Fairfax Homeless Services See Increased Demand During Cold Weather

FAIRFAX CITY, VA — As Northern Virginians prepare for this weekend's winter storm that's expected to drop up to 3 inches of snow across the region, organizations serving the area's unhoused population are preparing for an increased demand for their services.

FACETS, which began 40 years ago serving meals from a home basement, provides essential services to residents experiencing homelessness, particularly during periods of cold weather. These services include emergency provisions, stabilization support, and community networking.

During the January winter storms that dumped snow and ice across much of Virginia, FACETS continued to provide hot meals to anyone who showed up a one of the organization's many drop off sites.

"If you look at the people that turn up for hot meals, everybody's got a story," said FACETS Director of Development Paul Grist. "There are guys who have been federal workers, who still have jobs but are so lowly paid, or they're on furlough, that they were turning up for food assistance. There are people that live in their cars that are trying to make a life. There are people that live in camps in the woods. Everyone has a story, and it's a no questions asked service."

In Fairfax City, for example, hot meals are served every afternoon out of the back of a van in the Home Depot parking lot.

"When you actually talk to all of these people, you know there's a real story," Grist said."A lot of it has to do with heartbreak and tragedy."

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Every other week, FACETS offers fresh produce and food essentials, such as milk, eggs, and meet for families via its Education and Community Development (ECD) Centers. In addition, a monthly food distribution event in Alexandria distributes thousands of pounds of groceries to members of the community.

"We provide food distribution through some of our permanent shelters that we have across the county," Grist said. "We have pantries in our four community centers, and people can come to those community centers for things like legal services or education services, but a staple of those community centers is the pantries, where they can also collect essentials."

Distributing hot meals 365 days a year is a core part of FACETS' mission. This service becomes especially vital during severe weather conditions, such as those experienced at the end of January, when frigid temperatures and a mix of snow and ice blanketed the region.

"Providing the hot meals is there, but on top of that, and probably more importantly, we run a hypothermia shelter program across Fairfax with about 50 different churches," Grist said."

The hypothermia shelter program runs from Dec. 1 to April 1, offering a warm place to sleep and a hot meal nightly. Approximately 500 unique individuals utilize this program each winter.

The program was started about 20 years ago following the deaths of two unsheltered individuals in Fairfax due to cold weather. No such deaths have occurred since the program's inception.

FACETS now employs around 70 people and is expanding to approximately 100 staff members. This growth is due to its recent acquisition and management of Bailey's Shelter & Supportive Services, which offers emergency services to help individuals get off the streets and find pathways to more permanent housing.

The Bailey's Shelter, which has 18 permanent beds and around 50 temporary beds daily, saw a significant increase in demand during the recent cold snap. The number of individuals seeking shelter at Bailey's literally doubled, as people sought refuge from the extreme cold.

3 Ways People Can Help FACETS

1. Monetary contributions
   • One-time or monthly donations via the FACETS website.
2. In-kind donations
   • Donating goods (through churches, dropping items at FACETS, or other listed options on the FACETS website.
3. Volunteering
   • Serving directly in programs like the hot meals program and other FACETS services.

"We also have what we call drives," Grist said. Every year we have a backpack drive for kids going back to school who need school essentials. So, we stuff backpacks with all the things they're going to need in the year."

In addition, FACETS provides Thanksgiving meals for about 500 families and conducts a gift drive so that familes can provide toys for their children.