i think it’s reasonable to hold the nuance of feeling fear/frustration and even anger toward outwardly aggressive unhoused people AND understanding that they are often victims of a society that’s failed them. it’s not all black and white and if we dig between the “sides”, i think most of us actually agree in the end. 💔
homelessness is 100% a crisis — not just here but everywhere — and we have to have some kind of solution or improvement to the situation as a whole, otherwise these folks will continue to have nowhere to go, and suffer outwardly. it’s all very sad and very frustrating, and can often become very unsafe.
From the [great cville weekly story](https://www.c-ville.com/the-downtown-mall-past-present) about the mall was this note: “In addition, the new city budget includes funding for the development of “anchor teams,” made up of a law enforcement officer, a paramedic, and a mental health clinician, to respond to situations that require a broader response.”
Does anyone know whether the city has made progress with this? Not claiming it solves everything but it’s a start.
I don’t know the specifics of the funding for this program, but assuming the new budget is the fiscal year 2025 budget, that doesn’t start until July 1.
Usually if positions/programs start in a budgeted year, they start the hiring or moving around of staff later in the fiscal year. But maybe they had money in FY 24 for this and have started moving forward, I’m not sure.
I work on the DT mall. Personally witnessed one of these unhoused members of the community piss all over a piece of equipment I set behind a trailer for a few hours. I've come into work to human feces everywhere. I've seen them on security cameras pissing all over an area I have to work.
This problem isn't going to get better until we provide solutions, we just gonna let them ruin every public area possible. DT is already hurting really bad.
Hurts all the businesses of the DT mall. Isn't public urination against the law? This shouldn't be okay. The general public should be able to enjoy public places.
This is why I don’t visit the downtown mall anymore. The homeless people have ruined what used to be a great and prosperous area. After shelling out $800 for a family photo session on DTM, we struggled to get shots that didn’t include homeless people or their squalor in the background. I asked a couple of the bums if they could move while we take a photo. They became aggressive, followed us around and tried to be in every picture until we had enough and left. The city has let this get out of hand.
The worst these people do to me is pester me for money. At least a number of them are respectful after I say no, and I walk away afterwards. However some are more persistent. One was pestering me while I waited for my bus. And another would not let me go as I wanted to conduct my business at CVS. Yeah they can be real pains in the butt.
In the past 2 months I have had 4 interactions with homeless people on the downtown mall.
1. A man followed me as I left my apartment to walk my dog and kept following me until I got back to my apartment.
2. A man and woman yelled insults at me for letting my dog go to the bathroom in the grass. Called me a stuck up bitch for not responding to them and then threatened to shoot me if my dog shit and I didn’t pick it up.
3. I was walking home at night and ran into a guy butt naked and jerking off in an alley.
4. A woman came up to me and asked if we were going to die, if anything bad was going to happen, if she was okay. She then asked me for a hug which I gave to her.
My heart breaks for that last woman. She needs help, she needs resources, and she deserves a chance.
But I find it so hard to have sympathy for the people in those first three scenarios. I’m sure being homeless is harder than anything I’ve ever experienced, maybe some of them have drug or mental health problems, but that does not give them an excuse to treat me the way they did.
Something concrete needs to be done because at this point, with the track record of experiences I’ve had, I am terrified and feel like it’s only a matter of time before someone hurts me or someone else.
Bravo
Exactly my point
There’s got to be a happy medium between empathy and action
…and that starts with acknowledging that,no it really IS NOT great to see someone peeing while you’re having lunch or (my recent experience) have someone scream profanities while putting their finger to my husband’s head in “mock gun style”
It is a problem. And sometimes the most simple solution is sufficient. Install cameras and lawfully convict those who break the law, such as public urination. If I drive too fast, I will get a speeding ticket. If someone else urinates and uses drugs in public, they should have consequences as well. Our public space, such as DT mall should be able to be enjoyed by the public.
There is a lot of self-righteousness in this thread. You can have empathy for the unhoused and sympathy for local businesses trying to be inviting to customers. They’re not mutually exclusive.
I also don't understand the hate for OP posting pictures of this issue and just assuming all sorts of horrible things about them while burying the problem. The definition of entitlement is pretending these issues don't exist. Ridiculous. Homelessness is a complicated multi faceted issue that involves social services, affordable housing, unaddressed mental health and other issues, economic issues, and many many more things but the one thing that won't help anyone is ignoring the problem.
Hey, regular hard working, tax paying, decent folks of all ages and persuasions are trying to make a living at those jobs. This isnt rich vs poor. This is poor being further inconvenienced by the poor-er while no rich person is doing literally anything about it.
I have been homelees. For a few years. Addicted and the whole shebang.
This is not "expected" of someone in poverty. Being poor doesnt destroy your kindness or respect. It doesnt make you like this. I slept outside, just not in front of some ladys local business or whatever.
We need to be patient and understanding of the unhoused but we cant just throw the hundreds of employees on the mall to the wind bc were trying to be righteous from afar.
Can’t upvote this enough. This guy has zero shame, feels entitled, is intentionally not utilizing resources and burning bridges. This guy likely has some mental illness; definitely has a personality disorder.
I'm nothing like an expert, but it seems to me the obvious (if not easy) solution is:
1. high barrier and low barrier shelters with plenty of capacity and wrap-around services
2. require that folks in need use them, and do not allow them to languish on their own in the elements and diminish other folks' enjoyment of precious public spaces
I’m in/around two other cities about the same size of Charlottesville. The homeless situation here is far worse than the other cities. They are condensed in small areas and are obviously people who are dealing with serious mental issues. Frankly, it’s uncomfortable walking around the DT or the Corner as a solo woman. Nothing will be done until someone gets hurt/attacked. This is a nationwide crisis, that is continually ignored. DT Charlottesville is hanging on by a thread. The bougie restaurants/shops will close and/or relocate and then you’ll have nothing but vacated buildings.
Eventually one of them will attack one of the women they \*routinely\* threaten or harass on the downtown mall, but even then I'm not confident anything will be done about it.
This guy literally goes around saying that he’s “vegetarian” and can’t eat most of the fucking food that’s given to him. He also literally refuses to go into The Haven, and got banned permanently because he would not simply tie up his dog outside. He’s a fucking problem, he needs to be literally way waaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyt more fucking grateful for what he has. He really does.
Yikes. You shouldn’t make generalizations about an entire heterogeneous population of people. And, if you give to others who are in need because you want gratitude, you’re doing it for the wrong reasons.
Why are you so surprised that someone that’s living on the streets with no real support and no chance at life has mental issues that they can’t get treated for? I get your point but unless he’s causing harm to a lot of other people it only takes a little understanding to know he’s one person, not the problem itself. I would save your anger for the lack of support for lower class Americans who can’t afford medical treatment, mental health treatment, etc. It only takes one bad mental episode or one missed rent payment and your future is taken from you.
Edit- Just read your other comment. You are not any mentally healthier than this guy is. They are people not objects. They are not “ruining your $90 dinner”, your own judgement is. You are so upset over one person and you have clearly spent way too much time being angry and writing ridiculous comments. That is not a normal reaction to seeing another human being suffering the worst of the worst. You’re causing your own anger.
Just resource sharing but I saw there is a fb page ‘one stop shop Cville’ and also blue ridge health district page sharing an event today that is bimonthly with rent relief job placement food dmv supplies mental health substance abuse etc all free at carver rec
Unfortunately, at the rate we’re going as a nation in how we handle our national and local economic policies, healthcare, and mental health, this will be increasingly common.
I don’t have the solution, but we need to try to do something.
>Housing First program in Utah
Utah's Housing First project **provides apartments to homeless people and doesn't ask questions**. "Housing First,” an initiative to place the homeless into supportive housing without any prerequisites". The program gives everyone a chance to have a home and put their life together, instead of the other way around.
[https://theindexproject.org/award/nominees/997](https://theindexproject.org/award/nominees/997)
You should check the data again. The homeless population “dropped” because they were technically “housed” in the structures. Then the population spiked because they were basically incentivized with said housing. Again technically not homeless so not counted as such. Now operating costs are way higher than before and it keeps getting more expensive.
>we need to try to do something.
You cannot seriously think that no one is doing anything to help the homeless.
But hey, I have some ideas: how about let's push for a ban on investment rental corporations buying up swathes of properties in town and then jacking up the rental prices, implement a vacancy tax/fine for properties that remain uninhabited/unused, stop cutting (or even *raise*) taxes on the top percentage of earners and invest that money elsewhere like education and mental health and addiction and job training resources, and maybe push the federal government to close tax loopholes and the IRS to actually go after wealthy tax cheats.
For more immediate stuff, maybe go up and offer these homeless people water and see if they need help getting access to the resources that Charlottesville has available.
Just a few thoughts.
These people are usually extremely mentally ill, like psychosis and untreated BP1. They need fulltime psych care that nowhere in the country is providing for free.
Or, and hear me out here....
....we can just gripe about the homeless population and how they're making our public spaces unattractive, and then tell them to get a job which wouldn't pay enough for rent anyway.
At some point, possibly?
You certainly don't know any more than I do for this one particular person, but I don't really see how that's relevant. A massive disparity between cost of living and wages is *one cause of housing insecurity*. Another is lack of available and affordable mental health and addiction resources.
The fact that policies and activism and work for addressing these problems *might not solve this one particular guy's issues immediately* is completely beside the point. You can't solve the problems of homelessness by just shoving homeless people out of your town and pretending like you did something productive because you now can't see them. These things would help a hell of a lot of people *avoid ending up like this guy* and *get out of situations like this guy is in*, even if they don't specifically help this one person in this exact moment.
I don't understand why they cannot be charged with loitering
[https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title15.2/chapter9/section15.2-926/](https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title15.2/chapter9/section15.2-926/)
I get that homeless people don't necessarily have any particular place to be but that does not mean they get to loiter on the down town mall.
A bit off topic, but the guy who lives with his dog in the Hardware Store/Urban Outfitters entrance seems like a good person. He’s always straightening up, sweeping out his area, folding up bedding, etc. The dog is the happiest, most well-trained dog I think I’ve ever seen. I’ve walked past at night and the guy and dog are asleep cuddling under the blanket together - pretty cute. I’ve been meaning to stop and introduce myself to him at some point.
If my guy is reading this - glad to have you here. You seem like you’re making the best of whatever circumstances brought you to Charlottesville.
Sure, but I am referring to the condition in which drug use triggers symptoms indistinguishable from schizophrenia, a chronic and severe mental disorder. Unlike drug-induced psychosis, these symptoms persist long after the substance has been cleared from the body.
Homeboy in the first pic is a proper dickhead. Wandered into an establishment I was in and ate from my plate when my back was turned. I'd eaten the lion's share of my food but was still grazing at my side order prior to this. That's his MO, and when confronted about it he becomes an asshole. Like dude, if you're hungry I'll gladly buy you a sandwich or something, damn.
The state of the comments in this subreddit just shows how messed up this town is. The homelessness downtown should not be acceptable. Downtown Charlottesville could be one of the nicest places in the country, but instead it is a scary place to go
Nah bro, because of the societal inequities of our country, homeless people should be allowed to literally do whatever they want. Even otherwise healthy young homeless people panhandling for 12 hours a day in a historically low unemployment job market.
Uh oh, OP, didn’t you know that you can’t critique how people live and beg on the downtown mall? You have to be progressive and live with it. With any luck, we’ll have our own little skid row in 10-15 years.
It’s so ridiculous. Everybody knows what the endpoint is when these policies and attitudes are taken to their logical conclusion. Your city becomes San Francisco with needles all over the ground and people strung out. Heaven forbid we have eyes and see what the future looks like and want to prevent it.
This isn’t some theoretical “I wonder what happens if we encourage homeless encampments” question. We already know the answer.
The guy in the first picture… I can tell you… Is an extremely big problem, and he’s been a big problem for the homeless community, too. The city literally asked him to move to a different spot on the mall, because he’s actually deterring business from one of the businesses downtown, and a number of them around. Caspari not only pays 6000… 6000 fucking dollars in rent but they also pay of money for many other things. The small businesses are fragile, and the guy in the first picture is huge… HUGE…, huge problem, and most of the other homeless people are, too. He has literally been screaming often on throughout the day for the last three days, and he’s been pissing in front of the southern, and Caspari for the last few weeks. He fucking over those chairs and around the trashcan. His trash, literally, was littered around the trashcan. I know for a fact that man doesn’t even try to get off his fucking ass and get a place to live. He doesn’t, and he literally only just now got a job after having been out on the streets like this for at least six months. It literally permanently smells like funk in front of the mall entrance to the train station,, and if it weren’t closed off, you’d smell it. On the other side of the mall in front of the train station the homeless people literally have huge piles of stuff over there. Behind the Historical Society, there is literally shit stacked up, literally, to the fucking ceiling, and a bunch of hanging stuff all over their fucking railings and stuff. There’s also dude that parks his scooter back there as if it’s a fucking driveway, and where the homeless people are. It’s a goddamn fucking house. They’re also literally used to be a very pretty bench back there, but there isn’t any more, and hasn’t been literally for years. A homeless person that took a nap along time ago decided to kick it out for no reason. This is also, literally, the second time the Historical Society has had to deal with someone camping out behind them and creating just such a massive fucking mess. They told one lady literally for months to leave, and she didn’t finally leave until she had to go to jail. She would also, literally, smoke crack in the middle of the fucking park and the police literally never did a goddamn thing about it. They have places to live, but they lose them, and essentially, literally, everything they have to extremely poor life decisions and stuff. I can tell you having been on the streets. It’s literally an unspoken word that you leave early, and you leave no fucking trace, and you don’t leave your goddamn fucking shit everywhere. These homeless people are unhinged, out of control, and beyond anything that is repairable at this point. A lot of them just need to get off their fucking asses and at the very least clean up after themselves, and literally at least fucking try for the lives. A lot… And I mean a lot of the fucking goddamn homeless people in this town make just extremely poor life decisions, and their lives would be better if they didn’t, and they wouldn’t be as on the streets and for as long as they have been if they fucking didn’t. Let’s not forget the fucking homeless dudes on the corner, and how they literally sexually harass, and sometimes even touch the fucking young women down there. As a young woman I feel for them, and it’s just fucking disgusting. It really is. And, unless you are what they, actually, deem an actual homeless person… It’s literally a living fucking hell. I left a bad situation at home, and literally all… All I ever fucking got was some sort of angry, toxic, tirade fucking ranting and it’s literally been nothing different ever since. There’s been a lot that’s happened to me, too. Let’s just say that I’ve experienced a lot of things. Things that no person… No fucking person on the planet should ever fucking experience. Ever. I can see where this person in this picture is coming from, and you wouldn’t fucking believe just how far the extent goes to which I fucking understand, either. Let’s just put it that way. The homeless are a fucking problem, and they literally fucking make a point to making their problem worse. I know this for a goddamn fucking fact. I knew this guy… I literally saw the day… I saw him talking on his fucking phone the day he left his family for crack, and literally didn’t go back, and had an apartment here where I live, and literally fucking lost that, too. All for fucking crack. His family called him on the phone… Just soooooooo many fucking times to figure out where he was, but he literally wouldn’t even tell them. That’s what was happening the day I saw him. His family called him, wondering where the fuck he even was. He had spent, literally, the whole fucking night out smoking crack. These businesses are fragile, that’s what people forget. And I can tell you, for a fact,… I worked for a small business down there. These small business did not want a homeless shelter going in downtown, because they knew literally exactly what would happen. And it did. And worse, actually. It’s sad… But it’s fucking true. It it is. It’s fucking true.
Also, to be honest. If I’m paying fucking 90 bucks for fucking dinner, I don’t wanna fucking see that shit all over the fucking mall. I really don’t. I don’t pay fucking 90 bucks for fucking dinner to see that fucking shit, to see some dude fucking just laying out and everything and stinking and everything, and all his goddamn fucking shit everywhere.
Edit: The guy in the picture is also literally vegetarian, and can’t eat meat. He literally gets extremely big plates, and lots of them, every single fucking night of very expensive nice fucking food on the mall. He literally had a whole feast the other fucking night. But, he just can’t eat it because he’s vegetarian. You take what the fuck you can get out here on these streets, and you don’t fucking complain. You don’t. I’m fucking gluten-free, and Maryetta other people have other things that they wish they could stick to. You take what the fuck you can get, and you goddamn fucking take it. He also literally refused to tie up his dog outside, like everyone else does at The Haven, and literally got banned for it. Like, he’s fine. He’s fine… He’s literally fucking fine.
You’re not wrong. Last year my wife and I opened our home to a homeless woman we met on a local subreddit. No rent, no strings attached. We even paid for her dog to get its shots.
She was able-bodied and neurotypical yet she didn’t find a job for three months—even though I offered her one at the restaurant I work at from day one. And when she finally took that one she was fired within two weeks…
So idk, the homelessness problem is very nuanced and there isn’t a magic bullet. But *part* of the problem for *some* of the people are choices they have made and continue to make—and there’s no policy that can fix that. You can’t legislate a work ethic into someone.
Thank you for sharing your story and for putting a dose of reality into this thread.
I’m exhausted by people in cville; well-intentioned, but also blinded by progressivism and privilege.
Sometimes it’s ok to call a spade a fucking spade. If a disadvantage has found its way into your life, it doesn’t give carte blanche to disrespect people in your community, leave your trash or excrement in public places, and it certainly does not mean you can cause women OR men to fear for their safety.
I understand that there could be mental health issues at play. What I will not do, is make assumptions about someone else’s diagnosis, and what I ABSOLUTELY won’t do, is allow my assumptions to be a golden fucking ticket to a sympathy party that allows them to continue impacting my experience in my community.
It’s lovely to have compassion so long as we have healthy boundaries.
What I haven’t heard on this thread is talk of affordable housing, mental health, and budget-related bills that came through the past few sessions of the General Assembly. It’s imperative to not just vote blue and skim headlines.
The GA session is 100% online and you don’t have to go to Richmond to participate anymore. To search specific issues I suggest [Legiscan](https://www.legiscan.com) or [VPAP](https://www.vpap.org)
Here’s the reality about people who defecate on the streets: you can put them inside of a building and give them 4 walls and a ceiling, and the room will rapidly become a hive of vermin as they shit in the room and live in squalor.
I don’t know that to be the case for all.
Also, I have to say that I moved here from DC and spent a decent amount of time in NYC as well. Witnessed some crazy shit for sure.
But I will say that the friends I had on the street didn’t leave their shit everywhere bc the cops would straight throw it away. And they most certainly didn’t shit or piss on the street, bc the cops would throw their ass in jail. I didn’t piss or shit on the street either (same reason). I can tell you right now that jail in DC is worlds different than our slack ass joke of a jail in cville.
Who knows. Maybe DC has access to federal $$ or their city council is less dysfunctional than cville and they pushed services to frequent flyers or those who clearly needed it. I didn’t pay as much attention as I should have.
My point isn’t to cheerlead for jail. Fuck incarceration. My point is just that we can’t make assumptions and excuses for all adults. Some adults - even those working through diagnosable mental health conditions - need boundaries, consequences, bottoms. Sometimes this is what saves their lives. It’s what saved mine.
It's after 11 AM and in the 1st picture a man is also hugging his dog (which you can't see, so no faces are in the photo) The last photo is the officer explain what he can and can't do and handing the person he is taking to forms and a trespassing form to fill out. (I have no idea how those forms work) I spoke with other store owners that the police will only move someone from in front of the door but not much further. They were washing down the front door area with bleach to eliminate the smell.
They are tho, good work is being done here.
The Haven is literally right behind Hamilton's. But also the city is trying to increase housing. VSH is scheduled to start construction on a huge housing project in Aug 2024.
And Gov Youngkin just signed a bill in the fall for housing initiatives like The Haven and The Crossings.
Unfortunately the more housing they build the more people will show up to use it. Charlottesville has both train and bus transit available which are very cheap. People will come here to use these services when word of mouth spreads that they have space.
I'm talking less about housing (though lack of affordable housing is a problem) and more about heath care and other general support. Region 10 is amazing, but it's perpetually overbooked and understaffed. The Haven and the Salvation Army are in the same boat.
True, more abundant services means more people migrating to the area, and there will always be chronically unhoused. However, providing services that prevent acute cases from becoming chronic ones that further burden the system is a must.
It's amazing some of these businesses continue to pay the city taxes tbh. Must be tempting to tell them to fix their shit first if they want their tax money.
Sorry that having to see unhoused people happened to you.
What do you want the cops to do? Arrest people for existing? For having things? For laying on the ground? For body odor?
They’re not trespassing on a private business if they’re on public property. The downtown mall is public property. That’s why they can be moved from directly out of a doorway or entrance but not “much further.” Where, by the way, is “much further” that you think is appropriate?
Or just take pictures and post them on the internet. That’ll do something.
What do we owe the merchants that are charged rent to have their restaurants extend into the Mall? What rights does those merchants have to run a business? How does this City generate the very taxes that generate services the homeless need and use. Once the City charged rent for space on the Mall they changed some aspects of what the public property of the DTM entails.
Can those very same homeless take seats in the restaurants just a few feet away because it's on public space?
I appreciate you bringing attention to the matter without bias. We've seem to lost the ability for civil conversation and debate. Homelessness is an issue that could be improved, for the sake of all. Without civil debate and awareness, no improvements will occur. Can we all agree smelling human excrement and urine while eating or strolling on the downtown mall is not an ideal situation? I do feel bad for the business owners who rely upon heavy pedestrian traffic and customer-base to ensure they thrive.
I don’t. Go talk to them, treat them like humans if you are so concerned. Ask if they’d like to be posted. You know, treat them like people. Come down to the haven and help volunteer and whatnot. If you care about the issue, come help. https://www.thehaven.org/volunteer-resources
I have dealt with the Haven for many years and have donated and helped were I can. It is one of the great charities in this city.
One time I had a homeless couple sleeping in front of a good friends door every morning. I tried talking with them and getting them to move because my friend felt threatened. They returned each night. I went and saw some folks at the Haven and ask help in what to do about the problem. The Haven told me to call the police. I did and the problem stopped.
Once the City charged rent on Mall space they changed the nature of that public space. Where is anyone's concern for those trying to run a business on the Mall? You can be passionate about helping the less fortunate and want to have a vibrant Downtown Mall. They don't have to be at odds
I mean I totally hear you man. It seems like you genuinely care about the town and community you live in. The issue is complex as fuck and I’m not going to act smarter than I am and say I have a solution. But I can say if I were in their shoes, in a horrifying vulnerable moment, I wouldn’t want myself posted regardless if my face is in it. I get that you want to help but I just don’t know what posts like these are meant to accomplish. We all know there’s an issue with housing. I just tried to find a new apartment and it’s mad expensive. I couldn’t imagine getting off my feet in this economy.
I would hope that we can agree that we can be humane and help keep our Downtown Mall a more vibrant place (at the very least during business hours). It so very hard to run a restaurant these days.
Let me ask you this.-if you are a tourist on the DTM and saw this are you more likely to keep to keep moving down to Bizou then eat outside at Hamilton's, given this situation? What do we owe our business during their hours of operations?
100%. I want to own a restaurant downtown (I currently cook downtown and out at Farmington), I’m saving and working towards making that a reality and I personally wouldn’t want people scaring away my guests. But this is a civic issue for people who haven’t dedicated their lives to food as I have. The private citizens owe business nothing. The city owes the business a safe place to conduct business as they pay much more taxes than I, a private citizen do. From what I’ve read, dismantling zoning codes to allow developers to make more housing as well as funneling money away from militarized police into social programs seems to be at least a step towards helping the situation.
I mean I volunteer every week there and have been volunteering my whole life through Upper Room Reading Center in KCMO before I moved here. Some people were raised different than you man. This post isn’t “raising awareness”. I honestly don’t know what OP was trying to accomplish, just stating I find it gross to post people without their consent on the internet.
If they didn’t want to be seen they would find a secluded space. There’s plenty of homeless people who don’t want attention, this guy is not one of those.
They usually target more vulnerable people like young women walking alone. So they know what they’re doing is wrong. I’m a built man so they usually don’t F with me.
Many years ago, I had an incident where I almost got spit on. I turned around and walked right up to the person and I saw the demeanor and facial expression change to fear rapidly. They thought it was funny and having the time of their life until they thought they were about to get smacked in the face. All I did was kick their luggage into the street.
A lot of these “mentally ill” people are just extreme narcissists and get a kick out of fucking with people.
Dang is it really like this now? I used to drive up from around blacksburg to go around the vineyards and would go here all the time for shopping, food, etc. That was just a few years ago.
A housing crisis is in fact a crisis, with widespread and very apparent suffering. With the way things are headed, getting out and voting and demanding action from responsible county figures is more important than ever.
I love to visit Charlottesville a few times a year. I used to go to the mall every time I visited. I don't anymore, it's scary between the Trump stormtroopers that killed a woman a few years ago and the homeless/mentally ill people there, I don't want to go there anymore. You should move the bums out of the tourist/shopping area, sorry but that is ruining the place, those business don't deserve that blight. I go to Charlottesville because it's beautiful there and it's a get away if you live in a more urban area in VA where you have to see bums, drug addled people, murders. Its sad what's happened to to that area of Charlottesville. I hope the city government cracks down on these people any send them someplace to get help.
The Trump people have basically never come back since August 12th. They are terrified of setting foot here again. You don't need to worry about them here anymore.
So sad. It's so hot today. If you have the ability, take them some cold water or something. Ugh I hate that we live in a world where people have to live on the streets.
I walk by there and the haven multiple times a week, never had a bad interaction with any of the homeless. It sucks, but that is a relatively safe space for them to sleep and exist. This is a reflection of how messed up our economy is.
Don’t complain about the homeless people, complain about how fucked up our economy is where there’s simultaneously more millionaires than ever, and more homeless than ever.
The economy? They’re drug addicts. They wouldn’t have a job no matter what the state of the economy is. You could give them a job and they’d quit or get fired within 3 days. That’s if they’d even show up for the first day of work.
According to you? Unlike you, I don’t pretend to know how these humans ended up being in this situation, but I’m sure that they didn’t choose to be. I believe a small fraction of the homeless are drug induced, which speaks volume to the lack of mental health resources in this country. However An alarming percentage of the homeless population are veterans….. let that sink in. People who fought and saw there brothers and sisters die for the rights we have… the least you can do is stop putting your narrative on these people, and start treating them like humans.
Virtually all of them made bad decisions which led to becoming homeless. They certainly weren’t born homeless. They didn’t just have bad luck. Yes, even many veterans become drug addicts. Veterans are not universally moral and holier than thou people. A lot of them are messed up individuals and in fact a lot of really bad stuff happens on military bases. Rape, murder, you name it. And some of those “veterans” were dishonorably or less than honorably discharged.
Humans have to work if they want a roof over their head. That’s how society functions.
It’s not that easy, especially nowadays. I work full time in thankfully a pretty good career, and even I struggle. I can only imagine what it’s like for people who aren’t lucky enough to have a good education, good career, good health, and be lucky enough to have been born into a good home.
Nowadays just working full time at an average job doesn’t really cut it anymore. The economy has become a game with big players that have gotten extracting money down to a science. And our policy makers and leaders promote this through excessive deficit spending and easy money policy. People shouldn’t have to side hustle, obsess over investments, or god forbid have false hopes that gambling will pull them out of a mediocre lifestyle.
It’s not surprising at all we have such high homelessness in this country when we have such high hopelessness for actual economic prosperity on the individual level.
>Humans have to work if they want a roof over their head. That’s how society functions.
So says the landlord who makes a living by constantly dangling homelessness over others for profit.
Bro, I already told you real estate is around 1% of my W-2 income. I’m not some big real estate corporation I have one fucking rental property lol. I’m not a land baron.
There is almost no veteran still alive who "fought and saw there (sic) brothers and sisters die for the rights we have." That's not what Viet Nam or any conflict since has been about at all. Fucking up Iraq and Afghanistan certainly wasn't done with that as an objective or an outcome.
Now how do you know that though? Some perhaps are drug addicts, which is in fact, a disease, one the healthcare system largely blames on a lack of willpower. Others may have turned to substances to cope with live on the street, again not ideal.
It does. You have to click around. Under “adult obesity facts,” it states: “
Obesity is a serious, common, and costly chronic disease.”
It’s a newer thing, but obesity is now mostly considered a disease by leading medical groups and professionals.
I’m seeing a pattern here where you think you know better than everyone else including leading experts and blame any problem on the individual only. Shocking.
Yeah it’s a disease in the sense that any morbid condition can be defined as a disease. The implication of course being that a disease is totally unavoidable or that a person’s actions aren’t the primary cause of such condition. Calling it a disease is just a cop out people use to make it seem like it’s not their fault.
Lung cancer is a disease too. And if someone smokes 2 packs a day for 15 years and gets lung cancer, calling it a disease doesn’t make that person any less the primary driver of getting it.
Are they raising awareness? Beyond “there are people on the downtown mall who I don’t like the look of?” Does anyone who has been on the downtown mall in the past 15 years not know that they may encounter people who are homeless?
Because I don’t see where OP advocates for extended social services, or talks about steps to help people access housing, or does anything but say, essentially, “ick, why won’t the cops make these people go away?”
Anyway, here are some (not all) actual resources that people can put time or money or even actual awareness toward:
[Charlottesville Social Services](https://www.charlottesville.gov/366/Social-Services)
[Region Ten](https://regionten.org/)
[The Haven](https://www.thehaven.org/)
[Piedmont Housing Alliance](https://piedmonthousingalliance.org/)
[CRHA](https://cvillerha.com/)
[Rent Relief for the elderly and disabled](https://www.charlottesville.gov/192/Rent-Relief)
[Shelter for Help in an Emergency](https://www.shelterforhelpinemergency.org/) (domestic violence is a problem even in unhoused communities)
[The Emergency Food Network](https://www.emergencyfoodnetwork.org/)
[The Blue Ridge Area Food Bank](https://www.brafb.org/)
See this would have been a good top comment. Look how long and how far down in the comments it took for someone to post useful information. Great job people
What do we owe the merchants that are charged rent to have their restaurants extend into the Mall? What rights does those merchants have to run a business? How does this City generate the very taxes that generate services the homeless need and use. Once the City charged rent for space on the Mall they changed some aspects of what the public property of the DTM entails.
Can those very same homeless take seats in the restaurants just a few feet away because it's on public space?
Can we at least admit some of the homeless group on the mall are really mean
i think it’s reasonable to hold the nuance of feeling fear/frustration and even anger toward outwardly aggressive unhoused people AND understanding that they are often victims of a society that’s failed them. it’s not all black and white and if we dig between the “sides”, i think most of us actually agree in the end. 💔 homelessness is 100% a crisis — not just here but everywhere — and we have to have some kind of solution or improvement to the situation as a whole, otherwise these folks will continue to have nowhere to go, and suffer outwardly. it’s all very sad and very frustrating, and can often become very unsafe.
Yeah I get what you are saying it’s not black and white, the nuance of my comment is that a few of the homeless locals are mean/cruel individuals
A lot
From the [great cville weekly story](https://www.c-ville.com/the-downtown-mall-past-present) about the mall was this note: “In addition, the new city budget includes funding for the development of “anchor teams,” made up of a law enforcement officer, a paramedic, and a mental health clinician, to respond to situations that require a broader response.” Does anyone know whether the city has made progress with this? Not claiming it solves everything but it’s a start.
I don’t know the specifics of the funding for this program, but assuming the new budget is the fiscal year 2025 budget, that doesn’t start until July 1. Usually if positions/programs start in a budgeted year, they start the hiring or moving around of staff later in the fiscal year. But maybe they had money in FY 24 for this and have started moving forward, I’m not sure.
The plan as of April was to launch those teams in July.
I know that many of the unhoused find themselves in these situations due to mental health issues. It is not always the fault of economic issues.
Well that's good news and I'd like to start seeing evidence of it on July 1st.
I work on the DT mall. Personally witnessed one of these unhoused members of the community piss all over a piece of equipment I set behind a trailer for a few hours. I've come into work to human feces everywhere. I've seen them on security cameras pissing all over an area I have to work. This problem isn't going to get better until we provide solutions, we just gonna let them ruin every public area possible. DT is already hurting really bad.
Hurts all the businesses of the DT mall. Isn't public urination against the law? This shouldn't be okay. The general public should be able to enjoy public places.
This is why I don’t visit the downtown mall anymore. The homeless people have ruined what used to be a great and prosperous area. After shelling out $800 for a family photo session on DTM, we struggled to get shots that didn’t include homeless people or their squalor in the background. I asked a couple of the bums if they could move while we take a photo. They became aggressive, followed us around and tried to be in every picture until we had enough and left. The city has let this get out of hand.
Oof that was embarrassing to read. There’s only one demographic I dislike more than the disruptive mall junkies…
Not at all. They are a stain on the community. Good riddance.
LOL
This has to be parody
oh baby that’s not —
The worst these people do to me is pester me for money. At least a number of them are respectful after I say no, and I walk away afterwards. However some are more persistent. One was pestering me while I waited for my bus. And another would not let me go as I wanted to conduct my business at CVS. Yeah they can be real pains in the butt.
In the past 2 months I have had 4 interactions with homeless people on the downtown mall. 1. A man followed me as I left my apartment to walk my dog and kept following me until I got back to my apartment. 2. A man and woman yelled insults at me for letting my dog go to the bathroom in the grass. Called me a stuck up bitch for not responding to them and then threatened to shoot me if my dog shit and I didn’t pick it up. 3. I was walking home at night and ran into a guy butt naked and jerking off in an alley. 4. A woman came up to me and asked if we were going to die, if anything bad was going to happen, if she was okay. She then asked me for a hug which I gave to her. My heart breaks for that last woman. She needs help, she needs resources, and she deserves a chance. But I find it so hard to have sympathy for the people in those first three scenarios. I’m sure being homeless is harder than anything I’ve ever experienced, maybe some of them have drug or mental health problems, but that does not give them an excuse to treat me the way they did. Something concrete needs to be done because at this point, with the track record of experiences I’ve had, I am terrified and feel like it’s only a matter of time before someone hurts me or someone else.
Not sure why everyone seems hesitant to acknowledge that this is a PROBLEM
Cause liberals (I one, just not crazy) spend more time on making sure people say “unhoused” and not “homeless,” then actually fixing anything.
Bravo Exactly my point There’s got to be a happy medium between empathy and action …and that starts with acknowledging that,no it really IS NOT great to see someone peeing while you’re having lunch or (my recent experience) have someone scream profanities while putting their finger to my husband’s head in “mock gun style”
It is a problem. And sometimes the most simple solution is sufficient. Install cameras and lawfully convict those who break the law, such as public urination. If I drive too fast, I will get a speeding ticket. If someone else urinates and uses drugs in public, they should have consequences as well. Our public space, such as DT mall should be able to be enjoyed by the public.
There is a lot of self-righteousness in this thread. You can have empathy for the unhoused and sympathy for local businesses trying to be inviting to customers. They’re not mutually exclusive.
I also don't understand the hate for OP posting pictures of this issue and just assuming all sorts of horrible things about them while burying the problem. The definition of entitlement is pretending these issues don't exist. Ridiculous. Homelessness is a complicated multi faceted issue that involves social services, affordable housing, unaddressed mental health and other issues, economic issues, and many many more things but the one thing that won't help anyone is ignoring the problem.
Absolutely. We need to try to listen to understand and put ourselves in someone else’s shoes
This!
Hey, regular hard working, tax paying, decent folks of all ages and persuasions are trying to make a living at those jobs. This isnt rich vs poor. This is poor being further inconvenienced by the poor-er while no rich person is doing literally anything about it. I have been homelees. For a few years. Addicted and the whole shebang. This is not "expected" of someone in poverty. Being poor doesnt destroy your kindness or respect. It doesnt make you like this. I slept outside, just not in front of some ladys local business or whatever. We need to be patient and understanding of the unhoused but we cant just throw the hundreds of employees on the mall to the wind bc were trying to be righteous from afar.
Can’t upvote this enough. This guy has zero shame, feels entitled, is intentionally not utilizing resources and burning bridges. This guy likely has some mental illness; definitely has a personality disorder.
I'm nothing like an expert, but it seems to me the obvious (if not easy) solution is: 1. high barrier and low barrier shelters with plenty of capacity and wrap-around services 2. require that folks in need use them, and do not allow them to languish on their own in the elements and diminish other folks' enjoyment of precious public spaces
Absolutely should require folks to use resources. Empathy ends when you "don't want to help yourself".
They won’t go. Try again.
I’m in/around two other cities about the same size of Charlottesville. The homeless situation here is far worse than the other cities. They are condensed in small areas and are obviously people who are dealing with serious mental issues. Frankly, it’s uncomfortable walking around the DT or the Corner as a solo woman. Nothing will be done until someone gets hurt/attacked. This is a nationwide crisis, that is continually ignored. DT Charlottesville is hanging on by a thread. The bougie restaurants/shops will close and/or relocate and then you’ll have nothing but vacated buildings.
Eventually one of them will attack one of the women they \*routinely\* threaten or harass on the downtown mall, but even then I'm not confident anything will be done about it.
I was homeless, and hungry, as a child. Not a good feeling.
This guy literally goes around saying that he’s “vegetarian” and can’t eat most of the fucking food that’s given to him. He also literally refuses to go into The Haven, and got banned permanently because he would not simply tie up his dog outside. He’s a fucking problem, he needs to be literally way waaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyt more fucking grateful for what he has. He really does.
Homeless people are often some of the most ungrateful. I had one get mad at me because I didn’t give them enough money as if I owed them anything.
Giving them money only makes the problem worse. Why do you think they're all hanging out on the downtown mall? Cause dumbasses keep giving them cash.
Yikes. You shouldn’t make generalizations about an entire heterogeneous population of people. And, if you give to others who are in need because you want gratitude, you’re doing it for the wrong reasons.
I wasn’t expecting to be yelled at for not giving enough.
Why are you so surprised that someone that’s living on the streets with no real support and no chance at life has mental issues that they can’t get treated for? I get your point but unless he’s causing harm to a lot of other people it only takes a little understanding to know he’s one person, not the problem itself. I would save your anger for the lack of support for lower class Americans who can’t afford medical treatment, mental health treatment, etc. It only takes one bad mental episode or one missed rent payment and your future is taken from you. Edit- Just read your other comment. You are not any mentally healthier than this guy is. They are people not objects. They are not “ruining your $90 dinner”, your own judgement is. You are so upset over one person and you have clearly spent way too much time being angry and writing ridiculous comments. That is not a normal reaction to seeing another human being suffering the worst of the worst. You’re causing your own anger.
What, exactly, do you think he needs to be grateful for?
For being given fucking money
Just resource sharing but I saw there is a fb page ‘one stop shop Cville’ and also blue ridge health district page sharing an event today that is bimonthly with rent relief job placement food dmv supplies mental health substance abuse etc all free at carver rec
All for the unhoused having a place, but that place is not main street usa.
Unfortunately, at the rate we’re going as a nation in how we handle our national and local economic policies, healthcare, and mental health, this will be increasingly common. I don’t have the solution, but we need to try to do something.
As of last I checked the data, the Housing First program in Utah has worked well. I'd like to see that in more states.
>Housing First program in Utah Utah's Housing First project **provides apartments to homeless people and doesn't ask questions**. "Housing First,” an initiative to place the homeless into supportive housing without any prerequisites". The program gives everyone a chance to have a home and put their life together, instead of the other way around. [https://theindexproject.org/award/nominees/997](https://theindexproject.org/award/nominees/997)
You should check the data again. The homeless population “dropped” because they were technically “housed” in the structures. Then the population spiked because they were basically incentivized with said housing. Again technically not homeless so not counted as such. Now operating costs are way higher than before and it keeps getting more expensive.
>we need to try to do something. You cannot seriously think that no one is doing anything to help the homeless. But hey, I have some ideas: how about let's push for a ban on investment rental corporations buying up swathes of properties in town and then jacking up the rental prices, implement a vacancy tax/fine for properties that remain uninhabited/unused, stop cutting (or even *raise*) taxes on the top percentage of earners and invest that money elsewhere like education and mental health and addiction and job training resources, and maybe push the federal government to close tax loopholes and the IRS to actually go after wealthy tax cheats. For more immediate stuff, maybe go up and offer these homeless people water and see if they need help getting access to the resources that Charlottesville has available. Just a few thoughts.
These people are usually extremely mentally ill, like psychosis and untreated BP1. They need fulltime psych care that nowhere in the country is providing for free.
On Our Own 1234th st
Or, and hear me out here.... ....we can just gripe about the homeless population and how they're making our public spaces unattractive, and then tell them to get a job which wouldn't pay enough for rent anyway.
*Brilliant!* Thank you for your service.
I work smarter, not harder. Or...something.
That’s what the republicans are doing!
You think the person laying cheek down on the street just couldn’t make rent?
At some point, possibly? You certainly don't know any more than I do for this one particular person, but I don't really see how that's relevant. A massive disparity between cost of living and wages is *one cause of housing insecurity*. Another is lack of available and affordable mental health and addiction resources. The fact that policies and activism and work for addressing these problems *might not solve this one particular guy's issues immediately* is completely beside the point. You can't solve the problems of homelessness by just shoving homeless people out of your town and pretending like you did something productive because you now can't see them. These things would help a hell of a lot of people *avoid ending up like this guy* and *get out of situations like this guy is in*, even if they don't specifically help this one person in this exact moment.
Best comment right here
Half this thread: “You don’t understand, you need to just take it if they run up to you begging for crack money or talking incoherently.”
Last time I went there one of these folks was walking around waving a knife yelling at someone. Can't say I felt safe having my kids there anymore.
We’ve stopped going downtown. I can go back to New Orleans if I want to be physically threatened and feel unsafe.
Right? At least make it an adventure if it's gonna be dangerous. No one wants that when they are trying to go out.
I don't understand why they cannot be charged with loitering [https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title15.2/chapter9/section15.2-926/](https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title15.2/chapter9/section15.2-926/) I get that homeless people don't necessarily have any particular place to be but that does not mean they get to loiter on the down town mall.
The city government has allowed this to go for to long. Cville city government is a joke. Has been for decades.
A bit off topic, but the guy who lives with his dog in the Hardware Store/Urban Outfitters entrance seems like a good person. He’s always straightening up, sweeping out his area, folding up bedding, etc. The dog is the happiest, most well-trained dog I think I’ve ever seen. I’ve walked past at night and the guy and dog are asleep cuddling under the blanket together - pretty cute. I’ve been meaning to stop and introduce myself to him at some point. If my guy is reading this - glad to have you here. You seem like you’re making the best of whatever circumstances brought you to Charlottesville.
Some have drug induced schizophrenia and shout the scariest things.
Drug induced psychosis and schizophrenia are 2 different things.
Sure, but I am referring to the condition in which drug use triggers symptoms indistinguishable from schizophrenia, a chronic and severe mental disorder. Unlike drug-induced psychosis, these symptoms persist long after the substance has been cleared from the body.
Homeboy in the first pic is a proper dickhead. Wandered into an establishment I was in and ate from my plate when my back was turned. I'd eaten the lion's share of my food but was still grazing at my side order prior to this. That's his MO, and when confronted about it he becomes an asshole. Like dude, if you're hungry I'll gladly buy you a sandwich or something, damn.
I can't imagine how difficult their lives must be.
The state of the comments in this subreddit just shows how messed up this town is. The homelessness downtown should not be acceptable. Downtown Charlottesville could be one of the nicest places in the country, but instead it is a scary place to go
This sub would rather sweep it under the rug and pretend like it's not a problem.
It certainly discourages me from going down there, I've been finding other places to hang out.
Trying to catch up with Asheville.
their homeless are provided with licenses to beg...
Nah bro, because of the societal inequities of our country, homeless people should be allowed to literally do whatever they want. Even otherwise healthy young homeless people panhandling for 12 hours a day in a historically low unemployment job market.
Lol scary? Buddy what isolationist fear monger world do you live in?
That’s just sad for everyone
I never visit the mall even though i want to
Uh oh, OP, didn’t you know that you can’t critique how people live and beg on the downtown mall? You have to be progressive and live with it. With any luck, we’ll have our own little skid row in 10-15 years.
I’d be shocked it it took that long, tbh. Sad.
These people probably unironically think Portland, Oregon is a nice place.
It’s so ridiculous. Everybody knows what the endpoint is when these policies and attitudes are taken to their logical conclusion. Your city becomes San Francisco with needles all over the ground and people strung out. Heaven forbid we have eyes and see what the future looks like and want to prevent it. This isn’t some theoretical “I wonder what happens if we encourage homeless encampments” question. We already know the answer.
The guy in the first picture… I can tell you… Is an extremely big problem, and he’s been a big problem for the homeless community, too. The city literally asked him to move to a different spot on the mall, because he’s actually deterring business from one of the businesses downtown, and a number of them around. Caspari not only pays 6000… 6000 fucking dollars in rent but they also pay of money for many other things. The small businesses are fragile, and the guy in the first picture is huge… HUGE…, huge problem, and most of the other homeless people are, too. He has literally been screaming often on throughout the day for the last three days, and he’s been pissing in front of the southern, and Caspari for the last few weeks. He fucking over those chairs and around the trashcan. His trash, literally, was littered around the trashcan. I know for a fact that man doesn’t even try to get off his fucking ass and get a place to live. He doesn’t, and he literally only just now got a job after having been out on the streets like this for at least six months. It literally permanently smells like funk in front of the mall entrance to the train station,, and if it weren’t closed off, you’d smell it. On the other side of the mall in front of the train station the homeless people literally have huge piles of stuff over there. Behind the Historical Society, there is literally shit stacked up, literally, to the fucking ceiling, and a bunch of hanging stuff all over their fucking railings and stuff. There’s also dude that parks his scooter back there as if it’s a fucking driveway, and where the homeless people are. It’s a goddamn fucking house. They’re also literally used to be a very pretty bench back there, but there isn’t any more, and hasn’t been literally for years. A homeless person that took a nap along time ago decided to kick it out for no reason. This is also, literally, the second time the Historical Society has had to deal with someone camping out behind them and creating just such a massive fucking mess. They told one lady literally for months to leave, and she didn’t finally leave until she had to go to jail. She would also, literally, smoke crack in the middle of the fucking park and the police literally never did a goddamn thing about it. They have places to live, but they lose them, and essentially, literally, everything they have to extremely poor life decisions and stuff. I can tell you having been on the streets. It’s literally an unspoken word that you leave early, and you leave no fucking trace, and you don’t leave your goddamn fucking shit everywhere. These homeless people are unhinged, out of control, and beyond anything that is repairable at this point. A lot of them just need to get off their fucking asses and at the very least clean up after themselves, and literally at least fucking try for the lives. A lot… And I mean a lot of the fucking goddamn homeless people in this town make just extremely poor life decisions, and their lives would be better if they didn’t, and they wouldn’t be as on the streets and for as long as they have been if they fucking didn’t. Let’s not forget the fucking homeless dudes on the corner, and how they literally sexually harass, and sometimes even touch the fucking young women down there. As a young woman I feel for them, and it’s just fucking disgusting. It really is. And, unless you are what they, actually, deem an actual homeless person… It’s literally a living fucking hell. I left a bad situation at home, and literally all… All I ever fucking got was some sort of angry, toxic, tirade fucking ranting and it’s literally been nothing different ever since. There’s been a lot that’s happened to me, too. Let’s just say that I’ve experienced a lot of things. Things that no person… No fucking person on the planet should ever fucking experience. Ever. I can see where this person in this picture is coming from, and you wouldn’t fucking believe just how far the extent goes to which I fucking understand, either. Let’s just put it that way. The homeless are a fucking problem, and they literally fucking make a point to making their problem worse. I know this for a goddamn fucking fact. I knew this guy… I literally saw the day… I saw him talking on his fucking phone the day he left his family for crack, and literally didn’t go back, and had an apartment here where I live, and literally fucking lost that, too. All for fucking crack. His family called him on the phone… Just soooooooo many fucking times to figure out where he was, but he literally wouldn’t even tell them. That’s what was happening the day I saw him. His family called him, wondering where the fuck he even was. He had spent, literally, the whole fucking night out smoking crack. These businesses are fragile, that’s what people forget. And I can tell you, for a fact,… I worked for a small business down there. These small business did not want a homeless shelter going in downtown, because they knew literally exactly what would happen. And it did. And worse, actually. It’s sad… But it’s fucking true. It it is. It’s fucking true. Also, to be honest. If I’m paying fucking 90 bucks for fucking dinner, I don’t wanna fucking see that shit all over the fucking mall. I really don’t. I don’t pay fucking 90 bucks for fucking dinner to see that fucking shit, to see some dude fucking just laying out and everything and stinking and everything, and all his goddamn fucking shit everywhere. Edit: The guy in the picture is also literally vegetarian, and can’t eat meat. He literally gets extremely big plates, and lots of them, every single fucking night of very expensive nice fucking food on the mall. He literally had a whole feast the other fucking night. But, he just can’t eat it because he’s vegetarian. You take what the fuck you can get out here on these streets, and you don’t fucking complain. You don’t. I’m fucking gluten-free, and Maryetta other people have other things that they wish they could stick to. You take what the fuck you can get, and you goddamn fucking take it. He also literally refused to tie up his dog outside, like everyone else does at The Haven, and literally got banned for it. Like, he’s fine. He’s fine… He’s literally fucking fine.
You’re not wrong. Last year my wife and I opened our home to a homeless woman we met on a local subreddit. No rent, no strings attached. We even paid for her dog to get its shots. She was able-bodied and neurotypical yet she didn’t find a job for three months—even though I offered her one at the restaurant I work at from day one. And when she finally took that one she was fired within two weeks… So idk, the homelessness problem is very nuanced and there isn’t a magic bullet. But *part* of the problem for *some* of the people are choices they have made and continue to make—and there’s no policy that can fix that. You can’t legislate a work ethic into someone.
You’re ballsy to let her in, surprised she didn’t become a squatter and refuse to leave
Thank you for sharing your story and for putting a dose of reality into this thread. I’m exhausted by people in cville; well-intentioned, but also blinded by progressivism and privilege. Sometimes it’s ok to call a spade a fucking spade. If a disadvantage has found its way into your life, it doesn’t give carte blanche to disrespect people in your community, leave your trash or excrement in public places, and it certainly does not mean you can cause women OR men to fear for their safety. I understand that there could be mental health issues at play. What I will not do, is make assumptions about someone else’s diagnosis, and what I ABSOLUTELY won’t do, is allow my assumptions to be a golden fucking ticket to a sympathy party that allows them to continue impacting my experience in my community. It’s lovely to have compassion so long as we have healthy boundaries. What I haven’t heard on this thread is talk of affordable housing, mental health, and budget-related bills that came through the past few sessions of the General Assembly. It’s imperative to not just vote blue and skim headlines. The GA session is 100% online and you don’t have to go to Richmond to participate anymore. To search specific issues I suggest [Legiscan](https://www.legiscan.com) or [VPAP](https://www.vpap.org)
Here’s the reality about people who defecate on the streets: you can put them inside of a building and give them 4 walls and a ceiling, and the room will rapidly become a hive of vermin as they shit in the room and live in squalor.
I don’t know that to be the case for all. Also, I have to say that I moved here from DC and spent a decent amount of time in NYC as well. Witnessed some crazy shit for sure. But I will say that the friends I had on the street didn’t leave their shit everywhere bc the cops would straight throw it away. And they most certainly didn’t shit or piss on the street, bc the cops would throw their ass in jail. I didn’t piss or shit on the street either (same reason). I can tell you right now that jail in DC is worlds different than our slack ass joke of a jail in cville. Who knows. Maybe DC has access to federal $$ or their city council is less dysfunctional than cville and they pushed services to frequent flyers or those who clearly needed it. I didn’t pay as much attention as I should have. My point isn’t to cheerlead for jail. Fuck incarceration. My point is just that we can’t make assumptions and excuses for all adults. Some adults - even those working through diagnosable mental health conditions - need boundaries, consequences, bottoms. Sometimes this is what saves their lives. It’s what saved mine.
There's a fucking train station on the fucking mall? When the fuck did that fucking happen?
600 E Water used to be a train station.
600 E Water used to literally fucking be a fucking train station*
Well, fuck! That's fucking historical and stuff. I fucking learned something. Thanks, fucker!
Did you just learn the word fuck?
They also just learned the word literally. Literally.
Certainly illustrates the diversity of the word, doesn't it?
lol not really... it is a very diverse word. tthe way its used here only uses fuck to emphasize things.
I was just quoting Boondock Saints. You are correct, though. I take my L in proper shame.
You sound like a taylor swift album that just learned the f word
It's after 11 AM and in the 1st picture a man is also hugging his dog (which you can't see, so no faces are in the photo) The last photo is the officer explain what he can and can't do and handing the person he is taking to forms and a trespassing form to fill out. (I have no idea how those forms work) I spoke with other store owners that the police will only move someone from in front of the door but not much further. They were washing down the front door area with bleach to eliminate the smell.
Or the city could just… house these people.
They are tho, good work is being done here. The Haven is literally right behind Hamilton's. But also the city is trying to increase housing. VSH is scheduled to start construction on a huge housing project in Aug 2024. And Gov Youngkin just signed a bill in the fall for housing initiatives like The Haven and The Crossings.
Yeah, surely the issue is that there aren’t resources available to them.
I mean there are, but the problem is out-pacing available resources.
Unfortunately the more housing they build the more people will show up to use it. Charlottesville has both train and bus transit available which are very cheap. People will come here to use these services when word of mouth spreads that they have space.
I'm talking less about housing (though lack of affordable housing is a problem) and more about heath care and other general support. Region 10 is amazing, but it's perpetually overbooked and understaffed. The Haven and the Salvation Army are in the same boat. True, more abundant services means more people migrating to the area, and there will always be chronically unhoused. However, providing services that prevent acute cases from becoming chronic ones that further burden the system is a must.
It's amazing some of these businesses continue to pay the city taxes tbh. Must be tempting to tell them to fix their shit first if they want their tax money.
Sorry that having to see unhoused people happened to you. What do you want the cops to do? Arrest people for existing? For having things? For laying on the ground? For body odor? They’re not trespassing on a private business if they’re on public property. The downtown mall is public property. That’s why they can be moved from directly out of a doorway or entrance but not “much further.” Where, by the way, is “much further” that you think is appropriate? Or just take pictures and post them on the internet. That’ll do something.
What do we owe the merchants that are charged rent to have their restaurants extend into the Mall? What rights does those merchants have to run a business? How does this City generate the very taxes that generate services the homeless need and use. Once the City charged rent for space on the Mall they changed some aspects of what the public property of the DTM entails. Can those very same homeless take seats in the restaurants just a few feet away because it's on public space?
I appreciate you bringing attention to the matter without bias. We've seem to lost the ability for civil conversation and debate. Homelessness is an issue that could be improved, for the sake of all. Without civil debate and awareness, no improvements will occur. Can we all agree smelling human excrement and urine while eating or strolling on the downtown mall is not an ideal situation? I do feel bad for the business owners who rely upon heavy pedestrian traffic and customer-base to ensure they thrive.
I moved here from Oakland, CA... this is starting to look very familiar.
It’s really sad.
Liberal shithole town, not shocked
Why, when someone is homeless, do we find it okay to take pictures of them in horrible, vulnerable moments to complain about them online?
Why when there is a serious social problem, do you think it's okay to sweep it under the rug and not recognize it?
I don’t. Go talk to them, treat them like humans if you are so concerned. Ask if they’d like to be posted. You know, treat them like people. Come down to the haven and help volunteer and whatnot. If you care about the issue, come help. https://www.thehaven.org/volunteer-resources
I have dealt with the Haven for many years and have donated and helped were I can. It is one of the great charities in this city. One time I had a homeless couple sleeping in front of a good friends door every morning. I tried talking with them and getting them to move because my friend felt threatened. They returned each night. I went and saw some folks at the Haven and ask help in what to do about the problem. The Haven told me to call the police. I did and the problem stopped. Once the City charged rent on Mall space they changed the nature of that public space. Where is anyone's concern for those trying to run a business on the Mall? You can be passionate about helping the less fortunate and want to have a vibrant Downtown Mall. They don't have to be at odds
A healthy, balanced perspective. Thank you
I mean I totally hear you man. It seems like you genuinely care about the town and community you live in. The issue is complex as fuck and I’m not going to act smarter than I am and say I have a solution. But I can say if I were in their shoes, in a horrifying vulnerable moment, I wouldn’t want myself posted regardless if my face is in it. I get that you want to help but I just don’t know what posts like these are meant to accomplish. We all know there’s an issue with housing. I just tried to find a new apartment and it’s mad expensive. I couldn’t imagine getting off my feet in this economy.
I would hope that we can agree that we can be humane and help keep our Downtown Mall a more vibrant place (at the very least during business hours). It so very hard to run a restaurant these days. Let me ask you this.-if you are a tourist on the DTM and saw this are you more likely to keep to keep moving down to Bizou then eat outside at Hamilton's, given this situation? What do we owe our business during their hours of operations?
100%. I want to own a restaurant downtown (I currently cook downtown and out at Farmington), I’m saving and working towards making that a reality and I personally wouldn’t want people scaring away my guests. But this is a civic issue for people who haven’t dedicated their lives to food as I have. The private citizens owe business nothing. The city owes the business a safe place to conduct business as they pay much more taxes than I, a private citizen do. From what I’ve read, dismantling zoning codes to allow developers to make more housing as well as funneling money away from militarized police into social programs seems to be at least a step towards helping the situation.
Come down? As if you're there. OP is raising awareness, don't pretend you're doing anything.
I mean I volunteer every week there and have been volunteering my whole life through Upper Room Reading Center in KCMO before I moved here. Some people were raised different than you man. This post isn’t “raising awareness”. I honestly don’t know what OP was trying to accomplish, just stating I find it gross to post people without their consent on the internet.
If they didn’t want to be seen they would find a secluded space. There’s plenty of homeless people who don’t want attention, this guy is not one of those.
This is a public place at 11 am and their identities are obscured.
As a society, we are too okay with taking pictures of strangers in general.
Just to be clear, there is absolutely no expectation of privacy in a public space. SCOTUS has already ruled on this.
I’ve started to just scare em right back. It feels good to do that every now and then when these bullies think they can just push you around.
They usually target more vulnerable people like young women walking alone. So they know what they’re doing is wrong. I’m a built man so they usually don’t F with me. Many years ago, I had an incident where I almost got spit on. I turned around and walked right up to the person and I saw the demeanor and facial expression change to fear rapidly. They thought it was funny and having the time of their life until they thought they were about to get smacked in the face. All I did was kick their luggage into the street. A lot of these “mentally ill” people are just extreme narcissists and get a kick out of fucking with people.
Dang is it really like this now? I used to drive up from around blacksburg to go around the vineyards and would go here all the time for shopping, food, etc. That was just a few years ago.
A housing crisis is in fact a crisis, with widespread and very apparent suffering. With the way things are headed, getting out and voting and demanding action from responsible county figures is more important than ever.
I love to visit Charlottesville a few times a year. I used to go to the mall every time I visited. I don't anymore, it's scary between the Trump stormtroopers that killed a woman a few years ago and the homeless/mentally ill people there, I don't want to go there anymore. You should move the bums out of the tourist/shopping area, sorry but that is ruining the place, those business don't deserve that blight. I go to Charlottesville because it's beautiful there and it's a get away if you live in a more urban area in VA where you have to see bums, drug addled people, murders. Its sad what's happened to to that area of Charlottesville. I hope the city government cracks down on these people any send them someplace to get help.
The Trump people have basically never come back since August 12th. They are terrified of setting foot here again. You don't need to worry about them here anymore.
So sad. It's so hot today. If you have the ability, take them some cold water or something. Ugh I hate that we live in a world where people have to live on the streets.
They arn't being forced to live on the streets. These guys opted out of life. They are given opportunities and help.
To be fair, modern life is mostly fucking garbage. I’m housed and not even an unhappy person but I can still recognize this.
I walk by there and the haven multiple times a week, never had a bad interaction with any of the homeless. It sucks, but that is a relatively safe space for them to sleep and exist. This is a reflection of how messed up our economy is. Don’t complain about the homeless people, complain about how fucked up our economy is where there’s simultaneously more millionaires than ever, and more homeless than ever.
The economy? They’re drug addicts. They wouldn’t have a job no matter what the state of the economy is. You could give them a job and they’d quit or get fired within 3 days. That’s if they’d even show up for the first day of work.
I’d probably do drugs too if I had to sleep outside
The drugs started before they slept outside
According to you? Unlike you, I don’t pretend to know how these humans ended up being in this situation, but I’m sure that they didn’t choose to be. I believe a small fraction of the homeless are drug induced, which speaks volume to the lack of mental health resources in this country. However An alarming percentage of the homeless population are veterans….. let that sink in. People who fought and saw there brothers and sisters die for the rights we have… the least you can do is stop putting your narrative on these people, and start treating them like humans.
Virtually all of them made bad decisions which led to becoming homeless. They certainly weren’t born homeless. They didn’t just have bad luck. Yes, even many veterans become drug addicts. Veterans are not universally moral and holier than thou people. A lot of them are messed up individuals and in fact a lot of really bad stuff happens on military bases. Rape, murder, you name it. And some of those “veterans” were dishonorably or less than honorably discharged. Humans have to work if they want a roof over their head. That’s how society functions.
It’s not that easy, especially nowadays. I work full time in thankfully a pretty good career, and even I struggle. I can only imagine what it’s like for people who aren’t lucky enough to have a good education, good career, good health, and be lucky enough to have been born into a good home. Nowadays just working full time at an average job doesn’t really cut it anymore. The economy has become a game with big players that have gotten extracting money down to a science. And our policy makers and leaders promote this through excessive deficit spending and easy money policy. People shouldn’t have to side hustle, obsess over investments, or god forbid have false hopes that gambling will pull them out of a mediocre lifestyle. It’s not surprising at all we have such high homelessness in this country when we have such high hopelessness for actual economic prosperity on the individual level.
>Humans have to work if they want a roof over their head. That’s how society functions. So says the landlord who makes a living by constantly dangling homelessness over others for profit.
Bro, I already told you real estate is around 1% of my W-2 income. I’m not some big real estate corporation I have one fucking rental property lol. I’m not a land baron.
There is almost no veteran still alive who "fought and saw there (sic) brothers and sisters die for the rights we have." That's not what Viet Nam or any conflict since has been about at all. Fucking up Iraq and Afghanistan certainly wasn't done with that as an objective or an outcome.
Now how do you know that though? Some perhaps are drug addicts, which is in fact, a disease, one the healthcare system largely blames on a lack of willpower. Others may have turned to substances to cope with live on the street, again not ideal.
I bet you call obesity a disease too
Damn, it is though…. https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/index.html
Well the page doesn’t say it is
It does. You have to click around. Under “adult obesity facts,” it states: “ Obesity is a serious, common, and costly chronic disease.” It’s a newer thing, but obesity is now mostly considered a disease by leading medical groups and professionals.
Yep. Putting more food in your mouth is a disease. Lol. People aren’t responsible for their actions anymore. Just call it a disease.
I’m seeing a pattern here where you think you know better than everyone else including leading experts and blame any problem on the individual only. Shocking.
Yeah it’s a disease in the sense that any morbid condition can be defined as a disease. The implication of course being that a disease is totally unavoidable or that a person’s actions aren’t the primary cause of such condition. Calling it a disease is just a cop out people use to make it seem like it’s not their fault. Lung cancer is a disease too. And if someone smokes 2 packs a day for 15 years and gets lung cancer, calling it a disease doesn’t make that person any less the primary driver of getting it.
https://clickhole.com/heartbreaking-the-worst-person-you-know-just-made-a-gr-1825121606/
I was wondering where the anti-Israeli protestors had gone
downtown transit has the answer, put up a bunch of metal fence. the whole mall smells like piss, why anyone chooses to go there is boggling.
So did you help them or just be an asshole ?
What are you doing about it? OP is raising awareness, wtf did you do?
Are they raising awareness? Beyond “there are people on the downtown mall who I don’t like the look of?” Does anyone who has been on the downtown mall in the past 15 years not know that they may encounter people who are homeless? Because I don’t see where OP advocates for extended social services, or talks about steps to help people access housing, or does anything but say, essentially, “ick, why won’t the cops make these people go away?” Anyway, here are some (not all) actual resources that people can put time or money or even actual awareness toward: [Charlottesville Social Services](https://www.charlottesville.gov/366/Social-Services) [Region Ten](https://regionten.org/) [The Haven](https://www.thehaven.org/) [Piedmont Housing Alliance](https://piedmonthousingalliance.org/) [CRHA](https://cvillerha.com/) [Rent Relief for the elderly and disabled](https://www.charlottesville.gov/192/Rent-Relief) [Shelter for Help in an Emergency](https://www.shelterforhelpinemergency.org/) (domestic violence is a problem even in unhoused communities) [The Emergency Food Network](https://www.emergencyfoodnetwork.org/) [The Blue Ridge Area Food Bank](https://www.brafb.org/)
See this would have been a good top comment. Look how long and how far down in the comments it took for someone to post useful information. Great job people
What’s the complaint here? Are you complaining that they’re in plain sight? Are you suggesting they hide?
What do we owe the merchants that are charged rent to have their restaurants extend into the Mall? What rights does those merchants have to run a business? How does this City generate the very taxes that generate services the homeless need and use. Once the City charged rent for space on the Mall they changed some aspects of what the public property of the DTM entails. Can those very same homeless take seats in the restaurants just a few feet away because it's on public space?
Sure. I’d be okay if they hid
Yikes
World class shitty
Seems kinda rude to just walk into these peoples' living room and start snapping pictures of them /s