RICHMOND, Va. -- Shiloh Tillman knows what it's like to not have a safe place to sleep.
"It's a struggle," she said, recounting the days when she had nowhere to call home. "I can say, with my own experience, I have seen people come from high up places to literally losing everything within a matter of moments."
She's now using her experience to guide the housing insecurity advocacy group Homeward to help young adults in need of shelter.
Tillman is on Homeward's Youth Action Board (YAB).
The Board is comprised of young adults who have experience with housing insecurity who may speak on behalf of those still struggling to find housing.
The number of those experiencing homelessness in the greater Richmond area is about 30% higher than it was before the pandemic, according to Homeward's Point in Time (PIT) data.
About 7% of the current population experiencing homelessness is between the ages of 18 and 24.
Rising housing prices and diminishing affordable housing options, as well as limited guidance on how to access financial resources, are contributing factors.
“It can be the struggle of trying to find a job," Tillman said. "It could also be just trying to find resources and knowing that they’re always consistent.”
Homeward reports about 37% of youth experiencing homelessness in its service area identify as part of the LGBTQ+ community.
“As a member of the LGBTQ+ community myself, there are a lot of ways in how you navigate the world and how you’re able to really understand yourself in context of the people you’re around. It can be the contributing factor to the beginning of someone’s homelessness," Frances Marie Pugh, a special projects manager with Homeward, said. "It could be the breakdown of a relationship relating to coming out or something along those lines. The age range of 18-24 is a particularly vulnerable time for anybody, so without stable housing, it becomes a lot more difficult to navigate everything else that’s going on in someone’s life.”
Homeward is now applying for $2 million in federal funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to address the specific needs of the younger population turning to YAB members like Tillman for guidance.
According to the Greater Richmond Continuum of Care, about 68% of funding to address homelessness comes from federal funding alone.
“We don’t have any emergency shelters that are specifically targeted to this focus group," Horne said. "There are some programs that are a little bit longer term but having programs that understand employment opportunities for youth, or how to use text messaging, I mean that seems pretty basic.”
Tillman said she believed leadership from the YAB will help to better allocate funds, and specifically cater to the target population.
“I don’t believe age defines a person, I believe it’s the experience and knowledge that they get from everything that they’ve been through. If you can hear at least one voice, hear the youth’s voice, because we all matter," she said.
Homeward will not know if it'll receive this funding, or how much will be given, until later this fall.
