Consultants: Rising rents and limited housing supply driving homelessness on Virginia Peninsula; Hampton details local services

Sean Griffin, lead consultant with VM Advising, told the Hampton City Council on May 20 that a regional study of homelessness on the Virginia Peninsula found sharp post‑2019 rent and home‑value inflation concentrated in Newport News and Hampton and a lack of multifamily housing zones.

"One of 5 individuals experiencing homelessness have severe mental illness or chronic substance abuse issues," Griffin said, and he added that "80 percent of the population experiencing homelessness does not have these issues and need rapid, support to reenter housing as quickly as possible." The consultants projected roughly a 15% year‑over‑year increase in calls to the crisis line from literally homeless households in the coming years and estimated that more than 2,000 individuals experience homelessness on the Peninsula over the course of a year.

Dr. Tamara Timoni Porter, Hampton’s human services director, described how the local coordinated‑entry system screens callers and routes cases through HMIS (the Housing Management Information System). "Where did you sleep last night?" Dr. Timoni Porter said when explaining the intake question that typically determines eligibility for HUD‑funded assistance. She outlined the operational flow: a housing crisis hotline (staffed weekdays 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.), a 15–20 minute prescreen, and referral to prevention, outreach, rapid rehousing, permanent supportive housing or other programs depending on HUD definitions.

Porter gave several local data points from the peninsula point‑in‑time count: in 2024 the Peninsula count recorded 412 people (down from 480 in 2023), while in Hampton specifically 166 individuals were counted (a stated 36‑person increase from 2023), with 30 unsheltered people identified and 25 chronically homeless adults. She also reported HUD‑related inventory numbers cited in staff slides: emergency shelter beds (457 total, 342 in use), rapid rehousing filled to capacity (92), and permanent supportive housing with 518 beds available (490 used).

Council members pressed the consultants and staff on recommendations in the report, particularly the study’s suggestion that localities prioritize rehousing investments over building new emergency shelters until rehousing system goals are met. Consultants argued that investing in rehousing yields longer‑term reductions in homelessness and avoids creating a bottleneck if shelter capacity is added before sufficient rehousing capacity exists. City managers and Dr. Timoni Porter said local and state flexible funding could supplement HUD dollars to help households that fall outside strict HUD timeframes.