In Holly Edwards’ view, hiring a public housing prevention specialist strikes the balance between doing the right thing and doing things right.
"You have to have policies in order to provide continuity of care regardless of what your clientele base is," says Edwards, who is the program coordinator for the Public Housing Association of Residents, as well as a Democratic candidate for City Council. "So it makes sense to have an eviction policy—that’s the right thing to do.
"Doing things right is to make sure the policy doesn’t put people in positions where they’re being victimized by the policy. There are some people who genuinely have barriers, genuinely have struggles and genuinely have legitimate reasons as to why they can’t pay their rent on time."
Holly Edwards, a parish nurse at Westhaven, says that a grant to help fund a specialist to help prevent evictions is a good thing. "There are some people who genuinely have barriers," she says.
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The Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority (CRHA) plans to create the prevention specialist position with the help of a $20,000 grant from the Charlottesville Area Community Foundation. Noah Schwartz, CRHA’s executive director, says the position would help CRHA address issues its residents may be having, whether they are financial- or family-related. If someone begins to fall behind on rent, says Schwartz, the specialist can refer them to community resources before the eviction process begins.
"It allows us to get somebody out there who can do something other than lease enforcement, because that’s sort of how we’re set up now," says Schwartz. "As we start to identify smaller issues, this allows us to get on them before they develop into something bigger."
The creation of the position comes, according to Edwards, after a period where a large number of people faced eviction. "Given the volume of people that were facing eviction just a few months ago," she says, "having someone who’s plugged into the community that can hit the ground running would be a great benefit."
CRHA still needs to find additional money so that the position is funded through the next fiscal year. Schwartz says he will bring the proposed position before the Finance Committee to discuss its sustainability. "The agency really needs to step up and commit to funding for the next fiscal year, and they’re going to have that discussion," he says. "I fully expect they’ll do so, but I can’t presuppose that."
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