even in a small city such as Charlottesville.  While the Charlottesville/Albemarle area is a nationally acclaimed place to live, for some of our residents the cost of living often outstrips their ability to earn a living wage.  The number one reason people cited for staying at PACEM last year was the inability to afford housing in the area.

People staying in our shelters all have different stories of how and why they came.  People have lost spouses or children and were not able to emotionally recover.  People made mistakes when they were young, served time in prison, but had no place to go once they were released.  People were laid off from work and no longer able to afford their homes.

Last year, PACEM found that the face of homelessness significantly changed from years past.  The most notable facts were:

1)  the number of women increased in our shelter;

2)  the number of  young adults or people of retirement age increased; and

3)  the number of people coming from living on the street increased drastically.

The PACEM shelter helps our neighbors who have fallen on hard times by providing peace from the storm of life.  Our Guest Advocacy helps people not only find practical ways to move forward with their lives, and helps give back hope – enabling our guests to believe in themselves.