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United Way reports eviction-reduction pilot results, centralized assistance numbers to Newport News council
Summary
United Way of the Virginia Peninsula told Newport News City Council on Jan. 14 about its Community Assistance Network and eviction-reduction work, reporting regional and city-level service statistics, a decline in landlord filings and executed lockouts, and details on program staffing and partnerships.
Veil West, president and chief executive officer of United Way of the Virginia Peninsula, updated the Newport News City Council on Jan. 14 about the nonprofit’s Community Assistance Network and its role in a state-funded eviction-reduction pilot.
West said the Community Assistance Network (CAN), launched in 2021, provides a single regional phone line and coordinated referrals across roughly 150 partners and has connected nearly 10,000 people to assistance since inception. She told council that, in Newport News specifically, CAN served 795 households from July through December of the previous year and helped 1,067 people with housing stability, childcare, transportation and other supports.
On eviction reduction, West said United Way has participated in a state-funded pilot administered with local partners and court navigation services. She reported a regional decline in landlord filings of more than 20% over the last six quarters and said executed lockouts in Newport News fell 54% between first quarter 2023 and second quarter 2024. West credited coordinated, rapid deployment of state and private funds alongside local service partners for those improvements.
West described how the pilot braids state funds from the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development with private funds and supportive services and said the Bernardine Franciscan Sisters Foundation helped extend CAN’s evening hours to increase access for working households. She said CAN plans to strengthen responses when housing loss is imminent and to plan for post-eviction transitions for households with children.
When asked by a councilmember how a person in crisis should seek help, West said there is “no wrong door” and gave CAN’s phone number: 757-229-2222. She said CAN employs about seven advocates and aims to grow to nine (including four full-time advocates).
West also described United Way’s Peninsula Youth Collaborative, launched in 2023, and an employment pilot in partnership with Busch Gardens that provided work and free reliable transportation for 130 young people ages 16 to 24.
Council did not take formal action on the presentation. West thanked local partners, including 4 Oaks and the city social-services teams, and asked council to continue supporting United Way’s role as a regional coordinator for housing-stability and youth initiatives.
