Richmond officials, advocates press for expanded shelter access and coordinated services after cold-weather crisis

Richmond City Council’s Emergency Human Services Committee heard extended public testimony and heard city staff describe immediate and longer-term steps to address unsheltered homelessness after a recent cold-weather emergency and a spike in stolen SNAP (EBT) benefits.

Residents and advocates told the committee that overflow shelters and outreach did not meet need during the cold snap, citing adults and children left outdoors and at hotels; nonprofit providers described operating challenges and called for more permanent, deeply affordable housing. “The people living on the streets absolutely cannot wait any longer,” said Tracy Hartney Scott, housing chair for the Virginia State Conference NAACP in Richmond.

The committee’s deputy chief administrative officer for human services, Tracy DeShazer, said city staff “hear you. We see you, and we appreciate you continuing to…work with us,” and outlined near-term and system-level priorities: expand year-round bed capacity where possible, improve the coordinated-entry “front door” for people in crisis, identify walk-up intake locations, and convene a stakeholder group in the next two to three weeks to coordinate partners and data.

Why it matters: Committee members, providers and advocates stressed that shelters alone cannot end homelessness; they argued that stable, deeply affordable housing and supportive services are required to reduce returns to the street. At the same time advocates said immediate, life‑saving shelter and food access must be reliably available during extreme weather.

What advocates reported - Several speakers described clients and neighbors left outdoors during dropping temperatures and questioned why overflow shelters closed when overnight…