RICHMOND, Va. -- After the City of Richmond opened only half its number of cold weather shelters in time to protect the homeless population from this weekend's dangerous arctic blast, a majority of Richmond City Council has expressed frustrations and demanded accountability.
For several months, the city administration said it would open four inclement weather shelters, by partnering with community organizations, in time for winter.
However, as of Christmas Eve, the city has opened just two.
The two overnight shelters offer 100 beds combined, but both shelters were at full capacity Friday evening as temperatures dipped into the single digits.
The most recent data from Homeward showed about 450 people are houseless on any night across the region.
The city failed to open a third shelter in partnership with Commonwealth Catholic Charities (CCC) by its intended deadline due to delays in working out a contract, which would secure $1.3 million for CCC. Despite the delay, CCC said it temporarily opened its emergency shelter anyway, without any help from the city, because of the freezing temperatures.
CCC said the move was made possible by donations from private partners.
Currently, CCC has 30 beds and hoped to double that number next week.
Outreach partners will make referrals to CCC to fill the beds.
Friday evening, people who waited outside the Chamberlayne Avenue location approached CBS 6 crews and claimed they were unable to get inside. They said they did not know where to go to find warmth.
RELATED: Richmond approves funds to renovate and operate inclement weather shelters
"This was a preventable failure that the administration can and should be held accountable for," 5th District Councilmember Stephanie Lynch said.
Lynch previously warned that failures to expand the capacity for the homeless community would create life-threatening situations for those forced to spend the night on the streets.
Now, she's calling for an investigation into how the city ended up in this position.
"We have been consistent as a council body in raising our concerns about the current capacity for our unhoused residents and have been pushing for more shelter space during extreme weather events, like the one we are experiencing this weekend," Lynch said. "We called for additional overnight spaces, throughout the winter season and had continued to advocate that it is the city’s moral obligation to provide shelter space for the safety, health, and welfare of our homeless residents, particularly during an emergent weather event."
Several other council members also expressed disappointment.
"We shouldn't be here," 9th District Councilmember Mike Jones said. "Council did everything in its power to ensure that this didn't happen. And we did it with enough lead time that we shouldn't be here, because in April, May, June, we were having these conversations."
Jones said he was frustrated that zoning issues have prevented some organizations, such as churches, to open their doors to house people.
The city's fourth inclement weather shelter, which will be located at 5th Street Baptist Church, remains in limbo due to a zoning issue. That shelter likely won't be up and running until January.
"So the question is, do we really care? As citizens at large, do we really care about people experiencing what they're experiencing right now?" Jones said.
Asked if the city administration dropped the ball, Jones said, "Absolutely."
Jones added he wants answers as to how Mayor Levar Stoney and Chief Administrative Officer Lincoln Saunders, as the administration’s leaders, will move forward from here.
"The city administration did not do their job. They did not look out for the poorest of the poor," 8th District Councilmember Reva Trammell said. "We got the warning weeks ago that this could possibly be happening."
The city opened Richmond City Hall as a warming center Christmas Eve and will again Christmas Day from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., but Trammell said she was concerned over where people will go once the daytime warming shelter closed.
"They'll freeze to death," Trammell said. "Where do they go tonight? Do they have a place tonight? This is wrong. The administration had plenty enough time to deal with this."
3rd District Councilmember Ann-Frances Lambert volunteered at City Hall on Saturday.
She said about 20 people were utilizing the resource as of Saturday afternoon but that there was space to accommodate more.
However, she said the city could benefit from additional volunteers by calling the homeless liaison number at 804-944-6004.
"We're asking folks to give their heart and give their time if they can come to help us at our warming centers," Lambert said. "It's our responsibility to serve the public, and we have to help, serve and protect in the cold temperatures."
Lambert said once the warming center closes, there will be transportation to take some people to emergency shelters.
While Lambert is appreciative of the last-minute efforts to support the city's homeless residents, she's disappointed to see persistent delays in opening up shelters.
"We are failing. We are failing in that capacity, but there are a lot of people that are doing the work and helping with the solution, so it's an all-hands-on-deck affair," Lambert said. "We've been talking about this since April. We have to do a better job, so [opening City Hall] is at least a step to help rectify the wrongs."
Councilmember Kristen Nye in the 4th District also voiced her concerns.
"I'm extremely frustrated that we don't have more beds available for our unsheltered population this time of year. Council has taken steps to allocate more funding for our most vulnerable residents, but it appears to be tied up with red tape," Nye said. "We have seen the increase in our homeless population over the last several years and have had enough time to plan, so it's a huge disappointment that we are offering a limited number of shelter beds."
And marking the sixth councilmember to speak out, 1st District Representative Andreas Addison said the administration needs to take action.
“It is unconscionable to be in this position. We have been working towards a solution for those residents needing shelter from the elements since before I took office. We have had far too many answers become false starts for far too long. It’s time to take action and make this the priority it is for our city. While Council can approve funding and pass legislation, it’s up to the Administration to act and implement,” Addison said.
City of Richmond spokesperson Petula Burks said the city was working quickly to put emergency plans in place for homeless families.
"The City has worked with RVA Sisters Keeper to expand their ability to shelter additional families, the elderly, and the disabled. We are working with our outreach personnel to get this information out," Burks said.
The city is also calling on community members to step up to fill in any potential gaps.
"We’d like to ask our community partners and stakeholders who work in this space and have in the past opened their doors to help our most vulnerable to consider doing that again throughout this cold and dangerous weekend," Burks said.
The city's two shelters will remain open through Monday. Then, officials will monitor weather conditions to determine a schedule for the rest of the week.
The two 24-hour shelters open through the weekend are:
- 1901 Wall Street (United Nations Church) for men
- 2807 Hull Street (RVA Sisters Keeper) for women and children
This is a developing story, so anyone with more information can email newstips@wtvr.com to send a tip.
